USA Today reported yesterday that there has been an alarming trend in the low-carb diet business - people who eat so many low-carb snacks, muffins, and power bars that their calories consumption gets to the point where they are not losing any weight.
"They cannot sacrifice their vegetables for low-carb products. The products were formulated to make the lifestyle easier, not as a substitute for healthy eating habits," Colette Heimowitz, a nutritionist for the Atkins companies, told the paper.
There's certainly enough temptation out there - more than 600 low-carb products have been introduced into the marketplace this year alone, and sales of these type products are expected to climb as high as $15 billion for 2003 - this from a category that didn’t even exist a couple of years ago. Next year, it is believed that sales in the category could hit $30 billion.
"They cannot sacrifice their vegetables for low-carb products. The products were formulated to make the lifestyle easier, not as a substitute for healthy eating habits," Colette Heimowitz, a nutritionist for the Atkins companies, told the paper.
There's certainly enough temptation out there - more than 600 low-carb products have been introduced into the marketplace this year alone, and sales of these type products are expected to climb as high as $15 billion for 2003 - this from a category that didn’t even exist a couple of years ago. Next year, it is believed that sales in the category could hit $30 billion.
- KC's View:
-
Here's what we don't know. Is the low carb movement a fad diet, or a legitimate lifestyle choice that has staying power?
History would suggest that it is the former. (Anyone ever heard of the late Dr. Herman Tarnower?)
Is low card the Mediterranean Diet, which is an approach that has existed for centuries? Or is it the Scarsdale Diet?
Low-carb would seem to have more muscle behind it, would seem to be less ephemeral than many other approaches.
We'll see. We're not convinced that it is any more than a really hot fad, not convinced that there are going to a lot of mind-blowing cholesterol tests done over the next couple of years that are going to shock a lot of people into slowing down on the bacon-and-egg breakfasts.
