Getting the lowdown on low-carb bars

Dayton Daily News ^ | 9.02.03 | Kevin Lamb

[depenzz]

Thanks for the info, I'm going to stop at our local Walmart and check it out. I live in PA and it seems ever other person I talk to (after their compliment to my new size ) is on Atkins. A lot of the waitresses in the restaurants know right away that I'm on Atkins when I tell them I don't need rolls or a bun with my hamburg. lol

[Paul_B]

You've said it well, Sam. I also would add that I find artificially sweetened low carb bars highly addicting. Couple that with the fiction that they can take the place of real food, and there's tremendous capacity for abuse. Basically, they are a stain on the low carb millieu.

[Paul_B]

One thing that peach has over Snickers is fiber, which slows the initial sugar digestion and aids in later deep-track digestion.

[LibFreeUSA]

Here, this is the best thing to turn your life around in terms of 'eating' (the absolute and complete way to eat), especially being diabetic (which runs in my family).

I have followed this since 1996, and it's the best thing that has happened to me.

here is the link:

http://www.zoneperfect.com/site/content/faq.asp#howdoiknow

[Eaglefixer]

I have been on Atkins for over three years and am doing fine. My doctor put me on it for high blood sugar levels.

Beware if "nutritional experts" who never listened to Dr. Atkins for thirty years. They can't accept that they have been preaching balony for years.

[kylaka]

Thats just about how much weight I need to lose. I have no problem giving up the pasta, the rice, potatoes ... and I'm not a beer drinker. What about the bread though? I need those eggs and toast in the morning to get going.

[jacquej]

I have lost over 80 lbs now on low carb diet, and have the following advice to those considering this way of eating...

Avoid the sugar alcohol products like the plague! They mess up your intestinal system! Also, they do not get you off the taste of sugar. The low-carb pastas? I would rather cut up cardboard, and boil that!

Eat all above ground veggies whole and in season. Eat whole grains in moderation (1/2 cup serving), and only once a day.

The advice to snack on nuts and good cheese is good. Berries are fine, but in season, right?

Research the health benefits of naturally fermented veggies and fruits. This is not the supermarket pickled stuff, but stuff that is naturally pickled with only organic sea salt.... much bettere for you when eaten as a condiment.

If you stick to a low carb diet, eating only non-manufactured foods, you will quickly lose that sweet tooth, and will lose the desire to eat bread and pasta!

Now, Atkins bars and shakes are much better from a health point of view than the sugar alcohol products, but should only be used as a back-up strategy, not as part of a daily eating plan. I do not think we need to have pancake, muffin, ice-cream, cracker, and cookie substitutes...

Just doesn't make sense to me... but others may differ. Maybe use these products in a pinch, but do not start thinking that they are staples...

just my humble opinion...

[carlo3b]

 "Fruits and vegetables have phytonutrients which fight everything from cancer to heart disease, and you can only get these nutrients from actual fruits and vegetables." .........

DUH! Your mother told you this with fewer words, when you were peeing in your crib!

People shouldn't focus so much on low carbs that they're afraid to eat unrefined carbs "like dried beans and peas, a bowl of lentil soup, or whole grains or a piece of fresh fruit," said Mara Lamb, the New Profile center's licensed dietitian. Nor should they be indifferent to the difference between bacon and butter fats compared with the healthy fats in olive oil, fish oils and nuts. ..........

DUH!   hitting forehead with palm... suddenly a light came on... sheeesh

"For some people," Cohen said, "low-carb diets are the only way they can succeed."

DUH! Why in the hell did it take so long for these morons to admit this?

.........Different people need different foods, Westbrock said. Those with heart disease are especially vulnerable to saturated fats, and refined carbohydrates are worse for the insulin resistant than for others. No matter what fond hopes leap off the best-seller list, he said,

DUH! Stricken with the obvious, but did it take a Ph.D. to figure that out?

"There's no perfect diet for everyone."

DUH! This is the closest thing to an admission that they (the pencil necked geeks) may have caused millions of people to become obese with their obstinate refusal to at least admit Atkins was on to something 30 years ago, even if it needed some tweaking.. Their admission may have come too late for too many.. but not too late for others... but they still won't say it, not without this adolescent escape clause! "There's no perfect diet for everyone."

[SwinneySwitch]

We call burgers without the bun a "neked burger" here in Texas!

Atkins Diet for 8 weeks tomorrow, -16 Lbs! I'm going to check out 'le carb' too, sounds frenchy though! Don't forget the "Big E"(exercise) and water!

[jacquej]

you would be surprised how quickly you will "get over" that desire for toast in the morning...

It really will only take a week or so to get used to a new breakfast, and within a month the toast thing will be a funny memory.

