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Breadmakers feel pain from Atkins diet
Pennlive.com ^ | Nov 8 2003 | DAVID SHARP, AP

Posted on 11/08/2003 12:04:57 PM PST by carlo3b

 

Breadmakers feel pain from Atkins diet

By DAVID SHARP
The Associated Press
11/8/2003, 1:18 p.m. ET

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Some bakers around the country are seeing a similar drop in business: With millions of people trying the diet created by the late low-carb guru Dr. Robert Atkins, overall bread sales are flat or down slightly, while bread-bashing seems to be at an all-time high.

A sign in Stephen Lanzalotta's bakery reads, "Senza il pane tutto diventa orfano." In Italian, that means, "Without bread everyone's an orphan."

But fewer customers are buying his European-style breads and pastries these days — thanks to the Atkins diet, many regulars are cutting back on carbohydrates. Lanzalotta says the low-carb diet has contributed to an estimated 40 percent drop in business at his shop, Sophia's.

Some customers have even stopped by to apologize.

"They'll say, 'I'm sorry. I haven't been in for six months because I'm on the Atkins diet,'" said Lanzalotta, whose muscular arms are a testament to long hours spent kneading dough.

The National Bread Leadership Council, which says 40 percent of Americans are eating less bread than a year ago, has scheduled what it calls a summit this month in Rhode Island focusing in part on low-carb diets and how to educate the public that breaking bread is still part of a healthy lifestyle.

"It's too bad that we just can't eat all foods in moderation. But no, we have to do something dramatic all the time," said Judi Adams, president of the Wheat Foods Council and a registered dietician, referring to the Atkins diet. "We have to look for this magic bullet."

Estimates of the number of Americans on low-carb diets vary widely, from 5 million to 50 million. Their boycott of bread has exacerbated a sluggish sales trend that was in place before low-carb diets became popular, said John McMillin, a food industry analyst with Prudential Equity Group Inc. in New York.

When Lanzalotta opened his bakery, bread accounted for 75 percent of sales. Now it accounts for just 15 percent. He boosted his dessert offerings and began offering sandwiches to try to make up the difference. He also adapted by selling artwork, including his own paintings.

At Standard Baking, co-owner Alison Pray said sales are nearly flat after previously growing 10 percent to 15 percent a year.

Pray sees plenty of couples stopping by, but often only one partner is eating. The other is cutting carbs.

She's a bit incredulous when customers ask if she produces anything consistent with the Atkins diet. "This one person asked me, 'Can you make a low-carbohydrate bread?' I said, 'I wouldn't know how to do it,'" she said.

Others are adapting. At Anthony's Italian Kitchen, owner Tony Barassa said his customers are ordering Syrian wraps without the wrap and panini sandwiches without the panini. They're also ordering meatballs without the spaghetti.

On Atkins, people can eat cheese, eggs and meat as long as they strictly limit carbohydrates and avoid refined carbs like white flour. White bread, pasta, potatoes and other carbo-loaded foods are blacklisted. The diet was once scorned by the medical establishment, but recent studies have shown that people lose weight without compromising their health.

The Wheat Food Council's Adams, who is based in Colorado, believes low-carb diets are just another fad. And she wonders if they're really helping.

She noted that the nation's obesity rate has continued to grow as flour consumption has declined. Wheat flour consumption has dropped by about 10 pounds a year per person since 1997, she said, calling Americans' tendency to eat too much of everything the real problem.

"We eat 300 more calories a day than we did in 1985," Adams said. "We supersize everything. We eat constantly."

Big Sky Baking Co. in Portland appears to have avoided the worst of the low-carb fallout because its whole wheat bread is the kind recommended for carb-cutters who can't resist a slice every now and again.

Owner Martha Elkus recognizes that times are changing. "The food pyramid has been turned upside down," she said.

Bread bakers aren't the only ones hurting. The pasta industry, the tortilla industry, bagel makers and even brewers of beer have taken their lumps for having too many carbohydrates.

The Tortilla Industry Association held a seminar last spring titled, "An Industry in Crisis: The High-protein, Low-carb Diet and Its Effects on the Tortilla Industry." The National Pasta Association has a "Diet Matters" section on its Web page that focuses on low-carb diets.

Joshua Sosland, executive editor of Milling and Baking News in St. Louis, said it's difficult for consumers to find good information amidst all of the hype that served to overshadow the science behind the diets. Often overlooked is the fact that bread and grains remain an important part of the federal government's diet guidelines.

"Here we have about the most healthy thing in the diet," Sosland said, "and it's being treated like it's poison."

Bakers are changing their products even as they seek to get out the message that bread remains part of a healthy lifestyle.

