In the last year or so the low-carb craze has passed from an American dieting fad to what appears to be a full-fledged mania. NPD Group, a Chicago market research company, estimates that 10 million Americans are on the Atkins diet or one of its low-carbohydrate imitators, up from 3 million a year ago.
Even the fast food joints are craving a piece of the action. Recently Burger King joined other fast food giants when it said it would begin selling a low-carbohydrate version of its popular Whopper sandwich. Mainly it’s a hamburger, minus the bun. Hardee’s has introduced a low-carb “thickburger,” which is a beef patty with cheese, red onion, tomato and other toppings wrapped in iceberg lettuce leaves. At Subway, a skinny tortilla is an alternative to its crusty bread.
Other companies are introducing low-carb versions of flavored malt drinks, bagels, ice cream, dressings, marinades, even peanut butter and tea mixes–all of it being hyped in local grocery chains.
If there is anything more predictable than Americans flocking to a trendy diet–witness bookshelves groaning with all the varieties–it is that they will flock even more to one that promises relatively painless weight loss. That is the genius of Atkins. Want to eat steak and eggs every day? Go ahead. Just strictly limit all the bread, pasta, sugar, fruits and vegetables.
It’s clear that people can lose weight on Atkins. But there’s long been a debate among scientists and nutritionists about the wisdom of the Atkins diet over the long term. The preponderance of the scientific evidence says that limiting the amount of saturated fat–in red meat, cheese, eggs and other foods–is healthier over the long haul. That’s why many experts suggest substituting unsaturated fats, like the kind found in olive oil, for instance.
The New York Times recently reported that after years of advising dieters to fill themselves with large amounts of steaks, eggs and other saturated fats, the promoters of the Atkins diet now say that people on their plan should limit the amount of saturated fat and red meat. It was a response to years of criticism from scientists that the Atkins version of a low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet might lead to heart disease and other health problems. A few days later, however, Atkins officials fired back, telling a Newsday reporter that they haven’t changed their “message” at all.
Yes, it’s confusing. But we’re from the old school that’s suspicious of the latest diet crazes in general, preferring a more common-sense approach. Give up an abundance of fruits and vegetables? Sorry, but you’ll have to peel our cold, dead hands from that Granny Smith apple. As Linda Van Horn, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern’s Feinberg School of Medicine, says: “There’s never been a study ever conducted that says fruits and vegetables are bad for you. Quite the contrary.”
Similarly, a world without sourdough bread or popcorn or real beer doesn’t seem worth living in.
Remember, too, that all carbs are not created equal. Whole grains, for instance, don’t send blood sugar levels soaring the same as other carbs, such as potatoes and white rice. Moreover, just because it’s low-carb–or low-fat for that matter–doesn’t mean it’s low-calorie.
Really, all most dieters need keep in mind are some basic rules of nutrition. Here’s one: Eat more calories than you burn = weight gain. Eat fewer calories = weight loss.
Whether you lose weight and keep it off is more complicated than that, of course, depending on genetics, exercise, willpower and other factors. But still, you can’t go too far wrong if you keep that simple notion in mind when opening the refrigerator door.
