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While reducing carbs is a major part of the Atkins
diet, Dr. Stuart Trage, medical director for Atkins
Nutritionals, points out that individuals tend to
focus on the induction period, where carbs are most
strictly limitted. Trage points out that eventually
the right carbohydrates are reintegrated into the
diet.
The good news is that in the short term, according
to the University of Pennsylvania Medical School,
low carb diets "may be safe." Also, in the
short term, individuals on a low-carb diet tend to
lose more weight than individuals on other low fat
diets.
Two recent studies in the Annals of Internal Medicine,
however, report that individuals on a low-carb diet
obtain the same amount of weight loss after a year
as those on more traditional low-fat diets. It is
important to note that, according to Dr. Donald Hensrud,
Weight management specialist at the Mayo Clinic, that
caloric intake is "the bottom line." All
the carb cutting in the world won't matter unless
caloric intake is also controlled. Dr. Ian Smith of
Men's Health magazine reports that individuals on
a low-carb diet are more likely to gain the weight
back after stopping than any other diet. In addition,
a 1995 study found that diets similar to Atkins are
detrimental to complex cognitive performance and brain
function after only one week.
The bad news is the increased risk to an individual's
health. For example, if the body is burning large
amounts of fats without sufficient dietary carbohydrates,
the body produces ketones. These ketones produce side
effects such as headaches, dehydration, bad breath
and nausea. Over time "health care professionals
fear bone loss, muscle breakdown and kidney disease"
as a result of low carb diet induced ketosis, reports
Ann Saul Dudrich of the Tribune-Review.
An additional side-effect of the low-carb diet is
an increased risk for heart attack. Although two recent
studies in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that
low carb diets do not increase LDL or bad cholesterol
levels long term, doctors still acknowledge the increased
risk of heart attack. One of the authors of this study,
Frederick F. Samaha, believes that "Odds are"
a low-carb diet that is high in fat is going to increase
the risk of heart attack.
Yet it turns out that Dr. Atkins, who lived the low-carb
lifestyle for decades, experienced artery blockages
that are typically attributed to "high-fat, high-cholesterol
diets" (read
more). Dr. Atkins' downfall is not the only that
may be attributed to the diet. The irregularities
in Rachel Huskey's electrolytes, a 16-year-old who
favored the Atkins diet, ended up killing her. Other
individuals' bad experiences, including Huskey's,
can be found here.
The low-carb lifestyle encourages indulgence; you
can consume as much "approved" food as you
want. Therein lies its appeal. This ability to "pig
out" has allowed fast food producers, casual
dining restaurants and snack food manufacturers to
market products as healthy.
Carl's Jr. and Hardee's have been banking on the
low carb craze producing new menu options such as
the low-carb Breakfast Bowl and the low carb Six Dollar
Burger which boasts one half pound of beef and a lettuce
bun. The low carb Breakfast Bowl contains 73 grams
of fat, more than the recommended daily amount and
nearly twice as much as the low carb Six Dollar Burger.
This "healthy alternative" to the breakfast
sandwich also contains 875 mg of heart-choking Cholesterol.
To help your body process all the increased fats and
proteins of the low carb Breakfast Bowl, you'll need
Centrum's new Carb Assist.
Carb Assist is perfect in helping balance the un-balanced
low-carb diet. The company claims "If you're
living a low-carb lifestyle, you should be aware that
you might be missing out on important vitamins and
nutrients." But don't worry about that extra
fat intake because Centrum Carb Assist is loaded "high
levels of select nutrients" that will help you
process excess fats.
Subway, KFC, McDonald's, TGI Friday's and Round Table
Pizza have all been quick to bank on the low carb-craze.
It turns out that these low-carb foods are "nutritionally
empty and are very expensive."
According to Paul Campos, author of The Obesity Myth:
Why America's Obsession with Weight is Hazardous to
Your Health, "People are willing to pay a premium
for these foods that are actually cheaper to manufacture
because of an ideological distortion that this food
is actually going to make them more healthy"
(read
more).
For example, Round Table Pizza offers a new "skinny
crust" pizza. This pizza boasts less carbs because
there is essentially 30 percent less crust. Less pizza
is not only cheaper to produce, but can be sold for
the same price as a regular pizza due to the appeal
of its alleged healthiness. In the realm of low-carb
burgers, lettuce is cheaper than buns; in the soda
venue, Coca-Cola's C2 is packaged in eight packs of
12 ounce cans. In some markets, these eight packs
are sold for the same price as the regular 12 packs.
In this aspect, the low-carb craze has made it possible
for food producing chains to make more money off of
a product that costs less.
While a recent survey conducted by the Grocery Manufacturers
of America found that 74 percent of respondents claimed
to be following some form of low-carb diet, soda manufacturers
have jumped on the marketing opportunity. Coca-Cola
has introduced C2 which boasts half the sugar of regular
Coke. Pepsi has introduced Pepsi Edge, a similar product.
These "new" products are merely a mix between
their diet and regular counterparts. Diet soda's,
including C2 and Pepsi Edge, contain aspartame, sometimes
marketed as NutraSweet.
Aspartame, meanwhile, has been documented to have
over 92 different side effects ranging from seizures
to slurred speech. Aspartame, via methanol poisoning,
mimics the symptoms of Multiple Sclerosis, when individuals
experiencing these symptoms discontinued use of aspartame
products the symptoms dissipated. According to Dr.
Wurtman, a professor of neuroendocrinology at MIT,
an individual who consumes four to five aspartame
sweetened drinks per day for a prolonged period is
putting themselves at the risk of affecting their
brain's neurotransmitters. This interference can result
in irritability, moodswings, anxiety, insomnia, migraine
headaches and depression.
While the risks of aspartame appear great, the product
in diet sodas may also be responsible for promoting
weight gain — as counterintuitive as it may
seem. The sweet taste of diet soda creates a cephalic
phase response that causes the liver to prepare to
receive sugar. When no sugar appears, the liver prompts
the body to eat, which can result in increased hunger
and over eating. Diet sodas also contain caffeine.
Caffeine consumption can cause overindulgence when
the body confuses the hunger and thirst sensations.
Top beer producers have been quick to leap on the
low-carb boat. It started with Michelob Ultra, marketed
to people who work out. Then came others like Rolling
Rock's Green Light, products from Coors, and the reemergence
of Miller High Life Light. Even Miller Lite and Bud
Light reformatted their advertising techniques in
order to snare the low carb crowd.
Food producers know that if individuals are focusing
on carbs they are less likely to notice that new products
are extremely unhealthy. Advertisers are gunning for
you; their latest weapon exploits the low-carb craze.
Further, the fast food industry lobbied successfully
to protect itself from lawsuits alleging that consuming
their food was deleterious to health. This legislation,
known as the Personal Responsibility in Food Consumption
Act of 2003, known as the "Cheeseburger Bill,"
seeks to protect the food industry from lawsuits holding
them responsible for obesity or obesity-related diseases.
With federal protection, and clever marketing tools,
American food producers continue to act irresponsibly.
But they're just giving the consumer what they want;
low carbs, high flavor, high fat, and "healthiness."
Quoting former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer,
food producers should "watch what they say, watch
what they do;" these false claims can only lead
to troubles ahead.
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