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As Low-Carb Craze Wanes, Atkins Revamps Its Diet



 
 
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  #1  
Old April 4th, 2005, 03:13 PM
Preesi
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Default As Low-Carb Craze Wanes, Atkins Revamps Its Diet

Updated: 02:43 PM EST
As Low-Carb Craze Wanes, Atkins Revamps Its Diet

NEW YORK (March 23) - Atkins Nutritionals, which championed a dieting
craze that made millions of Americans shun bread and other
carbohydrates, wants a do-over.

As the low-carb fad fades, Atkins has altered its "net carbs" method by
using parts of the latest trend from Europe -- a glycemic-index diet --
to target U.S. food companies for products bearing the new "net Atkins
count" seal.

The new label has appeared on Atkins nutrition and breakfast bars since
January. Atkins says the method more accurately gauges a dieter's blood
sugar response to foods, and subsequent weight gain, and is far more
precise than the net carbs subtraction method.

"We see this as the standard and the next generation for measuring net
carb and blood sugar impact," said Matthew Wiant, Atkins' chief
marketing officer.

Atkins says current partners HP Hood LLC and CoolBrands International
Inc. (CBAsva.TO) are excited about coming up with new product lines
using the new methodology.

Ronkonkoma, New York-based Atkins, which has seen sagging sales of its
packaged products and just pulled the plug on its British subsidiary,
said it may even go after Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT.N) -- which has a deal
with an Atkins rival, the South Beach diet.

But food analysts say the bloom is off the rose for low-carb names like
Atkins, as consumers have dismissed it as a fad that got rid of weight
at first, but was unsustainable.

"What Atkins is saying is that this is the new way of doing things,
which is the same as saying the old way wasn't that good," said Bob
Goldin, executive vice president with food industry research firm
Technomic. "They're so well identified with net carbs that it may work
against them because it can confuse people.

"The aura has definitely left Atkins, so they're a lot less valuable as
a corporate partner," he added.

About 26 percent of Americans are trying to shed weight, 4 percent of
those on a low-carb diet -- down from 9 percent in January 2004,
according to data from The NPD Group, a New York-based market research
firm.

Atkins, sensing that it was losing currency with dieters, took the cue
for the change from British food company Tesco PLC (TSCDY.PK), which has
melded the glycemic index into its line of foods, said Ken Harris,
managing director at consumer products and retail consultant Cannondale
Associates.

Harris was more optimistic that Atkins could pull off the switch than
some other diet industry experts, as he noted that dieting by following
the glycemic index is much more sustainable than the net-carb way.

"Atkins is doing the right thing. But if Tesco hadn't done this, there'd
be nothing. Atkins has its work cut out for it," Harris said. "Will it
save the company? It's hard to tell. But they've got a reasonable shot
at making it work."

Among U.S. companies that could partner with Atkins are ConAgra Foods
Inc. (CAG.N) or PepsiCo Inc. (PEP.N), he said.


03/23/05 10:37 ET


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  #2  
Old April 4th, 2005, 04:58 PM
Cubit
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Without the leader and his vision, the Atkins business seems off track.

I have had good luck using the net carb numbers in management. However, my
carbs are low enough that the non-net carb number is still below 50.

Rather than the glycemic index, perhaps a label indicating glycemic load
would be useful for some.

Another factor, I would look at is that a food may be relatively low in
total carbs, but the percentage of carbs in the product may be very high.
Thus, it is the wrong kind of food, marketed as low carb due to a skewed
interpretation.

I suspect the study quoted by Dr. Greger, that 75% of people saying they are
low carb actually have failed to restrict carbohydrates, is correct. It may
be the failure of low carb diet *cheaters* that has contributed to the
decline.

"Ignoramus30418" wrote in message
...
I find it rather amusing. This company used to sell crappy products
using a bogus calculation (of net carbs). Now it is, apparently, going
to sell same trash products, using just as bogus calculation (glycemic
index, according to the article).

My guess is that the experts are wrong in guessing that this change is
happening due to changing consumer dieting preferences towards
different types of diets. I think that the real reason for this switch
is that the net carb fraud became too notorious. Too few people
believe in "net carbs", and this fraud will probably soon be banned by
the government food agencies. Hence the preventive action by "Atkins
nutritionals".

Glycemic index calculation is even more nebulous than net carbs, and
is very easy to fake and lie about without the fear of being
successfully sued. Unlike carb counts, which are at least based on
objective lab tests, "glycemic index" is based on "blood sugar
response of human subjects". That response is variable and depends on
the person. So, al they have to do to fudge the numbers is find the
human subjects with the least response.

For a pdf of a good critique of Glycemic index, check out

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/gi.pdf

--
223/175.7/180



  #3  
Old April 4th, 2005, 05:31 PM
wendy
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Cubit wrote:
Rather than the glycemic index, perhaps a label indicating glycemic load
would be useful for some.


People don't stay on diet period. It doesn't matter which one.
  #4  
Old April 5th, 2005, 02:03 PM
Polar Light
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"Ignoramus30418" wrote in message
...
I find it rather amusing. This company used to sell crappy products
using a bogus calculation (of net carbs). Now it is, apparently, going
to sell same trash products, using just as bogus calculation (glycemic
index, according to the article).


Atkins Nutritionals had a very short life in the UK and for good reason.
Back in 2002, after seeing the 'Diet Revolution' book everywhere, I was
tempted to give it a try. After losing what seemed like a huge amount of
weight during the first two induction weeks, I got excited at the prospect
of losing weight fast & still be able to eat pancakes, flour tortillas,
bread, etc. as sold by this company. The Atkins website had a whole lot of
'low carb' versions of 'normal' foods but none of those things were
available in the UK at the time. The products were overpriced to start with
& after adding international shipping their cost skyrocketted but one wishes
to try new things...

