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Krispy Kreme had been a popular doughnut chain in the South since 1937, but remained unknown to the rest of us until about 1996. That's when the first Krispy Kreme popped up in New York City, on West 23rd Street. ..." Krispy Kreme stock hit a high of about $49 in 2003. Then it started on a long downward spiral, losing about 90% of its value. This company had problems that had nothing to do with its doughnut recipe. It over-expanded and took on crushing debt. There were allegations of management misconduct. Some franchises went bankrupt. Competition was fierce in...

Using a clinical technique pioneered by his laboratory in Israel, Dr. Michael Shechter of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler School of Medicine and the Heart Institute of Sheba Medical Center was able to visualize what happens inside our arteries before, during and after eating high carb foods. Doctors have known for decades that foods like white bread and corn flakes aren’t good for cardiac health. But, this new landmark study shows exactly how these high carb foods increase the risk for heart problems.

People on low-carbohydrate diets are more dependent on the oxidation of fat in the liver for energy than those on a low-calorie diet, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found in a small clinical study.The findings, published in the journal Hepatology, could have implications for treating obesity and related diseases such as diabetes, insulin resistance and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, said Dr. Jeffrey Browning, assistant professor in the UT Southwestern Advanced Imaging Research Center and of internal medicine at the medical center. "Instead of looking at drugs to combat obesity and the diseases that stem from it, maybe optimizing...

Durham, NC - A Duke researcher says that despite the lack of a "gold-standard" clinical trial proving the benefits of a low-carb approach, he has seen enough in his own patients to know that, at least for some, a very low-carb approach can essentially reverse diabetes, without adversely affecting lipid profiles [1]. In his latest published research, Dr Eric C Westman (Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC) and colleagues report that obese patients with type 2 diabetes randomized to a low-carbohydrate diet rather than a low-glycemic, reduced-calorie diet were more likely to experience improvements in glycemic control and, in some...

For this post, I compiled statistics on U.S. weight, health and lifestyle trends, and graphed them as consistently as possible. They span the period from 1970 to 2007, during which the obesity rate doubled. The data come from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Some of the graphs are incomplete, either because the data don't exist, or because I wasn't able to find them.

...Just as you can starve a fat person and induce them to lose weight, you can starve a child and prevent them from growing. Neither implies that overeating was the root cause of their getting fat or growing bigger. There is considerable evidence that the obesity epidemic is caused by a hormonal phenomenon, specifically by the consumption of refined carbohydrates, starches and sugars, all of which prompt (sooner or later) excessive insulin secretion. Insulin is the primary regulator of fat storage. When insulin levels are elevated, fat accumulates in our body tissue; when they fall, fat is released and we...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. chief executive Daryl Brewster has resigned amid a sputtering turnaround effort. The Winston-Salem-based company said Monday that Brewster left his position for personal reasons but will stay with the company until the end of January.

Troubled Interstate Bakeries Corp., in bankruptcy since September 2004, early today said it is closing four bread bakeries in Southern California. The closings will eliminate 1,300 jobs, which besides those in the bakeries, include jobs impacted by route consolidations. Interstate, the maker of iconic Hostess Twinkies, will continue to make and sell snack cakes in Southern California. In midday over-the-counter trading, Interstate Bakeries shares were up 10 cents, or 9.09 percent, at $1.20. The company said the pullout was due to lower-cost, non-union competitors, and irrational pricing, Those factors, combined with high fixed costs, have continued to make the market...

Certain kinds of carbohydrates may play a role in the development of age-related macular degeneration, an incurable degenerative eye disease that is a leading cause of blindness in older adults. A new study has found that eating carbohydrate-rich food with a high glycemic index — a measure of a food’s potential to raise blood glucose levels — is associated with the development of the disorder. The glycemic index is a measure of how fast carbohydrates are metabolized — the faster they are broken down into glucose, the higher the glycemic index. Simple carbohydrates, like those in cakes and cookies, cheese...

