| In this issue: | |
| - | Has the low-carb craze passed? |
| - | Americans and dieting: A match made in sales heaven |
| - | CLA fights fat with fat |
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About a year ago, food manufacturers and restaurants were putting “LOW CARB!” stickers on everything from alfalfa sprouts to yogurt. Those stickers and healthy proclamations are still visible in grocery aisles and on restaurant menus, but Americans may be looking beyond them. A recent study by NPD Group found that number of Americans on low-carbohydrate diets peaked in February 2004 with 9.1 percent, but dropped to 4.9 percent in early November. The report also found that only one out of four Americans were cutting carbs. Now that Americans are done with the low-carb diet, where do they turn? Small businesses that were counting on a long love affair with reduced carbohydrates are beginning to feel the pinch. Large corporations are switching away from low-carb just as quickly as they fell in love with it. The end of low-carb does not mean America’s obesity epidemic is over. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 64 percent of Americans are overweight. So, where will Americans turn for weight loss? Some doctors and nutritionists are proposing a diet according to glycemic index rather than carbohydrates or calories. A low-glycemic-index diet consists of carbs that do not “spike” blood sugar. A small study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that subjects on a low-glycemic diet not only lost weight, but also had a reduction in homocysteine and triglyceride levels. Though the study only involved 39 subjects, its results are causing diet makers and food manufacturers to perk up. Could low glycemic be the next low carb? Only the scale will tell.
Is America addicted to dieting? The answer, of course, depends on your definition of addiction, but it’s safe to say that many Americans have an obsession with weight loss. Some sources claim that one out of every three Americans is on a diet. Others say that on any given day, almost half of all women and 25 percent of all men in the U.S. are on a diet. Whatever the real numbers are, there’s no discounting the fact that weight loss has blossomed into a $42 billion-per-year industry, up 40 percent from $30 billion in 1997. It touches everyone The new national pastime has affected everyone in one way, shape or form. Think about your New Year’s resolutions for this year or from year’s past. Did “win the battle of the bulge” make it onto any of those lists? If you’re like most Americans, it did. It’s only natural to want to start the new year right, especially after running the month-and-a-half-long food gauntlet called the holidays. Americans gain an average of six to 12 pounds during the five or six weeks that begin with Thanksgiving and end in a new calendar. What if you gained six pounds every six weeks — one pound per week — for an entire year? You’d have grown by over 52 pounds last year! With that in mind, it makes a lot of sense to resolve to shed those extra pounds immediately after eating what seems like constantly for five weeks. Those fickle Americans Unfortunately, other statistics indicate we Americans are a fickle bunch, spending billions on the latest diets, but rarely staying on one very long before jumping ship for the next greatest thing. Moreover, the grim reality is that diets only work approximately five to 10 percent of the time, and most dieters end up regaining the weight they lost within the time it took them to lose it. A comprehensive diet So what’s a post-holiday, several-extra-pounds-heavier American to do? You’ve heard the pros and cons of diets like Atkin’s, South Beach, Zone and even Cabbage Soup. Maybe you’ve even tried one or more of those. If you’re still looking for the perfect diet, maybe it’s time to expand your search to include diets that recommend whole-body changes. Experts agree that dieting isn’t just simply a matter of eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong ones. Real, sustainable weight loss occurs most often in people who take a whole-body approach to shedding pounds. A lifestyle diet should encompass regular exercise, healthy eating, psychological motivation (believing you can lose weight) and even dietary supplements to compound the effect of the other components. If you need to join the diet craze, at least make sure you’re armed with a system designed with the average person in mind.
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