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April 14. 2004 12:00AM


New 'Low-Carb' Foods Aren't All-You-Can-Eat

By MARIAN BURROS
New York Times





IN the last two years, more than 1,000 products labeled "low-carb" have made their way to the nation's grocery shelves, appealing to dieters' sense that they can snack to their hearts' content, as long as the snacks have no carbohydrates. But some scientists question whether that is true, or whether the products will do what nonfat foods did a decade ago: make people fatter.

To reduce the carbohydrates, most so-called low-carb products substitute soy flour or cellulose (not unlike wood pulp) for refined flour, artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols for sugar, high fructose corn syrup and the like.

The theory behind them, and low-carb diets in general, is that eating refined carbohydrates creates a surge in blood sugar, raising insulin. Insulin breaks down the sugar, making you hungry again. But eat protein, fat and fiber, and lay off the carbs, the theory goes, and you can eat your fill and still lose weight.

How much of these products you'll really want to eat is questionable. Taste is not their biggest selling point. Even an official of Frito-Lay, which is coming out with low-carb versions of Doritos, Cheetos and Tostitos, acknowledged that.

The products "would have an aftertaste because of the soy protein," said Lynn Markley, a senior vice president for communications at Frito-Lay. "But compared to similar low-carb products, they taste pretty darn good."

Some scientists and dieters fear that people will respond to the products the same way dieters a decade ago took to no-fat and low-fat foods, gorging with what they thought was impunity, and getting fatter in the process. Calories still count.

Dr. David Ludwig, an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the obesity program at Children's Hospital in Boston, said the products may make people feel a bit more full than "highly refined carbohydrate junk foods, but I don't recommend them."

Dr. Ludwig added, "If people overeat on these foods, they will not lose weight."

Even adherents of low-carb diets are divided about their usefulness.

Michelle Barrett, a low-carb dieter from Oak Park, Mich., doesn't like what she sees. "I've looked at the low-carb foods," Ms. Barrett said. "There are so many synthetic things in them and they don't taste very good, and there are more carbs than there should be. I'm afraid they are going to mess me up."

Others find prepared low-carb foods helpful. Dee Scott of Frisco, Texas, a media specialist for the local school district, said she and her husband rely on them. They make a shake with a drink mix from Atkins Nutritionals, the company that markets the Atkins diet, adding the sweetener Splenda and whipped cream. For lunch her husband has one of the prepared meals, a candy bar, a no-carb gelatin and a low-carb drink. For breakfast they have a low-carb cinnamon bar.

Dr. Arthur Agatston, who created the South Beach diet, is considering his own line of low-carb foods. Low-carb snacks filled with fiber, he said, are much better than high-carb snacks without fat; the former fill you up, the latter make you hungrier.

But he acknowledges that the trend can be overdone. "People may make their whole diet on low-carb processed foods and miss the nutrients from whole food," he said. "We really want people to have regular meals of whole foods."

Most of the products labeled low-carb now list their "net carbs" or "effective carbs" (total carbohydrates minus fiber and sugar alcohols) even though the Food and Drug Administration has no definition for those terms. Sugar alcohols like sorbitol, maltitol and lactitol are carbohydrates that are generally believed to have little impact on blood sugar levels. But there is some evidence to the contrary.

Sorting out the claims is an urgent concern for the agency. "It's a jungle out there," said Dr. Lester Crawford, acting commissioner. The agency has sent warning letters to some companies but has taken no legal action. Its report on carbohydrates has been delayed, but is coming out soon, the agency said.

In the meantime the Agriculture Department has issued guidelines for the products it regulates meat and poultry which permit the use of terms such as "carb conscious" and "carb wise," terms that do not imply a specific level of carbohydrates. The department also allows terms like net carb, effective carb and "net impact carbs," as long as the meaning of the terms is clearly defined.

The F.D.A. worked with the Agriculture Department to write those guidelines, which suggests it may approve of them.

In Canada, the government has just announced that no low-carb claims will be permitted on food labels and that all must be removed by next year.

The Grocery Manufacturers of America, a trade association, has filed a petition asking the Food and Drug Administration to define carbohydrate claims including "low-carb," which the organization says should mean no more than nine grams of total carbohydrates per serving.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition advocacy group that frequently criticizes the food industry, wants the Food and Drug Administration to prohibit the net carbs claim because the meaning is unclear.

Dr. Thomas Wolever, a professor in the department of nutritional sciences at the University of Toronto, and an expert in the field of carbohydrates and disease, said that despite claims to the contrary by some low-carb advocates, one sugar alcohol, maltitol, raises blood sugar significantly.

"Sugar alcohols have come on the market quite aggressively and it's very confusing," Dr. Wolever said. "The science is not good."

Barry Frake, director of research and development for George Weston Bakeries which owns several brands of baked goods including Entenmann's, said that maltitol is used in baking because it gives body to a recipe, unlike artificial sweeteners.

"When you calculate net carbs," he said, "it is industry practice not to calculate maltitol because it is not so rapidly released."

But Dr. Wolever said, "it's a big misconception to say maltitol does not raise blood sugar." The Food and Drug Administration has ordered one company to stop omitting maltitol from its calculations, saying, "it must be included in the value declared for total carbohydrate."

There are other concerns, too. Most products containing maltitol also include a disclaimer saying "Excessive consumption may cause laxative effect."

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I feel for the people that haven't found message boards like this one and have no clue of the effects of sugar alcohols.

Jenn