Filed under: Low-carb side effects — Tags: personalchefs — @ March 31, 2004
The Atlanta Journal Constitution is running an AP article about the growing popularity of personal chefs in America. One of the sources contributing to the popularity is the rise of low-carb diets:
bq. Rod and Debbie Basler wanted to follow the South Beach Diet, but their work lives made it impossible to shop and cook for it.
With his dermatology practice and their three restaurants, the Baslers had no time for the meticulously structured meal plans that asked them to weigh, measure, bake and grill.
Enter Shalla Powell, a longtime family friend whom they hired as personal chef. At $30 an hour, she prepares three days’ worth of lunches and dinners that conform to the South Beach Diet’s low-fat, low-carb regimen.
Filed under: Review — Tags: challenge — @
Seattle Times restaurant critic Nancy Leson recently took the low-carb challenge for one week and lost five pounds. She documented her week’s worth of meals and what she thought of some popular low-carb products. Leson’s low-carb journal is well worth a read.
Filed under: Restaurants — Tags: innoutburger — @
While fast-food chains such as Burger King, Hardee’s and Arby’s are just now rolling out low-carb sandwiches, customers of In-N-Out Burger have been ordering high-protein, low-carb hamburgers wrapped in lettuce for more than 30 years. The protein-style burger is part of In-N-Out Burger’s “secret menu” that has developed over the years as the restaurants strived to accommodate requests for customized food.
Filed under: Low-carb Stores — Tags: lowcarbdestination — @
LowCarb Destination, a new Chicago area source for low-carb and sugar-free products, will open in Wilmette’s Edens Plaza, Suite 170 on April 2. According to the owners, the store is the first of its kind in Chicago because it is not only a source for low-carb versions of traditional foods, but it also carries gourmet foods that fit within the low-carb lifestyle.
bq. LowCarb Destination offers a relaxing and enjoyable shopping experience with an ever-changing food-sampling table. The knowledgeable staff are able to answer questions about products and help guide customers in selecting foods most suitable for their particular lifestyle. Twice monthly, the Director of Nutrition for the store will be on site for “Ask the Nutritionist” sessions, and the store’s exercise expert will offer a regular schedule of fitness classes, held right at the store.
Filed under: In The News — Tags: potato — @
To combat the falling consumption of potatoes due to low-carb dieting, the U.S. Potato Board is spending $4 million on an 18-month campaign to convince Americans that the high-carb vegetable is a healthy food choice. The organization’s campaign–”Get the skinny on America’s favorite vegetable: The Healthy Potato”–is designed to teach consumers everything they will ever need to know about spuds. Jackie Berning, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Colorado and nutrition consultant for the Denver Broncos and the Cleveland Indians, is perplexed by the anti-carb concerns from Atkins and other diets:
bq. People don’t seem to understand, she says, that the body needs carbohydrates for fuel–and to fight fat. “The body cannot burn fat without the flame of carbohydrates,” she says. “Any time you create a huge deficit of carbohydrates, you’re using protein as an energy source, particularly from skeletal muscle.” In the simplest terms, she says, weight loss isn’t about cutting out carbs. It’s about cutting calories.
Filed under: New Product — Tags: totalprotein — @
As expected, General Mills has introduced Total Protein, a new cereal for those following the low-carb lifestyle. Total Protein, which consists of lightly sweetened toasted wheat flakes, contains 13 grams of protein, 8 grams of net carbs, and, like the original Total cereal, contains 100% of the Daily Value of 11 vitamins and minerals. The product is available nationwide for a suggested retail price of $4.29.
Filed under: Low-carb side effects — Tags: laxative — @ March 30, 2004
Laxative sales have been steadily on the rise, and according to those who study such things, this is due to the popularity of low-carb diets. GlaxoSmithKline is even running a funny ad that touts the fact.
Filed under: In The News — Tags: ediets — @
Slimfast and online diet giant eDiets have teamed up to produce The Slim-Fast Plan. It’s an online tool that allows you to cater a diet to your needs. Included in The Slim-Fast Plan is a low-carb path.
bq. The Lower Carb Plan includes products that are for use as part of a Low Carb diet, including ready to drink shakes, meals bars and snack bars containing 2-3 grams of net carbs.
eDiets.com’s new Slim-Fast Plan includes weekly menus that are customized for each member’s distinct food preferences, needs, medical history and lifestyle, and are bundled with other important online tools and information resources to help members reach their weight goals, including as-needed one-on-one professional support and an available personalized fitness program option.
