Originally published February 14 2005
Low-carb craze is just plain crazy, nutrition expert says
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
A hospital nutritionist in Colorado says America's low-carb craze is just a bunch of marketing craziness. There's more to losing weight and staying healthy than counting carbs, she says, and companies that hype their "low-carb" products often fail to point out that eating large portions of their food is unhealthy for other reasons. Many low-carb foods have inadvisable amounts of fat, for example.
Not sure what to make of all the low-carb diets and foods currently on the market?
Hospital dietitian Michelle Maccarone gave a speech Wednesday titled "Carb Craze or Carb Crazy."
She argued that America has become the latter, falling prey to misleading marketing by a low-carb industry now running into the billions of dollars.
"The problem with low-carb diets is that we've become obsessed with weight loss instead of overall health," she said.
Maccarone began her lecture by comparing the marketing of low-carb foods to the trend in the 1990s to market low-fat foods, even though those products often packed lots of calories.
She pointed to research done by www.consumerlab.com, an independent testing organization, that found as many as 60 percent of low-carb nutrition bars give erroneous information on their packages.
The "net carb" content listed on many of these bars is also misleading.
According to manufacturers, net carbs consist of total carbohydrates minus fiber and sugar alcohols.
It's OK to subtract fiber, Maccarone said, but sugar alcohols such as glycerol have little impact on overall carb content.
Also, although sugar alcohols have been used in small amounts in items like chewing gum for years, researchers say little is known about the long-term effects of consuming large amounts of these substances.
The FDA hasn't approved it, but the companies are still labeling that way."
She also said many low-carb diets are nutritionally deficient.
The Atkins diet, for example, advocates no more than 20-60 grams of carbohydrates per day during the diet's first few weeks.
Cutting out fruits because they contain carbohydrates can also cause serious nutritional deficiencies.
Maccarone spoke as part of the Aspen Valley Hospital and Aspen Given Foundation's "Brown Bag" lunchtime lecture series.
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