Posted on Fri, Feb. 27, 2004
Highs and lows of controlling carbs
Atkins craze hits local groceries, restaurants as dieters buy in
By Jennifer L. Boen of The News-Sentinel
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/8057806.htm
Carb control. It could lead to a need for crowd control in some restaurants and grocery stores. Foods and menu items touted as low in carbohydrates are the hottest things going, say local grocery and restaurant managers.
"Every day, there are new low-carb products being produced. There's low-carb pasta, low-carb pancakes, low-carb bread. It's permeated every kind of food," said Jeff Golc, spokesman for the Kroger Co.'s central market, which includes Indiana, Illinois and parts of Missouri, Ohio and Michigan. "It is now one of the fastest-growing categories in our grocery market," he said.
In a recent four-page color ad inserted in both local newspapers, Kroger advertised nothing but low-carb products, including an array of "Carb Options" brand items, as well as the better-known and more expensive Atkins brand. A loaf of Natural Grains brand "restricted carb" bread sells for 99 cents a loaf. An Atkins loaf is $4.49.
"There are options, but the Atkins name has magic to it. It has branding power," Golc said.
A cardiologist by training, the late Dr. Robert Atkins wrote 13 books, including "Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution" (1972) and the "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" (1992, updated in 2002), which laid the foundation for an approach to preventing obesity and diabetes through strict carbohydrate control. The diet pays more attention to counting grams of carbohydrates than to counting grams of fat and calories.
According to the nonprofit trade group Calorie Control Council, an estimated 25 million Americans are on the Atkins or other low-carb diets.
Scott's Foods has had to make room in the store's Natural and Organic section for low-carb items, said Bonnie Reed, advertising and brand manager for the company, which has 11 Allen County stores. Scott's also stocks low-carb products on the regular shelves.
"It's definitely in demand. Sales are very good. Every day, we're getting more and more products. It was low-fat. Now it's low-carb. These things kind of transition in and out," Reed said.
"A year or two ago it was water," Golc said. "We began selling every kind of water."
He says all the attention given to America's ever-expanding collective waistline is fueling the low-carb craze.
"There is a national problem with obesity. Everybody's saying it. They're saying it about our kids and saying it about adults."
How restaurants are handling it
Local restaurants have not been outdone in the low-carb craze. A number are using the Atkins name to advertise their low-carb fare -- without permission from Atkins Nutritionals Inc., a multimillion-dollar company selling low-carb convenience foods, supplements, baked goods, snacks and condiments based on Dr. Atkins' guidelines.
"The only (businesses) we've officially endorsed are T.G.I. Friday's and Subway," said company spokeswoman Gina Mangiaracina.
T.G.I. Friday's restaurants approached Atkins Nutritionals last summer to collaboratively work on developing Atkins menu choices, said Amy Freshwater, spokeswoman for the restaurant chain.
"We were hearing from a lot of general managers that they were 'Atkinizing' the basic menu," substituting a side of broccoli for fries, for example, Freshwater said. The menu was introduced in December.
"It's been incredibly successful," she said. "We have people who are coming in who haven't been into a Friday's for a while."
Seeing the Friday's commercials about the Atkins menu has drawn Fort Wayne resident David Jurenka, 27, into the restaurant several times in the last few weeks. Jurenka started the Atkins diet Jan. 5 and has lost 16 pounds so far.
"I've kept to it really closely," he said, noting he has given up the fast-food burgers and fries that were staples for years.
"I eat out about 75 percent of the time," said Jurenka, who is single and travels for his job. He's also given up the five to six cans of sweetened soda he was drinking daily.
Although only Friday's and Subway are allowed to use the trademark red 'A' next to Atkins menu items, it hasn't deterred a variety of locally owned fast-food and casual-dining restaurants from advertising the Atkins name on menus and marquees. Some just leave the potatoes or bread off the dinner plate. Others serve a bunless sandwich or offer vegetables instead of French fries.
At least one local chain, Hall's Restaurants, is using the Atkins name, although not the logo, on its breakfast menu. It reads:
"Atkins Breakfast -- Sort Of," with three eggs, any style; two sausage links; two strips of bacon; and wheat toast.
The plan
Atkins Nutritionals, first called Atkins Complementary Formulations, was founded by Atkins in 1989. In April 2003, the Journal of the American Medical Association reported on weight-loss studies involving individuals adhering to a strict low-carb diet. The studies found the most significant long-term weight loss was associated more with length of the diet, the person's pre-diet weight and the overall number of calories consumed rather than a reduction in carbohydrate intake alone.
Atkins critics say the diet ignores the amount of high-fat meats and dairy products that can be consumed.
But the Atkins Nutritionals Web site calls such thinking a "myth," arguing if a controlled carbohydrate eating plan is followed correctly, fatty-acid triglycerides are lowered, and they are a stronger predictor of coronary heart disease than cholesterol.
The Atkins Nutritional Approach states people can consume 1,800 to 2,000 calories daily -- men even more -- and still lose weight if they significantly reduce carbohydrates.
Misti Evans, registered dietitian and supervisor of Lutheran Hospital's Weight Management Center, said for successful weight loss, dieters cannot ignore total calorie intake.
"The simple equation is the calories (consumed) have to be less than the calories you are burning off. I think that's where the message gets lost in the low-carb diets," she said.
But Evans acknowledges Americans eat too many carbohydrates and thinks low-carb choices are a good thing.
"We're a starchy society, but we still need to remember those things we learned through the low-fat craze," she said. "Three pieces of fried chicken and green beans is still not a heart-healthy diet."
She cautions that one reason people on low-carb diets may not feel hungry is because they're consuming a lot of fat, giving them a sensation of fullness. Atkins proponents say controlling carbohydrates helps level off blood sugar, which prevents hunger cravings.
Jurenka said although he's restricting his carb consumption to 15 to 20 grams a day, "I really think I'm eating more but probably not eating as many calories overall."
According to the American Dietetic Association, the recommended amount of carbohydrates per meal is 30-45 grams, with a few more coming from between-meal snacks, for a recommended daily total of 120 grams.
It's better to increase exercise than drop too far below in carbohydrates, Evans recommends.
When it comes to losing weight, "Everybody wants a quick fix. Everybody's jumping on the Atkins thing, but Atkins is making money. You have to remember that."
People may think they're soothing their diet psyches by skipping breakfast, eating a high-fat hamburger and fries for lunch and then dining on an advertised, low-carb meal at the neighborhood restaurant in the evening.
"But ignoring what you eat for breakfast and lunch and doing the low-carb thing at dinner," Evans said, "isn't going to keep you healthy."
On The Net:
American Dietetics Association: www.eatright.org
Food and Nutrition Information Center: www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/
Calorie Control Council, a nonprofit trade association of food manufacturers: www.caloriecontrol.org and www.caloriescount.com
"Highs and lows of controlling carbs"
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