The other paths are low-fat and combination (lower fat with reduced carbohydrates).
Filed under: Study — Tags: sweetener — @
According to a new study, high-fructose corn-based sweeteners, which have been used to sweeten food and soft drinks since the 1970s, may be partly to blame for America’s growing obesity epidemic.
The conventional wisdom is that poor diet, over-sized portions, and a lack of exercise are to blame for Americans’ expanding waistlines, but Bray’s study suggests that empty calories in this food sweeteners may be more of a factor than previously thought. Bray’s study noted that consumption of high-fructose corn sweeteners increased more than 1,000 percent between 1970 and 1990, far exceeding changes in intake of any other food or food group.
Filed under: New Product — Tags: bakingmix — @
Continental Mills has announced a new line of low-carb baking mixes called Krusteaz CarbSimple. According to the company, the taste of the new products are similar to that of their high-carb counterparts. Look for them at your local grocery within the next few weeks.
There are 9 net carbs or less per serving in all of the items. The new Krusteaz CarbSimple line will include:
* Blueberry Muffins
* Cranberry Orange Muffins
* Banana Nut Muffins
* Chocolaty Chip Muffins
* Pancakes
* Cornbread
* Fudge Brownie Mix
* Country White Bread
* Harvest Wheat Bread
Filed under: Atkins Diet,New Product,Restaurants — Tags: subway — @ March 29, 2004
Subway today announced four new salads, two of which are Atkins approved. It is not known when they will be available, but our guess is soon. Here are the two Atkins approved salads:
The Classic Club Salad
* 9 grams of net carbs
* A blend of romaine and iceberg lettuce, baby spinach, onions, cucumber slices, green pepper strips, black olive slices, slices of savory turkey breast, ham, shredded Monterey Cheddar cheese, diced egg, and bacon bits
* Topped with carb-controlled ranch dressing.
The Grilled Chicken and Baby Spinach Salad
* 6 grams of net carbs
* Baby spinach, onions, all-white meat chicken breast strips, shredded Monterey cheddar cheese, diced egg, and bacon bits
* Topped with Atkins Sweet as Honey Mustard dressing and garlic flavored almonds.
Filed under: New Product,Restaurants — Tags: hardees — @
Hardees has updated its low-carb menu to include a Charbroiled Chicken Club sandwhich. The company recently launched a low-carb breakfast bowl. There is also a burger available without a bun, which has become one of the hottest selling items on the menu.
bq. The Hardee’s Low Carb Charbroiled Chicken Club combines many favorites — a barbeque sauce-glazed chicken breast fillet with bacon, sliced tomatoes, Swiss cheese and mayonnaise, all wrapped in fresh iceberg lettuce leaves. The combination of flavors is reminiscent of a grilled chicken dinner salad but the Low Carb Charbroiled Chicken Club can be consumed on the go since it is wrapped in lettuce leaves and, thus, can be eaten like a sandwich. As with all of Hardee’s premium sandwiches and burgers, the product is served in a cardboard carton and “half-wrapped” in paper.
There are 9 net carbs (11 total) in the new sandwich. Look for it starting today at a suggested price of $3.99. Click the thumbnail to view a larger version of the image.
Filed under: New Product — Tags: specialk — @
Kellogg’s is preparing to introduce several new products, including a low-carb version of Special K cereal and reduced-sugar Frosted Flakes and Froot Loops, according to the Detroit Free Press. However, Kellogg CEO Carlos Gutierrez expects the low-carb diet craze to wane. “I’ve been in the industry for almost 29 years,” he says. “You learn to see these trends coming through and they always appear like they’re going to stay. That isn’t to say that low carbs isn’t real, but I think that it’s probably peaked.”
Filed under: New Product — Tags: coke — @
Pepsi recently announced a “mid-carb” soda dubbed Pepsi Edge. Not to be out done, Coke is doing the same, but is calling its version C2. The new drink is not formally announced, but has been talked about quite a bit in the drink industry.
bq. Coca-Cola is set to step into the mid-calorie, mid-carb cola ring, according to press reports. Industry newsletter Beverage Digest cited sources late last week as saying that Coke is considering launching a drink with half the calories and carbohydrates of Coke Classic under the name C2.