Flowers Foods' low-carb bread, "Nature's Own Wheat 'n Fiber," has proven to be the company's most successful new product launch to date, said Mary Krier, spokeswoman in Thomasville, Ga.

George Weston Bakeries Inc. has launched "Carb Counting" bread under its Arnold label that carries the Atkins seal. Maine-based Lepage Bakeries has introduced Country Kitchen "Lower Carb" wheat bread.

Panera Bread, a fast-growing chain that offers soups, salads and sandwiches in addition to bread, is also making changes to meet the evolving tastes of its customers. The company is testing three whole-grain breads with fewer grams of carbohydrates per slice.

"Our view of it is not to resist (the low-carb trend) but to recognize it as a real niche," CEO Ron Shaich said.



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events; Political Humor/Cartoons; Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: atkins; beef; bread; breadfoodnazis; carbohydrates; carbs; diabetes; diets; fat; fatpeople; fatso; fatsos; fatties; health; herewegoagain; lowcarbs; meat; morbidlyobese; morbidobesity; nutrition; obese; obesity; typeiidiabetes
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To: Graybeard58
I haven't read all the posts, please forgive me if this has been covered.

I heard a nutrionist on the tube say that the number of carbs neccessary for a healthy diet is exactly zero and that the nutrients you get that come with carb laden foods are easily obtained from other foods.

Don't know if it's true or not, I am not a nutrionist.
181 posted on 11/10/2003 8:25:21 AM PST by Graybeard58
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To: Conservababe
Has anyone told you yet where to get the book? I didn't read all hte posts, so I don't know. No, the Atkins diet isn't an urban legend. Atkins has a website where you can get information, and the books are available at any bookstore. I got mine from amazon.com. I think I even saw "The New Diet Revolution" by Dr. Atkins at Costco. HERE is a page from the Atkins Center website where you can buy a paperback version of The New Diet Revolution. Shipping is pretty pricey, though. You may just want find a copy when you're out and about.
182 posted on 11/10/2003 8:53:28 AM PST by .38sw
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To: Graybeard58
Its true, your body will make carbos from protein but not the other way around.
183 posted on 11/10/2003 8:56:38 AM PST by waverna (Life is short; Remember Death)
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To: carlo3b
Atkins has worked wonderfully for me--but I still have kids I can bake for!

There is also an opportunity out there for boutique-style artisan bakers to confront the challenge of reduced-carb bakery.

Sugar does such wonderful things chemically and physically--carmelizng and adding texture to baked goods. It's just plain hard to bake without it, though the substitutes are better than they have ever been.

Making fluffy biscuits and scones is hard with the high-protein flours that locarb baking requires.

But with the increased interest in cookery, evinced by the Food and HGTV stations--surely there's an innovator out there!

184 posted on 11/10/2003 9:03:04 AM PST by Mamzelle
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To: SamAdams76
re: One thing I notice among fellow normal-carbers such as myself on these threads. Many of them are looking for "low-carb" substitutes of foods they just shouldn't be eating in the first place. Ice cream, pies, cakes, cookies, candies, etc. I find it easier just to give that stuff up once and for all. )))

You have a good poing. I did do without these things for almost a year with little problem--and no one loved taters and bread more than I. But having a sandwich (Nature's Own, 5 impacting g's of carbs) does add to a sense of "normalcy." Something to hold your devilled ham...

Nabisco's Snackwell's Sugar Free Shortbread is mighty nice to have with some hot tea.

Variety keeps me on track--and I'm happy to find a few treats now at the grocery store.

Breyer's sugar-free, but blessedly high-fat, ice cream...chocolate...

185 posted on 11/10/2003 9:13:38 AM PST by Mamzelle
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To: SamAdams76
And you have a good point, too...(g)
186 posted on 11/10/2003 9:14:34 AM PST by Mamzelle
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To: carlo3b
Thanks for the ping, Carlo. I'm gonna get on a short rant here, regarding the naysayers about Atkins, and how Atkins is dangerous. Some people say that Atkins can cause kidney disease. Nope. The problem comes in when a person who HAS kidney disease due to health problems like high blood pressue and diabetes eat a high protein diet. Damaged kidneys can't handle the nitrogen load produced by a high protein diet. But the high protein diet doesn't CAUSE kidney disease. Healthy kidneys can handle it. The experience of people on the Atkins diet is that their blood pressure goes down with the weight loss, as does the liklihood of developing diabetes. Obesity and lack of exercise is a huge cause of adult-onset diabetes. Control your weight and get some exercise, and your liklihood of developing Type II diabetes is greatly reduced, therebly reducing the liklihood of developing kidney disease due to diabetes or high blood pressure. Seems like a simple concept to me.
187 posted on 11/10/2003 9:23:27 AM PST by .38sw
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To: Graybeard58
I do not believe that it is ever healthy to remove entire food groups from your diet for any prolonged period of time. A healthy diet is one that has balance between protein, carbs and fats and includes a wide variety of foods, PLUS EXERCISE.