Nov 8, 11:19 PM EST Low-Carb Diet Doesn't Raise Heart Risk By LINDA A. JOHNSON Associated Press Writer Eating a low-carb, high-fat diet for years doesn't raise the risk of heart disease, a long-term study suggests, easing fears that the popular Atkins diet and similar regimens might set people up for eventual heart attacks. The study of thousands of women over two decades found that those who got lots of their carbohydrates from refined sugars and highly processed foods nearly doubled their risk of heart disease.At the same time, those who ate a low-carb diet but got more of...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - George Johnson, considered California's oldest living person at 112 and the state's last surviving First World War veteran, had experts shaking their heads over his junk food diet. "He had terrible, bad habits. He had a diet largely of sausages and waffles," Dr. Stephen Coles, founder of the Gerontology Research Group at the University of California, Los Angeles, said Friday. The 5-foot-7, 140-pound Johnson died of pneumonia Wednesday at his Richmond home in Northern California. "A lot of people think or imagine that your good habits and bad habits contribute to your longevity," Coles said. "But...

Rick Schott thought he was poised to get financially fat off the low- carbohydrate craze. Instead, he got creamed like cheese on a soy bagel. Two years ago, the 52-year-old Dublin entrepreneur sold franchise rights to his Castus Low Carb Superstores, which promised a safe zone to a stampede of low-carb dieters including himself. Schott and partner Paul Chalupsky, longtime friends from a San Jose church, envisioned 5,000 stores worldwide, selling everything from energy bars to bread made from soy or nut flours to sugar-free ice cream and soda. Today, just four of 26 Castus outlets remain open, and a...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- More dieters are ditching carb counts and biting into baguettes with gusto these days. ... This week's bankruptcy filing by the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins' old company provide fresh evidence of the low-carb diet's demise, a downward spiral that began early last year. But no single new diet has filled the void. Observers say the only sure thing -- given the boom-and-bust nature of weight-loss trends -- is that something will pop up eventually. ''There isn't one single strong contender,'' said Anne M. Russell, editor-in-chief of Shape magazine. ''If you look at what the single...

Bankruptcy shows diet is 'too extreme' for U.S., baker says. In Boise, staff members of the Idaho Potato Commission gave each other gleeful high-fives when they heard the news. In Houston, the folks at the U.S. Rice Producers' Association declared "good riddance." And fruit farmers in the Central Valley said they were "happy to see them go." Across the United States, producers of carbohydrate-laden food exulted at the decision by Atkins Nutritionals Inc., the Ronkonkoma, N.Y.-based designer of the once popular low-carbohydrate weight-loss program, to file for bankruptcy protection. The company said it planned to reorganize and focus mainly on...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - One week after Kansas City-based Interstate Bakeries Corp. announced Wednesday it was consolidating its Florida profit center and cutting 600 jobs, the company said it plans to close its Charlotte, N.C., plant, and cut an additional 950 positions. Interstate Bakeries, best known for its Wonder and Hostess brands, is one of the largest wholesale baking companies in the country. It has eliminated 2,200 jobs from its 32,000-member work force since declaring bankruptcy in September. The company said its moves in the Mid-Atlantic region are part of an effort to drop unprofitable products and routes, and streamline...

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Obese women who follow low-carbohydrate diets, such as the Atkins diet, may lose more weight in a four-month period than those who go on low-fat diets, new study findings show. The reason for the greater weight loss, however, is not clear. "The differential weight loss is not explained by differences in resting energy expenditure, thermic effect of food or physical activity," write study author Dr. Bonnie J. Brehm, of the University of Cincinnati, Ohio and her team. In a previously published study, Brehm and her colleagues compared the effects of a low-carbohydrate diet versus a...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc. is slashing its payroll by 25%. The number of jobs to be cut was not released by the company, but layoffs will affect employees in its corporate, mix plant, equipment manufacturing and distribution facilities. The layoffs are the first significant move by Stephen Cooper, who was hired last month as chief executive. Cooper is chairman at turnaround specialist Kroll Zolfo Cooper. The company (NYSE:KKD) says the cutbacks will result in annual pretax savings of $7.4 million and a cash restructuring charge of $600,000 in its first quarter....

