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The hesitation to roll out dedicated low-carb menu offerings may stem from concern about the safety of those diets. Many nutritionists still conform to the standard dietary guidelines outlined in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (news - web sites)'s food pyramid, whose base is carbohydrates. They question the stricter phases of diets like Atkins, which recommend ample quantities of protein in the form of red meat, butter and other fatty foods, in lieu of breads and starches.

The food pyramid doesn't work as can be shown by the near epidemic obesity in Americans, particularly children. I lowered both weight and cholesteral by eliminating sugar, white flour and nearly all "processed" foods from my diet but I guess I ought to stop doing that according to the "experts". Pass the wonderbread and the twinkies...I've decided to die young. *sarcasm*

I lowered both weight and cholesteral by eliminating sugar, white flour and nearly all "processed" foods from my diet

That's exactly what I did and I've lost 92 pounds as of this morning, giving that Jared at Subway a run for his money. Call it Atkins, call it South Beach, call it SugarBusters, it doesn't matter. Cutting out sugar, white flour and nearly all processed foods was the best thing I ever did healthwise in my 41-year-old life. Check out a recent picture of me on my profile page. I'm now six pounds lighter than even that and still going. Did a 12-mile walk this morning in the woods, walking up and down hills, and feel like doing somersaults in my living room - I have so much energy. This on top of walking 17 miles yesterday and spending the entire afternoon doing yard work. I sleep like a baby and get up at 5AM every morning without an alarm clock.

All the naysayers who say the diet is too limited have no idea what they're talking about. I eat more vegetables than I ever did in my life. Instead of rice, pasta, and potatoes, I'm eating broccoli, asparagus, squash and carrots. Instead of pastries, donuts, breads and pies, I'm eating yogurt, eggs, nuts and berries. The diet is vast in choices - a sample meal would be cajun catfish, sauteed mushrooms, jalapenos, and onions, salad w/olive oil sprinkled with some cashews and bits of smoked gouda cheese. Usually skip the dessert because I'm always so full and satisfied, but when I'm inclined, I'll have some plain yogurt with blueberries swirled in - tastes just like ice cream and blueberry pie (without the crust) when that is the only sweet you have.

Whenever somebody tries to tell me that I'm endangering my health with this "restrictive" diet, I come right back with the foods I no longer eat like cookies, cakes, pies, chips, pastries, donuts and candy. I then ask them which of those foods, of which the lack of, is endangering my health. Is it the lack of Twinkies that is endangering my health or is it the lack of caramel creams (that I used to eat by the bag)? I want to know? I have yet to get a cogent response to that question. But they go on with their "you are endangering your health" crap.

Getting back to that "Jared" character from those Subway commercials...did he really lose all his weight on Subway subs or did he use some other method? What did he eat (or not eat) when he wasn't eating Subway subs. Anybody know?