Atkins, and modifications of that method do not shut down Carbs completely, they say, and quite correctly IMO, that too many Carbs will cause too many problems. The same could be said for fats! It's the balance that Atkins discovered was the problems..

That appears to be the struggle that he had with the medical commute, it turns their pyramid on it's head.. They have for years had Carbs a the base of the foundation of a healthy diet, well that became the problem.. They also condemned meat consumption.. I now believe that they were corrupted by the "save the animal, at the experience of whatever else". That corruption caused millions of people their lives, and would continue if it wasn't for doctors and people of courage that forced the issue, and changed the direction.
 
 

188 posted on 11/10/2003 9:23:37 AM PST by carlo3b (http://www.CookingWithCarlo.com)
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To: carlo3b
"This one person asked me, 'Can you make a low-carbohydrate bread?' I said, 'I wouldn't know how to do it,'" she said.

Learn or die, lady. High-tech companies face this every day.

Often overlooked is the fact that bread and grains remain an important part of the federal government's diet guidelines.

The Federal Government is heartily encouraged to blow this, along with everything else it meddles in, right out its a$$.

189 posted on 11/10/2003 9:25:53 AM PST by Hank Rearden (Dick Gephardt. Before he dicks you.)
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To: Mamzelle
Just you watch, there will be many good cooks, and Chefs that will develop great replacements for the familiar carb flavors.. Next, major corporations will put their vast resources to create fabulous low cost, low carb foods.

Until that happens, within 5 years, there exists is vacuum that will be filled by enterprising entrepreneur, and we will all make them wealthy.. Been there, and done that..  :)

190 posted on 11/10/2003 9:36:22 AM PST by carlo3b (http://www.CookingWithCarlo.com)
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To: carlo3b
There is also a potential to reduce sugar greatly, but still take advantage of a small amount. For instance, when I locarb bake cookies(and I hardly ever)--I cream the butter with about a teaspoon of sugar to break down the butter and add air--also put in the salt at this point. Then use faux sugar, but sprinkle some sanding sugar on the finished cookie. Next time I make my sugar-free brulee, I'm going to add a bit of sugar to the top and try broiling it.

People on maintenance can have more carbs than when in the weight-losing stage--

191 posted on 11/10/2003 9:44:56 AM PST by Mamzelle
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To: ClintonBeGone
Do you have a recipe for low carb homemake vanilla ice cream? Please share if you do.
192 posted on 11/10/2003 10:00:57 AM PST by Library Lady
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To: .38sw
Everything in your rant is true, and I hope everyone that needs to, reads it.. Thank you..
193 posted on 11/10/2003 10:02:29 AM PST by carlo3b (http://www.CookingWithCarlo.com)
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To: carlo3b
Please include me on you ping list. Many thanks.
194 posted on 11/10/2003 10:51:49 AM PST by Library Lady
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To: .38sw
Bumping your rant as I also think many need to read it. I dodged a Type II bullet by going on a normal-carb diet. At my last pre-diet physical, I was told by my doctor that I was "borderline" Type II diabetic. I was over 100 pounds overweight, had high pressure and was tired all the time (physically).

Do you think the doctor asked me what my diet was like? Hell no. All he did was tell me in a jocular manner that I should "take a little weight off" (like I didn't know that) and that I should "hit the salad bar more often." In other words, I should go on the traditional low-fat diet.

That was about two years ago. I went another year of avoiding stuff like bacon and eggs in favor of pancakes without the butter and syrup and dry toast. Instead of ordering steak in a restaurant (what I really wanted), I'd get a pasta dish or fish with rice. I thought I was making the right choices because everybody was preaching on how bad fats were.

Fortunately I discovered the low-carb threads on Free Republic and started participating. At first, I was a skeptic. It didn't make sense to me. But finally around the end of March, when I returned from a business trip having gained over five pounds, I was at my wits end. I now weighed in at around 300 pounds. Which was 115 pounds over what a man of my height (6'3") should weight. My waist size was now 48 and I started buying size 50 pants because loose pants made me feel better - they allowed me to fool myself into thinking I wasn't so fat after all.

So in spite of my skepticism of the normal-carb way of eating, I decided to give it a try. After all, every other diet I tried failed miserably (even when combined with exercise).

BTW, you might be confused with me calling this a "normal-carb" way of eating. This is because I think "low-carb" is the wrong way to describe it. I eat carbs. I just don't eat the ridiculous amount that the government says you should eat under that food pyramid. I think the problem is that we have set the threshold too high for carbs. The average American eats 425g of carb a day. I was eating over 600g of carb a day easy during my fat days.