Eggs are fine, have a few pork rinds if you need a "crunch" thing with the eggs...

Once you are well under way with Atkins, you might try a bread found in some markets called "Ezekial 4:9". It is usually in the freezer case, and is made without wheat flour. It is made with ground up legumes, soaked wheat berries, etc. It has 12 grams of carbs per slice, and is reasonable in taste.

Of any mfg. bread, I think it is the healthiest on the market. Making your own bread is also a possibility, but it is better to grind the wheat into flour yourself, just before baking... all that work, and you will treat each quarter slice with the distinction of the finest imported pate!

[mbraynard]

Never been on Adkins, don't need it (ectomorph, into body building, lots of cardio, and eat right).

However, it occurs to me that the stuff you eat on Adkins is what you are *meant* to eat, what your body was designed for. Consider mankind in the pre-historic era, the diet was berries and other animals. It's far more natural than any of the other diets that make you load up on carbs.

I'm particularly disgusted when I remember the public school education showing us the "food triangle" with carbs taking up the top tier - particularly those with a high glicemic index.

[moo]

IronKros, We also have low carb milk(choc, whole and 2%), and yogurt (called "YoCarb"). They are very good and have no sugar alcohols in either of them. (www.lecarb.com) Fred.

[agrace]

bump for later read :)

[moo]

BTW- we named LeCarb before all the French stuff, we are an east Texas company... I am a 5th generation Texan... Dang well NOT French!!!!!!!!!!! Fred.

[SwinneySwitch]

Well heck, dat splains everyting. You live over dare by dose Ca-johns!

[Sunnyvale CA Eng.]

"If you stick to a low carb diet, eating only non-manufactured foods, you will quickly lose that sweet tooth, and will lose the desire to eat bread and pasta! Now, Atkins bars and shakes are much better from a health point of view than the sugar alcohol products, but should only be used as a back-up strategy, not as part of a daily eating plan."

You are not kidding about the sweet tooth thing. I have been a all carbs all the time kind of guy for most of my life. I went on the Atkins last September and lost 40 lbs. before Xmas. It took about 2-3 weeks for me to detox from the sugar based diet that I had been on for so long. After that, it was not that difficult to stick with and it was the first diet that allowed me to maintain a stable energy level throughout the day. I did find that the Atkins bars did slow my weight loss so I stopped using them except for once a week or so.

Unfortunately, I returned to my old ways after Xmas due to a lack of money (good food isn't cheap but a cup of ramen noodles is $.34) and due to the stress of looming bankruptcy, unemployment, a failing business, and the associated depression that seems to follow. I did finally get a good job that starts this week and I will go back to the Atkins as soon as I get a paycheck. I put on over 50 lbs since January. (D'oh)

[fnord]

that .com link points to a site in Sussex England ...

yours is http://www.lecarb.net/

nice site too

[bluefish]

I think the low-carb bread, pasta, candy, muffin etc. etc. substitutes could actually make low carb diets more difficult for some people.

These products may cause more people to fail the "Atkins Diet" (Low Carb Lifestyle) because these people will never learn how good the absence of cravings for "something sweet" feels. People may be less likely to stick to their eating plan because these products keep them a step closer to diving into real carb / sugar-dense food.

The low-carb candy might be like giving "Near Beer" to an alcoholic. It will be interesting to see if people continue to be successful with low carbing, now that all these products have hit the shelves.

Then again, they could also be viewed like nicotine gum for smokers. A temporary substitue with less of the addictive drug, which makes it easier to wean oneself off of the sugar rather than going full-bore cold turkey.

If I am going to break down, perhaps sugar alcohol candy as an emergency stop-gap is better then diving into the real thing! Actually, I know this is the case for me, but at the same time, as long as I'm consuming the low carb bars, candy, etc., I don't feel as if I've stabilized my blood sugar levels.

[moo]

oops!!! I meant .net Sorry, Fred.

[bluefish]

However, it occurs to me that the stuff you eat on Adkins is what you are *meant* to eat, what your body was designed for. Consider mankind in the pre-historic era, the diet was berries and other animals. It's far more natural than any of the other diets that make you load up on carbs.

Correct. I've always wondered about flour and wheat products. Take a raw stalk of wheat out of the ground and consider it. Darn it, people, it is simply NOT food! You have to pulverize it, add water, add yeast, add sugar, add oil, and who knows what else, then stick it in a furnace, to turn it into something palatable! Bread, in it's most simplistic, "wholesome" form, even home-baked bread, is a "manufactured" food.

Wheat is not food, any more than the dirt it grows in. It is a weed, and an ugly one at that! Grains are the scourge of the earth in my opinion.