No carbs for you!

Companies are rushing to put out products that cater to diet programs

By Naomi Aoki, Globe Staff, 1/11/2004

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Everyone from Subway Restaurants to Anheuser-Busch is jumping on board the low-carb bandwagon this New Year just in time to help folks with that evergreen resolution to shed unwanted pounds.

But dieter beware. Cutting carbohydrates is no magic ride to thin, fit, and healthy. Not at least according to nutritionists who simply refuse to budge from their trying old weight loss formula: Eat less and exercise more.

"The problem is who wants to hear that," said Randi Konikoff Beranbaum, a registered dietician at Tufts University's Friedman School of Nutrition in Boston. "And who doesn't want to eat a bacon double cheese burger?"

Estimates vary widely. Some surveys suggest more than 30 million people are on low-carbohydrate, high protein diets like Atkins with another 100 million people limiting their intake of bread, pasta, and other carb-loaded foods. Other studies peg the number of dieters at closer to 10 million. But what is clear is that the low-carb craze is growing -- fast.

In the past year, the percentage of Americans who identified carbohydrates as a diet no-no grew to 40 from 11, according to a survey by Unilever Bestfoods, maker of products like Ragu spaghetti sauce, Lipton tea and Hellmann's mayonnaise. In September, research firm NPD Group Inc. found 3.6 percent of Americans on low-carb diets, up from 1 percent just six months earlier.

"Without a question, 2004 is the year that low carb moves from the diet ghetto to mainstream America," said Dean Rotbart, executive editor of newsletter LowCarbiz.

Baker Sara Lee rang in the New Year by introducing its "low-carb" breads, which boast 9 grams of carbohydrates per slice compared to 15 grams in a regular slice of bread. Carb Options, Unilever's line of low-carb sauces, candy bars, and salad dressings is just hitting store shelves. Rolling Rock's low-carb brew, Rock Green Light, reached stores late last year. Anheuser-Busch rolled out its low-carb Michelob Ultra nationwide in October, selling three times as much of the beer last year as the brewing company expected.

In December alone, Hardee's and Carl's Jr. began selling a bunless, lettuce-wrapped hamburger. TGI Friday's restaurants introduced an Atkins-approved menu, including buffalo wings, spinach dip, a plate of two cheeseburgers minus the bun, and chicken with broccoli. Subway began selling two Atkins-friendly wraps -- the Turkey and Bacon Melt Wrap, with Monterey cheddar cheese, and the Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap, with Swiss cheese -- two days before the New Year.

"This is something we've been working on for quite a bit," said Subway spokesman Les Winograd. "But I'm sure the timing wasn't a small coincidence."

Even more products are in the works. Heinz is introducing a low-carb ketchup. Next month, Bruegger's Bagels begins testing a bagel with one-third the carbs of a regular bagel. Coors Brewing Co. is launching its own low-carb beer in March. Pizza Hut is considering a low-carb, crustless pizza.

Companies are lowering the carbohydrate counts of foods by replacing carb-loaded ingredients -- essentially sugars and starches -- with lower-carb alternatives. The Carb Options version of Skippy peanut butter uses the sweetener Splenda instead of refined sugar, for instance. Sara Lee said it uses more water and fewer sugars to make its low-carb Delightful wheat and white breads.

The low-carb onslaught is part defense and part offense on the part of restaurants and food companies. They are protecting against losses of once-popular but now demonized high-carb foods as well as trying to capitalize on their growth.

Rotbart of LowCarbiz estimates the market for low-carb products exceeded $15 billion in 2003 when tallying sales of books, nutritional supplements, food, and classes. Counting only food products, Unilever said, the low-carb market could grow to more than $1 billion next year from $352 million last year.

Meanwhile, many traditional weight loss and fitness companies are struggling. Weight Watchers International Inc. cut its 2003 profit forecast in August. Revenue at diet company NutriSystem Inc. slumped by 11 percent in the first nine months of last year. Membership revenue at Bally Total Fitness Holding Corp., owner of 420 health clubs, fell 7 percent during the first nine months of last year compared to the same period in 2002 and profit fell 84 percent, according to regulatory filings.

"Low-carb is just another fad diet," said Dr. Caroline M. Apovian, director of Boston University's Center for Nutrition and Weight Management.

Made up of simple and complex sugars, carbohydrates are the body's primary source of fuel. The body breaks down all carbohydrates into simple sugars, burning some for energy and storing the rest as fat for future use. Though carbs such as candy, cake, and syrups are considered "empty calories" providing energy but few nutrients, complex carbohydrates such as grains and vegetables are packed with a healthy dose of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

By reducing the intake of carbohydrates, Atkins and other high-protein diets encourage the body to burn protein and fat rather than carbohydrates for fuel. Many nutritionists warn that people on low-carb, high-protein diets don't get enough fiber and vegetables while eating too many foods such as beef and bacon that are loaded with unhealthy saturated fats.

And though the diets might be more appealing than working out or eating lots of vegetables, analysts say, there's no guarantee the low-carb craze might not go the way of low-fat, low-salt, and low-caffeine fads of the past two decades. While most Americans would benefit by shedding some carbs from their diet, nutritionists like Apovian and Beranbaum say they won't lose weight over the long haul by trading carbs for calories and fat. And if people don't end up losing weight and keeping it off, the fad will eventually die out.

Take the case of two Subway sandwiches. The Atkins-Friendly Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap has 40 grams fewer carbohydrates than its Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki sandwich, but packs an extra 100 calories and 7.5 grams of saturated fat. Those extra calories represent about a pound over the course of a month, Beranbaum said. And though no studies have been done on the long-term health effects of high-protein, low-carb diets like Atkins, saturated fats are known to increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. As is the case with so many diet fads, however, the evidence is contradictory.

"Consumers are so confused at this point," said Kathleen Seiders, an associate professor of marketing at Boston College. "They believe everything and nothing." Nutritionists have preached fewer calories and more exercise for the last 20 years, a message that has failed the 64.5 percent of Americans who are overweight, said Colette Heimowitz, vice president of education and research for Atkins Nutritionals Inc.

She said the Atkins diet includes "good" carbohydrates such as fiber and vegetables, and warns against health hazards such as fried foods and trans fatty acids, or trans fats, a type of fat associated with heart disease and typically found in processed baked goods.

Moreover, she said, a person eating fewer carbs burns more fat, thereby avoiding the health risks of someone eating lots of fat and carbs.

And contrary to popular misconception, she said, "Atkins isn't a license to gorge."

After all, no diet is perfect.

Naomi Aoki can be reached at naoki~globe.com.