"Is the Low-Carb Craze Waning?"
 

http://content.health.msn.com/conte...e/90/100819.htm

Is the Low-Carb Craze Waning?
Survey Suggests Americans Tiring of Low-Carb Diets
by Daniel DeNoon

July 15, 2004 -- How low-carb can you go? Not much further, a new marketing survey suggests.

Every day seems to bring another low-carb product to grocery shelves. Low-carb beer is old hat. Low-carb colas fight for our soft drink dollars. And who hasn't yet tried a low-carb candy bar?

More low-carb products are waiting in the wings. But their makers may have missed the boat, says Lee Smith, president of InsightExpress, an online research firm. A new study by InsightExpress shows that half of Americans who've tried low-carb diets have given them up. Only one in 10 of us are on low-carb diets, the survey shows. And the trend is down, not up.

"The peak of the low-carb trend may have happened," Smith tells WebMD. "The trend is for people to think they don't want to go on a low-carb diet. They are starting not to purchase the low-carb products that are entering the marketplace."

The low-carb craze has gone on for an unusually long time, says Don Montuori, editor for Packaged Fact Reports at MarketResearch.com, a market analysis company.

"Personally, I am shocked that the low-carb craze had such legs," Montuori tells WebMD. "On the one hand, the idea you can eat all the meat and eggs and cheese you want -- that is hard not to like. But no cookies or bread? We are a wheat-loving country. Processed wheats are the carbs we like to eat."

Carbs Fading From Consumer Radar?

The InsightExpress survey included a random sample of 500 people recruited over the Internet in a 48-hour period during early July 2004. The survey has an error range of plus or minus 4%.

Which nutritional traits do consumers think is important? According to the survey:

40% consider a food's total calorie content.

37% consider a food's total fat content.

32% consider a food's calories from fat.

31% consider a food's cholesterol content.

30% consider a food's total carbohydrate content.

29% consider a food's sodium content.

19% consider a food's protein content.

Four out of five Americans have never been on a low-carb diet, the survey shows. Only one in five say they'd think about buying a low-carb product. And fewer than a third of survey respondents say they'd be more likely to buy a low-carb version of their favorite food.

"People have the perception that low-carb diets are not healthy, or that these diets may not help them control their weight," Smith says.

Exercise, Energy Gaining Ground

Of all the most popular diet approaches, the one consumers seem to like best is Weight Watchers, the survey suggests.

But when it comes to losing weight, only 25% said diets were the way to go. More than 60% of survey respondents endorsed exercise as the best thing to try. Nearly as many endorsed a change in eating habits, and half said eating healthier, more nutritious foods would do the trick.

"The best news is that most people know that the best way to control their weight is to exercise more," Smith says.

If Smith is right, and the carb craze is ending, what's next?

"Trans fats will be the next big thing," Montuori predicts.

My comments
 

I noticed that there was an older thread about the survey mentioned in this article, but I wanted to post this more for the stupid conclusions it draws than the survey itself.

There are so many things I could say about this article, but I guess my main complaint is that I'm insulted by the presumption that I (Jane Q. Public) would make health-related choices based on consumer trends. Whatever!

Also, Mr. Insight-guy, don't tell me trans-fats are "the next big thing." That's moronic. I've been aware of the health risks of trans-fats and trying to avoid them since 1996, long before I knew what the Atkins diet was, and I know that many other people (medical professionals and laypeople) were on to TF long before then. It's a health issue, not a trend or fad. Duh!


P.S. I have steaks under my name! When did that happen? :D

If they aren't low carbing, why would they? Unless they were low carbing...

Of course, maybe they want to make sure they are getting ENOUGH!

"On the one hand, the idea you can eat all the meat and eggs and cheese you want --:lol: :rolleyes:

"But no cookies or bread? We are a wheat-loving country. Processed wheats are the carbs we like to eat." :bash:

I really really really have to stop reading these articles....

I agree Trinsdad. What is the point? We found what works for us. Why should we CARE what the media, or the neighborhood knowitalls or the RD blowhards think?

All it does is irk me. Gotta stop reading this tripe.


And, this article. These dimwits have somehow decided that the low-carb. . . 'craze' . . . is slowing because sales of those pretend, faked, 'low-carb' foods are waning. Maybe so, but all that means is people aren't buying that junk any more.

Me, I've been buying low-carb foods for YEARS. Broccoli. Lamb. Chicken. Salmon. Blueberries. Eggs. Kale. Beef. Romaine. Beef. Pork. Asparagus. . . . . . .


My low-carb . . . . 'craze'. . . . isn't waning.

If the market for low carb products is collapsing, then why then did Dreyer's buy Silouette ice cream on Monday?

Any of the following could explain things:

(1) The "collapse" of the low carb market is a infinitessimal shift in %ages in surveys.

(2) The "collapse" of the low carb market is ginned up by Kellogg's, Pepsico, and other Consumer Package Good Companies to explain why their so-called "low carb" labeled products are not selling.

(3) Dreyer's is stupid and rushing into the market based on inadequate market research.

(4) The '"low carb" market is really fixated on unprocessed products.

(5) The low carb market is not in fact collapsing.

(6) Both (4) and (5).

I vote that we just don't buy the sh*t they are pushing, that's why its not selling.

THERE ARE POLLS AND POLLS

1. Press release (MSNhealth ''Is the low carb craze waning" - InsightExpress poll, an online research firm conducted July 2004)
http://content.health.msn.com/conte...e/90/100819.htm

2. Opinion Dynamics Poll results (The success of low carb diets - poll conducted May 2004, March 2004, and February 2004)
http://www.opiniondynamics.com/lowcarb.html

3. Press release (WebMDhealth - Poll: More americans cutting back on carbs - Gallup Poll, conducted July 8-11, 2004)
http://my.webmd.com/content/article...9531713CA348%7D

4. Insightexpress survey methodology (e-mail online not a telephone survey)
http://www.insightexpress.com/ix/vi...p?rnd=0.3019068