Posted on 07/14/2004 4:23:35 PM PDT by Nachum
NEW YORK (Reuters) - So much for the low-carbohydrate lifestyle.
More than half of all U.S. consumers that have tried following diets that eschew carbs such as bread and sugar have given up, a survey released on Wednesday found, and interest in the popular regimens appears to have plateaued.
According to research firm InsightExpress, which conducted the survey online, fewer than 10 percent of Americans are currently on popular low-carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins, South Beach and The Zone.
In contrast, a survey conducted in December of last year by Opinion Dynamics Corporation found that, at the time, 11 percent of Americans were on low-carb diets.
The latest InsightExpress poll of 500 Americans also found that of survey participants who were not following low-carb diets, fewer than one in five would consider buying a low-carb product because they perceive a diet low in carbs to be unhealthy.
That's unwelcome news for U.S. food companies such as H.J. Heinz Co. and General Mills Inc. that have scrambled in the past year to keep up with the low-carb trend by reformulating staples such as ketchup, cereal and yogurt to reduce their carbohydrate content.
In fact, Legg Mason beverage analyst Mark Swartzberg said on Wednesday that sales of mid-calorie colas recently introduced by both PepsiCo Inc. and Coca-Cola Co. "are either slow builds or something closer to dead on arrival."
In a research note, Swartzberg said the findings were based on feedback from 51 U.S. retailers who had devoted shelf space to Coke's C2 and Pepsi's Pepsi Edge colas. The products, launched in June, were intended to appeal to calorie- and carb-wary consumers, reducing the sugar by adding Splenda, an alternative sweetener.
In my own defense, I have forgotten to eat for days on end - but not lately.
Gee, I don't know, because your body needs nourishment? It has nothing to do with your "life revolving around food." Your bodily functions do.
Nothing wrong with Diet Coke. I'm on the South Beach and diet drinks are ok. I've found the South Beach diet works and it has broken our dependence and cravings for fast food. I would never have thought I could give up potatoes, breads and sweets.
But most of it not only makes me sick at my stomach but it give me the same weird feeling that sugar does.
I would say that it is not really low carb because of that but maybe I am just super sensitive to it.
Only time in my life I craved food was serving as a paratrooper in Alaska, in temps more than 50 below.
As a scientist in an air-conditioned office in VA, I eat when I have time. Or not.
You are right it needs a lot less nourishment than is typical in the US... but going 24 hours between nourishment isn't that great. I hope you are keeping up your H2O intake at least.
BTW, thank you for your service to our country. Which Airborne area? And your body was craving because it needed to stay warm... which means it needed to burn food. Very simple physiology there.
325 Airborne Infantry Regiment, all over the globe.
LOL
Yeap... brown is bad in pee. LOL!!!!!
Excellent. My friend is in the 1/505, just back from Iraq in April, I believe. Jumping out of planes... what a life.
They are getting ready to deploy some more paratroopers to Iraq.
NutraSweet . . . that's what's wrong with Diet Coke.
Bryers has a product for you. It's called Carb Smart and my wife and I enjoy it. The mint chocolate chip is yummy!
Dude! Consider the source - anything posted from Reuters is about as newsworthy as an alien article in Weekly World News. The Low Carb diet is still going strong. Liberals want us to be fat and unhealthy so they can tax and sue McDonald's and potato chips, that's why they hate the low-carb diet.
That's why the grocery stores are devoting more and more space to low carb.
That's why doritos just came out with a low carb chip (tastes terrible...but at least they are trying)
AMEN!
I am on a "GOOD-carb" diet. I eat almost as much bread and pasta, etc as I used to --- I simple choose something high in fiber and whole grain. It works! My blood levels show it!
I've been low-carbing for about seven years...I feel great...I will not abandon a good thing.
Screw the FDA, the pyramid has already been changed. See 'Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating.'
Meanwhile, the other day I was at my endo's (I'm diabetic) and almost freaked to see an Atkin's poster on the door.
Even though a few years ago, the Endocrinologists Society agreed that the best diet for diabetics is a modified Atkins (Sugar Busters, the new South Beach), I had never seen such acceptance of Atkins as what amounted to an Atkins advertisement in a university medical clinic.
All I know is, before menopause set in and screwed up everything, watching my carbs allowed me to get off of all diabetic medicine. You can eat all the carbs you want and be on tons of meds and burn out your pancreas, or you can be smart and count carbs. Doesn't take a brain surgeon.
Lost 50 lbs in 5 months. I feel great, BP is normal, tachacardia is over, back is better, LDL is 111, triglycerides good, and I eat all the steak,eggs, and butter, I want. Low carb works. I think the "Food Pyramid" is a PETA plot to get people off dead animal meat.
What is a '7 fold decrease'?
7 fold compared to what?
You are very wise.
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