Experts Say Low-Carb Craze May Be Over ) By MARGARET STAFFORD KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - About a year ago, Dave Champlin and his two roommates lived in what their friends at the University of Missouri called the House of Fat. At a combined weight of 890 pounds, the three decided to try the Atkins diet. By sticking to the low-carb, high-protein diet, Champlin lost about 45 pounds and his roommates each lost between 50 and 60 pounds. Despite being pleased with the results, all three were off the diet by this past summer and have gained back some of...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Florida's got the South Beach diet. Now Minnesota's got the "Northwoods Diet." That's what University of Minnesota professor David Bernlohr came up with as the solution when he noticed his waistline expanding. After all, he's an obesity researcher. Bernlohr said he'd fallen into the traditional American habits of skipping breakfast, eating too much and eating too late at night. So he put himself on his own diet -- what he jokingly dubbed the "Northwoods Diet," poking fun at the fad diet industry and the popular South Beach diet.

Carb-conscious Americans continued to flatten Krispy Kreme Doughnuts, as the onetime Wall Street darling yesterday posted a loss of $3 million in the third quarter. That bad news sent the stock reeling 16 percent — or to just above the $7 price of a dozen assorted sweet things. The struggling doughnut chain has lost more than 75 percent of its market value since last year as people have suddenly stayed away from the glazed treats in droves, and opted for healthier snacks. As a result, each Krispy Kreme store has seen $10,000 a week in revenue waddle out the...

RAVENNA, Ohio -- Krispy Kreme Doughnuts Inc., which has blamed the nation's obsession with low-carb dieting for its financial woes, is closing a northeast Ohio doughnut plant citing oversupply. http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/apbiz_story.asp?category=1310&slug=Krispy%20Kreme%20Closing

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Interstate Bakeries Corp. (IBC), the nation's largest wholesaler baker whose products include Twinkies and Wonder Bread, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection early Wednesday. The company also named a new chief executive. The electronic filing, made shortly after midnight with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Missouri in Kansas City, listed assets of $1.626 billion and liabilities of $1.321 billion. The company said it had a commitment, subject to bankruptcy court approval, from JP Morgan Chase Bank to provide $200 million to pay suppliers, employees and other operating costs during the reorganization....

Low-Carb Craze Fails to Cross Atlantic By FRANCES D'EMILIO/Associated Press Aug. 8, 2004 ROME (AP) -- Continental low-carb? No thanks. We'll have slabs of black bread for breakfast, rigatoni with broccoli and hot pepper sauce for lunch and a plate of shrimp paella for supper. While recipe books for diets like Atkins and South Beach are gospel for many in the United States, the American craze for low-carb versions of brownies, breads and pasta hasn't crossed the Atlantic to the Continent. Only Britain, where junk-food habits and ample figures often mirror those of their American cousins, is turning into an...

WASHINGTON, July 12 - The Department of Agriculture announced plans on Monday to revisit the Food Guide Pyramid, an icon that was developed to help Americans use dietary guidelines to eat healthfully. Introduced 12 years ago, after almost $1 million was spent debating the shape of what was supposed to be the government's primary nutrition education device, the pyramid has not accomplished its goal, the department acknowledges. "We've got to reverse some trends," Eric Hentges, executive director of the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion at the Agriculture Department, said. "We've got to connect with individuals. We've got to be...

NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - McDonald's Corp., the No .1 fast-food chain that's been on a mission to its revamp its image, said it will offer Coca-Cola's new low-carb "C2" cola in a limited number of its restaurants. Oak Brook- Ill.-based McDonald's (MCD: Research, Estimates), announced late Thursday that the company is sampling C2 in about 27 restaurants in five markets, including Atlanta, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles and Orlando. "We're responding again to what our consumers are telling us they want," Don Knauss, McDonald's chief operating officer of its North America division, said in a statement.

<p>May 16, 2004 -- Dr. Atkins' disciples are eating major food companies alive. The low-carb diet trend is turning the stomachs of the makers of traditional staples like bread and pasta, who are blaming their shrinking profits on shrinking waistlines.</p>

I probably shouldn't admit this to you younger readers, but when my generation was your age, we did some pretty stupid things. I'm talking about taking CRAZY risks. We drank water right from the tap. We used aspirin bottles that you could actually open with your bare hands. We bought appliances that were not festooned with helpful safety warnings such as ''DO NOT BATHE WITH THIS TOASTER.'' But for sheer insanity, the wildest thing we did was -- prepare to be shocked -- we deliberately ingested carbohydrates. I know, I know. It was wrong. But we were young and foolish,...