Filed under: Celebrity — Tags: cranky — @
A new study says low-carb diets such as Atkins, South Beach and the Zone can make people really cranky. According to researchers, carbs boost the production of serotonin, a brain chemical that can cause mood swings and depression when in low supply. The Star put together a humorous roundup of actions by low-carb dieting celebrities, including Jennifer Aniston, Ellen DeGeneres, Natalie Maines, Bill Clinton, George Michael, Ben Affleck, and Renee Zellweger.
Filed under: Business,Low-carb side effects — Tags: meat — @ March 28, 2004
Low-carb dieters have been fueling the sale of pork rinds to a near all-time high. The snack food naturally has 0 carbs, which is helping it find lots of new fans. Few, if any, junk food type snacks can boast 0 carbs without special processing.
Chicken is flying out of the freezer in Canada, despite avian flu scares.
bq. Lisa Bishop, a spokeswoman for the Chicken Farmers of Canada, said protein-based diets seem to have them hooked.
“Consumption has been steadily going up. The average Canadian ate 33 kilograms of chicken last year, up from 22 kilograms a decade ago in 1993.”
This year, chicken surpassed beef in terms of consumption in Canada, said Bishop, who herself has been on the Atkins plan for the past six months.
In the US, beef is still selling despite mad cow disease being discovered. Because of increased demand, prices haven’t falling like expected. Many countries are still blocking the the importation of US beef, but Americans are making up for it:
bq. Americans are forecast on average to consume 66.8 pounds of beef, 51.6 pounds of pork and 102.2 pounds of poultry this year — a total of 222.3 pounds or 0.61 pounds (0.28 kg) a day.
Pork production is also up.
Filed under: Site News — Tags: emailupdates — @
CarbWire has only been around for about 3 weeks, but we’ve had a ton of requests for an email list. Starting today, you can sign up to get an email every day/week that will give you the inside scoop to low-carb. It’s on the right sidebar under the search box on most content pages.
We will never rent/sell/give your email address to anyone, because we hate spam just as much as you do. If you sign up, you’ll only get the one email a day/week.
- The CarbWire team
Filed under: New Product — Tags: tagatose — @ March 26, 2004
The Pasco Beverage Company has launched a new “Light & Tasty juice beverage” that combines Gaio tagatose with sucralose instead of conventional sugar. Tagatose is a newer generation sweetener that is much more like table sugar:
bq. Tagatose is a natural low-calorie sweetener patented by Spherix Incorporated. It is being manufactured and sold as Gaio tagatose for food and beverage uses under license by Arla Foods Ingredients. Tagatose tastes and acts like table sugar, and can be used to improve the mouthfeel, sweetness, and flavor profile of products containing high intensity synthetic sweeteners.
The new juices comes in apple, fruit punch, and lemonade flavors with 70%
fewer carbs than regular fruit juices. Wal-Mart and other major retailers are now selling the juice.
Filed under: New Product — Tags: robi — @
The Robi Nutrition Assistant is a hand-held device that helps you to easily track nutritional information while on the go. The pocket-sized, silver-colored gadget provides and records information on the calories, carbs, fat, and protein in your meals. It contains information on over 840 foods, including vegetables, meats, grains, beverages, and some fast foods.
The Nutrition Assistant shows progress throughout the day so you can meet your daily nutrition goals. It maintains a 31-day diary of your intake, and can be programmed with 100 other personal foods that are not included in the regular list. The device can also help users manage protein and fat intake versus carbs. According to Robi, this is accomplished through a goal setting function that enables users to compare their actual consumption against nutrition goals.
The Nutrition Assistant is available for US$29.95 at select Curves for Women studios, or from the company directly (website or 1-888-289-7624).
Filed under: Celebrity — Tags: daveberry — @
Miami based columnist Dave Berry (famous for making fun of things we take seriously) took a stab at low-carb diets in his latest column for the International Herald Tribune. Be warned that while there is no science backing his points, it’s sure to make you laugh:
bq. Today, of course, nobody eats bread. People are terrified of all carbohydrates, as evidenced by the recent mass robbery at a midtown Manhattan restaurant, where 87 patrons turned their wallets over to a man armed only with a strand of No. 8 spaghetti. (“Do what he says! He has pasta!”) The city of Beverly Hills has been evacuated twice this month because of reports – false, thank heavens – that terrorists had put a bagel in the water supply.
