You can gain weight on a low-carb diet

YOU know a diet has become a cultural phenomenon when it
influences the business decisions of the food industry. The
high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet "reigned" in the last 10
years and its impact was obvious in the proliferation of
thousands of low-fat products.

Well, times are a-changing and a major revolution is going
on in the American food industry. And where America goes,
the rest of the Westernized world is sure to follow.

Supermarket aisles that used to be devoted to low-fat food
products have been transformed into low-carb diet sections.
In California (where else?), a stand-alone store carrying
only low-carb products opened last month. It has plans to
open 5,000 branches. Convenience store giant 7-11 has jumped
into the low-carb bandwagon with nearly 50 products.

Restaurant chains like TGI Friday's and Chili's have now
included low-carb selections in their menus. Not to be
outdone, Burger King has a bun-less Whopper, Subway has a
low-carb wrap, while Carl's Jr. has a lettuce-wrapped burger.

Snack food manufacturers have also gotten the hint that
low-fat is a thing of the past and low-carb is the way of
the future. Low-carb chips, cookies and brownies made their
entrance last year. To wash it all down, you can buy
low-carb beers like Michelob Ultra and the soon-to-be
launched Coors Aspen Edge.

Bread and pasta makers have also seen the handwriting on the
wall and are either already offering or are developing
low-carb bread, pasta, bagels and doughnuts.

The low-carb phenomenon can be traced directly to the
success and popularity of the Atkins diet, created by the
late Dr. Robert Atkins in the '70s, but which became a
household word only in the last five years.

The original Atkins diet consists mainly of meat and green leafy
vegetables. But, judging from the amount of money spent on low-carb
products ($15 billion last year and up to $30 billion this year, according
to LowCarbiz, a trade newsletter), people cannot take being deprived of
bread and pasta for long and are desperately searching for carb substitutes
so they can have their cake and eat it, too.


How to produce a low-carb product

To reduce the carbohydrate content of a high-carbohydrate product like a
muffin, manufacturers substitute flour from almonds or soy for wheat flour
and use a sugar substitute like Splenda, aspartame or some other sweetener
with almost zero calories instead of sugars like fructose and glucose.

As to be expected, taste and texture are compromised while manufacturing
expenses rise. The product may be low in carbohydrates but also low in
taste and high in cost.

What it may not be so low in is calories. When something is taken out, the
substitute does not always have less calories. This is what happens to many
low-fat products. They are low in fat but high in carbohydrates and sugar.
Low-carb products may be low in carbs but high in fat and protein.


Confusion over terms

A creative way to produce a low-carb product is to manipulate the
definition of the term. Since this is all new territory, anything goes.
Currently, there are no government standards for "low-carb."

Pick up any processed food product and the mandatory nutrition label will
list the amount of "total carbohydrates" in grams.

Many low-carb food manufacturers use a term called "net carbs," which can
be much lower than the actual total carbohydrates. The term refers to the
amount derived after subtracting carbohydrate grams from fiber and sugar
alcohol in the product.

Manufacturers say carbohydrates from fiber and sugar alcohol do not make
blood sugar levels rise as quickly and as high as carbohydrates from starch
and simple sugars like fructose and glucose and, therefore, won't make you
gain weight. So, a product could have a total carbohydrate content of 22
grams but only two net carb grams.

Guess which figure is printed prominently on the front label? Naturally,
the lower figure. Guess which product you are more likely to buy and
consume in greater quantities if you are a low-carb dieter? Naturally, the
product that claims to have less carbohydrates.

You may be tempted to eat more than you should, thinking you are only
consuming two net carb grams (eight calories) instead of 22 grams (88 calories).

To add to the confusion, terms like effective carbs, fit carbs, impact
carbs and net-effective carbs are also used.

Whether this is manipulating the truth or not will only be settled after
the government steps in to regulate this new industry.


Gaining weight on a low-carb diet

When the low-fat diet was king, people ate low-fat products with abandon,
believing they would not gain weight. Health authorities agree this belief
and behavior partly contributed to the rise in obesity levels and
eventually triggered massive disillusionment with low-fat dieting.

With low-carb products now dominating the market, experts predict that
people will begin to gain weight in spite of eating a low-carb diet or
"low-carbing" (a verb that is gaining in usage) since they are paying
little attention to the total amount of calories they are eating.

Actually, that prediction is already coming true. According to an article
in USA Today by Nancy Hellmich, "Experts staffing the Atkins customer
information service are getting calls and questions online from
disappointed dieters who can't understand why they aren't losing weight.
The problem: Dieters are eating too many of these new low-carb protein
bars, muffins and brownie mixes, which are low in carbohydrates but often
high in calories."

Hellmich reports that the clinic of Dr. Arthur Agatston, author of "The
South Beach Diet," has its share of patients who "have gotten tripped up by
eating too many low-carb, high-calorie products."

Marie Almon, a registered dietician who works for Agatston, told Hellmich
that "one woman on the diet was treating herself twice a day to a piece of
low-carb cheesecake and she was wondering why she was gaining weight."


Calories still count

No matter how you look at it and no matter which diet format you follow,
whether low-fat or low-carb, when it comes to weight loss, calories still matter.

So, when low-carb products start appearing on local supermarket shelves,
don't say you weren't warned. Use your common sense and look at how many
calories you will actually be eating.