<p>The Atkins Diet and other weight-loss plans that limit carbohydrates can turn you into a sourpuss, a new study shows.</p> <p>Scientists found carbohydrates help boost the production of serotonin which controls emotions and a shortage can lead to mood swings and depression.</p>

Food for the carbohydrate-conscious seems to be everywhere -- at restaurants, supermarkets, and even stores selling nothing but carb-counting products. FeedRoom The Lowdown On Carbs But do they always live up to their claims? NBC 6 took low-carb meals from restaurant chains and randomly selected grocery store products to a certified lab for testing. The selling point for most of the foods is that they are said to contain only a few "impact" or net carbohydrates. But exactly what are "net carbs?" ...[snip]"At the present time it has no meaning. People shouldn't take it seriously," said FDA Deputy Commissoner Dr....

<p>Diets filled with certain high-carbohydrate foods may increase the risk of colorectal cancer in women, according to a study published today in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Cakes, cookies and other quickly digested foods score high on the "glycemic index," a measure of the rate at which carbohydrates are processed into sugar.</p>

  LowCarb is the real *SKINNY BEHIND* a world wide shrink.This Diet is not only reducing waistlines it is losing the Fat in the junk food job market.By, Nutritional Chef Carlo J. MorelliJan. 26 2004The Worldwide concerns about healthy diet shifts are impacting employment from Farmdale, Ohio to Kraft Foods, Poland, and the screams can be heard from the "sky is falling" crowd almost as predictably as the pounds are falling off the "we told you so" LowCarb dieters midriffs . It appears that this is a good news, bad news scenario. The overwhelming evidence is that people are finally...

Carbohydrates may not be the real villains in the hard-fought battle against the bulge after all. A small group of older men and women actually lost weight on a complex carbohydrate diet that let them eat until they were full without counting calories. "This runs counter to the current cult of carbohydrate aversion," says William J. Evans, senior author of the National Institute on Aging-funded study that appears in the Jan. 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. Losing weight, of course, has become the great American pastime -- and with good reason. "If someone is overweight with a...

ST. PETERSBURG - Atkins diet devotee Lisa Shelton tossed proof of her shrinking waistline - a pair of dark-blue denim, size 20 Lee jeans - over the bike rack at the Blimpie franchise downtown. Since August, the 29-year-old has lost 70 pounds. Her fast- food diet menu includes bacon cheeseburgers without the bun. Shelton and a long line of customers were attracted by heavy radio advertising by Blimpie promoting a new Carb Counter Menu of subs, chips and drinks - and the idea that a chain called Blimpie can help oversized Americans melt fat. In exchange for Blimpie food coupons,...

Animal-rights activists claim that low-carb, meat-heavy diets are killing people. Are they raising legitimate health concerns -- or are they just rabid anti-carnivores? Dec. 8, 2003 | For all the deals with the devil made in Washington, it's not often they're owned up to at the National Press Club, before a roomful of reporters, armed with notepads, tape recorders and TV cameras. But Jody Gorran, a businessman from Delray Beach, Fla., announced at a press conference on Nov. 20, 2003, "I made a Faustian bargain with the devil." The trim 53-year-old's dark deal: "I traded a 32-inch waist for heart...

CONVERTS to the Atkins diet have a higher risk of developing kidney stones, doctors have claimed. They say the fashionable high-protein, low-carbohydrate regime has led to a sharp rise in the condition, with the soaring number of young women patients a particular concern. Dr Bill Robertson, a clinical biochemist at the University College Medical School of London, claims the diet could double the risk of kidney stones. He says research shows that a diet rich in animal proteins and calcium oxalate constitutes a "double whammy as far as the threat of developing kidney stones goes". Kidney stones - hard deposits...

