"low carb" news and stories

While Atkins may be out, the idea of "good carbs" vs " bad carbs" is still at the forefront of the thoughts of healthy eaters everywhere and whole grains are definitely a hot topic for cooks. Against the Grain not only provides whole grain recipes, but it is rooted in Mediterranean cuisine, which is not only heart-healthy, but might play a role in Alzheimer's prevention.

The recipes, most of which are formulated for weight loss or "maintenance," are not limited to Italian food, which many cookbooks seem to think is synonymous with "Mediterranean cuisine." They come from Morocco, Tunisia, Greece and the Middle East, as well. There are appetizers and snacks, soups, salads and lots of main courses, all of which are light on potatoes, breads and other white-flour foods. Instead, there are lots of proteins, vegetables and combinations of whole grains, including brown rice, bulgur wheat. Recipes include Pork Medallions Marinated with Olives and Orange, Roast Chicken Stuffed with Spinach, Wild Rice, Walnuts, and Feta and Sicilian Fisherman's Stew.

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It seems a little late for a company to suddenly be jumping on the low-carb bandwagon (at least, I haven't previously noticed it in my area), but that's pretty much what Heinz has done with their one-carb Reduced Sugar Ketchup. The ketchup has 75% less sugar than their regular ketchup and 2/3 fewer calories. Since it is being marketed as a healthier alternative to regular ketchup, the company notes that it still has plenty of heart-healthy lycopene from tomatoes in it, so anyone who switches to it won't be missing out.

Frankly, it's hard to imagine that a low carb ketchup will really stand up to regular ketchup, let alone to Organic Heinz, and because you don't generally consume ketchup by the cupful, how harmful could a few extra grams of sugar be? They're probably not has unhealthy as the French fries or other food that is being served with the ketchup in the first place.

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Stevia is not a sweetener that is approved for use by the FDA. It is actually classified as a dietary supplement, an herb, that happens to be sweeter than sugar and can be - and is - used as a sweetener. It is all natural, has no calories (or carbs) and is getting more and more popular, though it makes up only a small portion of the non-sugar sweetener market.

Its popularity is due to an increased awareness for the product, thanks to well-placed advertisements and hard work on the part of the SweetLeaf Stevia brand's LA marketing firm, which has made sure that high end restaurants and even stores carry the product, prompting even more coverage from newspapers and magazines.

The only problem with Stevia, according to both the manufacturers and consumers, is that it is still hard to find. Not all stores carry it. Some stores, like Trader Joe's, try to make the product easily visible, but because it is an herb, it is often stocked in the supplements aisle in other stores, not in the section of the market with the sugars and sweeteners. Clearly this is not a huge setback, however, because the sales of the sweetener are steadily increasing. In the last year alone, they have increased almost 40%, though overall sales are only one tenth of the sales of Splenda, the top selling non-sugar sweetener.

If the interest in the product keeps growing at this rate - and it seems likely to - we could see Stevia become more widely available and used in more packaged products in place of artificial sugars.

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Gah. I hate when this happens. You buy something at the supermarket because you're hungry and in a hurry, and you're really looking forward to eating it, and then you get home and realize the frozen dinner you bought includes a food item that you absolutely hate (it's even worse when you pick up the wrong thing entirely and get home and find out you have to drive all the way back to the store, but that's a separate post).

I bought Smart Ones Pot Roast Dinner the other night, and today I decided to have it for lunch, and when I opened the package I noticed it had...cauliflower?! Ugh! I hate cauliflower.

They probably put it in there as a substitute for potatoes (which should be in every pot roast dinner, damn it), for people looking to limit their carbs. People are always trying to pass off cauliflower as potatoes. Nope, ain't gonna happen. (And don't get on my case about buying frozen dinners. Even people who cook a lot sometimes buy frozen foods when they want something quick and easy.) I was surprised by this, because Smart Foods makes my favorite frozen dinner of all-time, and I thought this would be another winner. Oh well, live and learn. I'll get the Stouffer's next time.

The dinner also had mushrooms in it and smelled like old feet. I don't like mushrooms either.

Though the very height of the "low carb craze" has passed, millions of people still follow a low or reduced carb diet. A new study reveals that, though they are sticking to it voluntarily, at least 3 out or 5 low-carbers feel limited in what they are allowed to eat and regularly crave forbidden foods, which makes sticking to the diet that much harder. The number one thing that low carb dieters miss are baked goods (50%), followed by pasta (22%) and fruit (9%). More than 25% of respondents said that the prepackaged versions of baked goods and some mixes, though diet-friendly, were not worth eating under any circumstances.

The survey was commissioned by the baking-mix company Krusteaz, and coincides with the release of a new line of low-carb baking mixes, called CarbSimple. For the sake of all those poor, dissatisfied low-carbers, let's hope that the line turns out to be a good one.

But aside from promoting a new product, the results here indicate that the diet is not for everyone. If you constantly (or even frequently) feel that you are missing out, if baked goods of any kind - from blueberry muffins to sandwich bread - are at the top of your "must-have" list, the low-carb diet is going to be a tough one to follow and you might be better off choosing a different eating regimen. Picking one strategy that you can follow long-term - low carb or otherwise - will generally produce the best results because it is one that you can willingly and happily follow.

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