Atkins and carb paranoia

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 8/11/02 12:08:32 PM,

writes:

>Most of the Atkins folks I know live off " Atkins bars " and a lot of special

>

>processed foods. And they have a kind of " carb paranoia " that I can't agree

>

>with. I can't agree that low-carb brownies made with soy oil,

>methylcellulose and Splenda (or whatever goes into them) is better for

>you

>than a bowl of strawberries or a potato with butter. One lady I know brings

>

>special " low carb tortillas " to work for tacos. I pointed out that her

> " low

>carb " tortillas have 12g of carb each, while the regular ones have 11g.

>She

>pointed out that the regular ones have 2g of sugar, which must be what

>

>makes them bad. Anyway, there is a religious fervor to it that I dislike,

>

>not the diet itself.

>

>For myself, I know there is no way I'll GIVE UP carbs,

In the weight loss phase of a low carbohydrate diet plan, it is important to

count carbs -- even in tiny amounts -- however, the reason the low carb

tortilla is considered a low carb version is that even though it contains 12

grams of carbs, 9 of them are fiber which is subtracted from the total carb

amount -- so it's actually 3 grams against your 11 grams. It's a handy way to

get some significant fiber by the way. You are lucky if you can eat carbs and

have no problems -- many of us are quite insulin resistant and do poorly on

too many carbs -- not just weight gain, but skewed lipid values, especially

high triglycerides and lower HDLs. BTW I too would eat the bowl of

strawberries, rather than the low carb brownies . The wonderful thing about

low carb living is that it leads one to healthy carbs -- those with higher

nutrient values all around. I can eat mountains of green leafy and other

colorful veggies, broccoli, cauliflower, etc., significant amounts of berries

and melons and still stay very low carb. Using almond flour I can also enjoy

bakery type concoctions. Although I don't indulge very much in the packaged

low carb stuff (bars, etc.), they are convenient for people, and seem

somewhat more healthy (significant amount of protein, vitamins and minerals)

than the normal cacophony of American snack food. If I had my druthers

though, everyone would indulge themselves in authentic home prepared meals

using real food.

Namaste, Liz

<A HREF= " http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html " >

http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html</A>