  Breadmakers feel pain from Atkins diet By DAVID SHARPThe Associated Press11/8/2003, 1:18 p.m. ETPORTLAND, 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 DIET WARS, a Battle of the SEXES That guy who wrote "Men are from Mars Women are from Venus", the book that no one ever read, ...( a Sleepless in Seattle... sigh), had a great concept, but he had it all wrong. Never fear, I have straighten it all out for everyone.. :) *** REMOVE ALL LIQUIDS FROM MOUTH ALERT *** I, your Natures Sex Chef.. sigh , who knows exactly everything a man needs to know about women, has the answers to the age old questions separating the genders, even where food is concerned... Really! Women, would...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida - The dietary establishment has long argued it's impossible, but a new study offers intriguing evidence for the idea that people on low-carbohydrate diets can actually eat more than those on standard lowfat plans and still lose weight. Perhaps no idea is more controversial in the diet world than the contention — long espoused by the late Dr. Robert Atkins — that people on low-carbohydrate diets can consume more calories without paying a price on the scales. Over the past year, several small studies have shown, to many experts' surprise, that the Atkins approach actually does work...

Jeff Endervelt's interest in low-carbohydrate foods began as a personal quest when he experimented with the Atkins diet and spin-offs that helped him shed 20 pounds. As chief executive of Atlanta-based Blimpie International Inc., Endervelt saw a market worth pursuing when his customers started asking for submarine sandwiches on something other than white bread. A sandwich shop called Blimpie's might seem an unlikely destination for dieters. It is now also the only national restaurant operator testing a separate menu targeted at the low-carb, high-protein eating craze. The Blimpie Carb Counter Menu, launched this month in parts of New York's Long...

Eat some Chocolate Cake and just Relax..!!Maybe not!.. It's A GOOD NEWS, BAD NEWS story...We always knew this was so, but most of us were at a loss to explain it.. Eating something devilish, like cake or anything sweet, makes us simmer down.Well, let me try to explain it in words that may assist us all in understanding.. This is with the help of, none other than the prestigious National Academy of Sciences.THE GOOD NEWS. Those sweet and fatty foods that we often turn to in times of stress might in fact calm nerves, and relieve anxiety. That's the good...

All aboard.. We're getting on track to a healthier LIFE!This, and future threads, will attempt to answer some of your questions and requests regarding HEALTHY food in general, and LOW CARB, LOW CALORIE diets and recipes in particular.With my background as a Master Chef, and Natural Foods Sexonutritionist, aka Sexy Chef  (/dreamer) Bwhahhahahhahhah, it affords me a wonderful vantage point to assist in creating this forum where everyone can contribute, exchange ideas, and voice their valuable opinions. Moderating in no way qualifies me as an authority on this, or any other subject.*..heheheh ..that has never inhibited me before.. blush*...

Get series about HEALTHY, and LOW CARB FOOD This, and future threads, will attempt to answer some of your questions and requests regarding HEALTHY food in general, and LOW CARB, LOW CALORIE diets and recipes in particular. With my background as a Master Chef, and Natural Foods Sexonutritionist, aka SexyChef  (/dreamer) Bwhahaahahahahah, it affords me a wonderful vantage point to assist in creating this forum, where everyone can contribute, exchange ideas and voice their valuable opinions. Moderating in no way qualifies me as an authority on this, or any other subject.*..heheheh ..that has never inhibited me before.. blush* (a cheap...

A chubby Queens woman hacked her mother-in-law to death with a meat cleaver after the older woman refused to serve her rice with dinner because it's too fattening, authorities said yesterday. The unwanted diet advice sparked a gruesome end for Farida Begum, a 74-year-old grandmother who died yesterday morning, hours after the vicious dinnertime attack in an apartment across the street from Elmhurst Hospital Center. Ayesha Akter, 32, was undergoing a psychiatric evaluation yesterday. Her neighbors in Elmhurst said she had long behaved oddly - but had never been violent. Police said she had been treated for mental problems and...

<p>WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Nutritionists are urging the top 10 U.S. hospitals to ban the Atkins diet, reports said Friday.</p> <p>The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine announced Friday in Washington it hopes the hospitals will emulate England's Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, which is eliminating the controversial diet from its menus, fearing a link to kidney damage.</p>

I am posting this to inform everyone about how cars work, so they don't buy into scams about some product that claims to increase the gas mileage of a car. From the University of Wisconsin: Scientists have calculated the average amount of potential energy stored in various types of fuels used by humans as an energy source. Conversion factors: 1 gallon of fuel oil = 145,000 BTU 1 cubic foot of natural gas = 1,031 BTU 1 kilowatt hour of electricity = 3,412 BTU 1 cord of wood = 20,000,000 BTU 1 gallon gasoline = 125,000 BTU End quote As...