Low-carb products: signs of the end times

Carb-counting bagels were but a minor travesty compared to Ben and Jerry's new low-carb ice cream and Burger King's bunless burger. Are we really so taken with this Atkins crap to make these laughable products a success?

Look, it's really not that hard. Eat smaller portions, replace white bread with whole wheat grain, consume less sugar - and stay away from fad diets. In fact, stay away from any diet and accept the fact that you need to eat well for the rest of your life instead of thinking a few weeks of starvation will make up for years of gluttony.

And when you do buy Ben and Jerry's, get the full-fat, high-carb variety and enjoy it. You only live once.

Comments

[Jon-Paul LeClair]

Amen brother!

I totally agree with you on all this diet hooplah.

My wife and I began a diet together this month (feb.04) and 3 weeks into it, I've lost about 13lbs! Nothing fancy. No Atkins. Just a low calorie, low fat, well rounded, sensible diet with consistant exercise. We did sign up at eDiets.com for support and assistance.

I too am getting sick of seeing all the LOW CARB stuff hocked around on just about every product and hearing news articles that certain industries are "in panic mode" over those not buying their product becuase they have carbs. Give it up!

Great post.

TopStyle Rules!!!

[Kristin Henry]

Yeah! Great post!

This anti-carb extremism drives me nuts. My brother-in-law is fanatic about it, but eats "plastic" cheese slices!

[Brena]

Great post Nick! I'm also pleased to report that eating sensible sized portions and going for a walk makes a huge difference. At a recent doctors visit I weighed in to a nice healthy BMI. First time in over 10 years!

[MacTitan]

"replace white bread with whole wheat"

I think it would be better if it read:

"replace white bread with whole grain"

Many people won't notice the difference and will still get "whole wheat" or one of the many variations that aren't "whole grain", but it is still much better than processed white flower.

As for end times: Some Karamel Sutra to go please.
http://www.benjerry.com/our_products/flavor_details.cfm?product_id=46

[David Bisset]

Personally, I'm glad for the low-carb craze (with a few exceptions)... I'd rather have too much low-carb products than not enough. For the past 30 years, more and more processed sugars have been sneaking into almost every food in the store... it's about time companies stop going overboard. Low Carb for many means "less sugar", so nobody should be screaming bloodly murder when they hear someone else talk about "low carb" diets.

And I disagree with "stay away from any diet" - eating right *IS* a diet (the smartest one), one I'm one right now! :-)

[Mike Gale]

Whoa.

Carefull here.

Quite a lot of people feel a good deal better if they simply don't eat carb. It's very easy to test if you're one of them. For them a good idea is to cut out most carbo for life. Not some dumb short term diet but a wise lifestyle choice. (The diet they choose is often not Atkins though he may given them the some ideas to test.)

Remember people are different and social pressure to eat food that doesn't suit you has ruined many lives.

[Oliver Merk]

I started with the Atkins diet three years ago and have successfully kept off the forty-two pounds I lost. I used to get offended by people, like yourself, spouting off about the diet until I realized that most critics haven't actually read the book describing how the diet works. Have you studied how the recommended Atkins diet works, Nick, or are you simply spotting a trend and pissing on it?

Unlike a lot of the misinformation you read about Atkins, you don't eat red meat exclusively for the rest of your life. I'm in the fourth and final phase of the plan (the "lifetime" phase); I can eat grains, vegetables and of course fish and meat, even the odd sweet, though I'm rarely inclined. It's all about moderation. While it's easy to abuse low-carb diets, it's more important to raise awareness about the disgusting amounts of sugar and "bad" fats in the typical American diet.

Flame if you like, but you can't argue that I don't feel ten years younger, have more energy, have lower (bad) cholesterol and am a happier person overall for having adopted this dietary choice.

Peace.