Well since April, I have reduced my carb intake to 100g or less. I didn't do this consciously. That is, I didn't walk around all day with a notepad counting carbs like some folks do with fat or calories. I simply cut all the junk out of my diet. All the sugary junk. Fast food. Processed food. By sticking to natural foods like meat, fish, vegetables, eggs, berries, nuts, yogurt, etc., I automatically limit my carbs to a tolerable level.

This isn't Atkins officially. I don't think I ever went into ketosis. But it's the same basic idea: By reducing my carb intake, I have forced my body to burn fat instead. I have accelerated the fat burning by incorporating two workouts a day into my schedule. I get up at 5AM and walk for an hour. I then walk another hour either at lunch or right after work. So I walk (briskly) for two hours a day at a 4mph pace. That's at least 8 miles a day right there. And on weekend, I usually do more than that.

So you don't have to be a gym rat or an athlete to boost your metabolism. Just walking two hours a day will do it. This exercise, combined with the normal carb diet, allowed me to lose over 100 pounds in just over 7 months. It works.

And if I hear any skeptic prattle on about how eliminating food groups are bad for you, I ask "what food groups"? I eat more vegetables than I ever did before. I eat berries every day. So what food groups are you talking about? Domino's Pizza? Reese's Peanut Butter Cups? Lay's Potato Chips? Donuts? Cakes? Candy? Those are the only kind of food groups that I cut out.

195 posted on 11/10/2003 11:04:47 AM PST by SamAdams76 (198.8 (-101.2))
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To: jennyp
You know, I think part of the problem is everyone's trying to reach the lowest net carbs per slice possible. But since most standard breads come in at 14-18 grams per slice, if they only brought it down to 8 grams net that would still be a big improvement.

There is a good 100% whole wheat bread by Nature's Own that is 10g Carb, 3g fiber, net carb 7g per slice that is very good. They make several lower carb choices but the loaves are smaller and more expensive and none lower in net carbs except their Low Carb bread, only by 2g carb though. That low carb bread contains soy flour and I can't stand it so I settle for the 2 extra carbs.

Nature's Own

196 posted on 11/10/2003 11:31:14 AM PST by CajunConservative
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To: Mamzelle
Nabisco's Snackwell's Sugar Free Shortbread is mighty nice to have with some hot tea. Variety keeps me on track--and I'm happy to find a few treats now at the grocery store. Breyer's sugar-free, but blessedly high-fat, ice cream...chocolate...

Russell Stover's sugar free chocolates are pretty good too. My favorites are the Pecan Delight and the toffee squares.

Sugar Free Chocolates

197 posted on 11/10/2003 11:45:48 AM PST by CajunConservative
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To: Hank Rearden
Steamed Clams
  • 6 dozen clams (if open, tap on shell. if it does not close, toss it)
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 cup melted butter
  • chopped parsley
With metal brush, under running cold water, scrubs clams free of
sand.  In steamer over high heat, heat enough water to cover bottom
to boiling. On rack in steamer, place clams. Cover steamer with
tight fitting lid. reduce heat to low and steam clams just until
they open. approximately 5-10 minutes. Serve clams in soup bowls
with melted butter on the side.. Pour broth from clams into mugs
or large bowl.  Sprinkle with parsley.

To eat: with fingers pull clams from shells by neck. dip first in
broth to remove any sand, then into butter (all except the tough
skin of the neck may be eaten. when sand settles to bottom, the
broth may be drunk, if desired.


198 posted on 11/10/2003 11:50:25 AM PST by carlo3b (http://www.CookingWithCarlo.com)
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To: carlo3b
The obvious answer is to make more bread with lower carbs. I found some that is outrageously expensive at 3 grams a slice and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I also found some with 6 grams a slice that has less fiber and it is good too. I've had a good time making grilled cheese sandwiches and French freedom toast for the last week or so.
199 posted on 11/10/2003 12:27:18 PM PST by RJayneJ
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To: Marysecretary
"Ezekiel Bread is wonderfully healthy. I try to get hubby to buy it when he goes to Wegman's in Syracuse. I'm salivating at the thought. I hope he goes in soon! M "

:-) My husband's favorite brown bag to take to work is two peanut butter sandwiches made with the raisin cinnamon. Neither of us can stand the bakery bread anymore. There's just nothing to it! While there are more carbs listed on the label of the Ezekiel bread than are allowed on the induction phases of ATkins, my guess is that for maintenance, they are good. I lost 30 pounds a few years ago with basically a low carb approach, and have kept it off. I've been using the Ezekial bread during my maintenance time.
200 posted on 11/10/2003 1:51:55 PM PST by TEXOKIE (Hold fast what thou hast received!)
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