When the products that have cost their own weight in gold arrived, they
turned out to be highly disappointing. Whether you could eat them and still
lose (I mean weight, I did lose a lot of pounds of the other kind) wasn't
even an issue, most of the stuff was inedible anyway. The 'maple syrup' was
as thin as water, I could have done better with artificial flavouring, water
& edulcorant (which is probably all there was in it). The bars tasted awful
& had 240 cals each. The labels were full of 'hocus pocus' calculations
regarding what was carbs & what was not & the figures quoted for F/C/P
didn't add up to the number of calories.

My guess is that the experts are wrong in guessing that this change is
happening due to changing consumer dieting preferences towards
different types of diets. I think that the real reason for this switch
is that the net carb fraud became too notorious. Too few people
believe in "net carbs", and this fraud will probably soon be banned by
the government food agencies. Hence the preventive action by "Atkins
nutritionals".


It must be rather difficult to make something that looks, feels, and tastes
like a carb but has no carbs at all. A lot of the Atkins stuff is faked
using glycerine & sugar alcohols which can cause digestive problems.

Glycemic index calculation is even more nebulous than net carbs, and
is very easy to fake and lie about without the fear of being
successfully sued. Unlike carb counts, which are at least based on
objective lab tests, "glycemic index" is based on "blood sugar
response of human subjects". That response is variable and depends on
the person. So, al they have to do to fudge the numbers is find the
human subjects with the least response.

For a pdf of a good critique of Glycemic index, check out

http://igor.chudov.com/tmp/gi.pdf

Sounds too subjective to be measurable, let alone legally regulate the
claims...


  #5  
Old April 5th, 2005, 11:10 PM
Kevin Martin (Homebrewer)
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Default

In article ,
says...
But food analysts say the bloom is off the rose for low-carb names like
Atkins, as consumers have dismissed it as a fad that got rid of weight
at first, but was unsustainable.

"What Atkins is saying is that this is the new way of doing things,
which is the same as saying the old way wasn't that good," said Bob
Goldin, executive vice president with food industry research firm
Technomic. "They're so well identified with net carbs that it may work
against them because it can confuse people.

"The aura has definitely left Atkins, so they're a lot less valuable as
a corporate partner," he added.

About 26 percent of Americans are trying to shed weight, 4 percent of
those on a low-carb diet -- down from 9 percent in January 2004,
according to data from The NPD Group, a New York-based market research
firm.

Atkins, sensing that it was losing currency with dieters, took the cue
for the change from British food company Tesco PLC (TSCDY.PK), which has
melded the glycemic index into its line of foods, said Ken Harris,
managing director at consumer products and retail consultant Cannondale
Associates.

Harris was more optimistic that Atkins could pull off the switch than
some other diet industry experts, as he noted that dieting by following
the glycemic index is much more sustainable than the net-carb way.

"Atkins is doing the right thing. But if Tesco hadn't done this, there'd
be nothing. Atkins has its work cut out for it," Harris said. "Will it
save the company? It's hard to tell. But they've got a reasonable shot
at making it work."

Among U.S. companies that could partner with Atkins are ConAgra Foods
Inc. (CAG.N) or PepsiCo Inc. (PEP.N), he said.


I am amused that the demand for the "low carb specialty" foods is on the
decline and thus it is assumed that low carb is on the outs. It is
possible that people are spending less on the specialty stuff and just
eating regular ole low carb stuff. Salad and green vegetables, meat, you
know that regular ole food is pretty low carb too.
--

370/275/270
Single malt scotch is awesome (NO it does NOT have carbs as DON'T vodka,
gin, rum, bourbon, etc generally)
Malt can be made low carb through the judicious use of yeast.
Low carb beer? Uh...yeah.
Read the books.
You can have more than eggs for breakfast.
Yes calories do count.
Ketosticks are not neccessary to lose weight.

Email: Actually my feet are big not medium.
  #6  
Old April 8th, 2005, 02:38 AM
warehouse
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Posts: n/a
Default


wendy wrote:
Cubit wrote:
Rather than the glycemic index, perhaps a label indicating glycemic

load
would be useful for some.


People don't stay on diet period. It doesn't matter which one.


Are you a fatalist, faddist or fatist?

  #7  
Old April 10th, 2005, 04:57 AM
equinox
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Posts: n/a
Default

warehouse wrote:

People don't stay on diet period. It doesn't matter which one.


Are you a fatalist, faddist or fatist?


What's the problem? It's true. People don't stay on diets.
  #8  
Old April 10th, 2005, 05:01 AM
warehouse
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Default


equinox wrote:
warehouse wrote:

People don't stay on diet period. It doesn't matter which one.


Are you a fatalist, faddist or fatist?


What's the problem? It's true. People don't stay on diets.


Prove it.

  #9  
Old April 10th, 2005, 12:04 PM
Carol Frilegh
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Default

In article , equinox
wrote:

warehouse wrote:

People don't stay on diet period. It doesn't matter which one.


Are you a fatalist, faddist or fatist?


What's the problem? It's true. People don't stay on diets.


Many people do not realize that one a diet "ends" and food intake and
exercise are no loger observed, weight changes. Those who are
determined to protect favorable changes DO continue to give attentioin
to their diet.

--
Diva
*****
The Best Man For The Job Is A Woman
  #10  
Old April 10th, 2005, 03:36 PM
wendy
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

warehouse wrote:
equinox wrote:

warehouse wrote:


People don't stay on diet period. It doesn't matter which one.

Are you a fatalist, faddist or fatist?


What's the problem? It's true. People don't stay on diets.



Prove it.


Take a look on pubmed for a number of studies on the subject. Up to 95%
of people gain back every pound they lost on their diet, plus most gain
back more.
 




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