[Nick Bradbury]

Oliver, I actually have read Atkins' book. I don't like the diet, but I'm in agreement with his statements about processed sugar, etc., and I think cutting out bad carbs is very sensible. From what I gather, the Atkins diet has been going through some changes lately, because when I first looked at the diet it allowed more fat than I thought was healthy. I guess much of what I'm pissing on now is the marketer's version of the Atkins diet, in which unhealthy swill can be repackaged and sold as "low carb" to people who learn about healthy eating from TV commercials.

If Atkins works for you, great. Myself, I dropped 65 pounds over four years ago (and kept it off) by following a *high* carb diet, and I rarely feel hungry.

BTW, if anyone plans to try this diet, please stay away from during the induction phase. I've seen a lot of nice people get _real_ cranky at the beginning!

[Taranis]

Thank God the folks at Burger King didn't try to charge the same price the thing. Of course, from a business perspective, they are only taking advantage of a demand in the market. Not to mention that doing so is amazingly easy for them. Other products have a tougher time (like the Ben and Jerry's) but it is truly a no-brainer for BK to offer bunless burgers. I don't blame them, I blame the media, like always.

[Jeff Wilkinson]

Supposedly the south beach diet is a modified atkins that is less high-fat and a little better designed for heart health and for ease of following it. I'm not a diet person, but I've gotten to the point in my life where I have a few pounds to lose and my regular poor self-discipline isn't doing it, so I'm going to try it... with luck I can get into better long-term habits by following something more purposeful than 'what's in the frig that appeals to me right now...'

... now if I can only stop calling it the "south park diet" ;-)
Oh no, Kenny, don't eat that!!! ;-)

[pb]

I think it actually *is* all about moderation. Until the Atkins craze, we generally ate way too many carbs. The Atkins *no* carbs is extreme. But working fewer carbs into your routine is reasonable. It sometimes takes an extreme position to move the needle a little bit. That's why I'm comfortable with the craze even though I don't subscribe to it.

[Oliver Merk]

Nick,
I agree with you that the media is hyping this to an annoying degree. I kinda liked it better when it wasn't popular-- it was fun seeing peoples' reaction when I described how I lost weight;)
I also agree with pb that the very awareness of good vs bad carbs may help curb the problems of obesity and diabetes which continue to plague North Americans. But he also is misinformed, like many, that Atkins is about "no" carbs. It's about the right carbs: fruit, vegetables and whole grains, not processed wheat and sugar.
Cheers.

[Jon Kennedy]

Oliver, you have to be one of the most sensible people I've ever encountered in your defense of the REAL Atkins diet. It holds true that a large majority of consumers had learned about Atkins through their companions and friends and NOT through the book Atkins published. Unfortunately, the consumer audience fails to realize the drawbacks of such a convoluted diet plan (note: i am still referring to the second-hand Atkins). No carbs in your diet is not a healthy diet plan, and in fact could cause you to rebound even worse after falling off the (no-carb) gravy train.

The effect that people see is the act of losing weight... which is a side effect of malnourisment, but selectively ignore the other consequences such as cholestorol (sp?) and lack of "good" carbs.

I applaud your insight regarding the awareness and distinction of good vs. bad carbs. It proves unconditionally true that this is a new discovery for most people.

Now... if only I could figure out a way to inform the convoluted masses around me using forks to eat triple cheeseburgers (without bread), and later, following it up with another.
--
Howdy. (as us americans say)

[pete]

It's very simple. We should eb able to enjoy all food's in a minority. Excessive consumption of any food group, and the a lack of balanced diet are always going to be unhealthy. There is a danger of taking on these so called *fad* diets, without a proper understanding of what it means. Carbs and sugars are an important part of any diet, they provides energy.

In its basic form The Atkins diet works because it forces the body to consume fats for energy as there is a lack of any other source. Thus you loose weight, and you loose it fast. However, there is a danger that, is followed incorrectly it leads the body to over produce certain acids, which can cause liver damage. And no diet is worth that.