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CNN Live Today
Low-Carb Diets
Aired December 11, 2003 - 11:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now for a look at what some dieters are eating these days to get and stay slim, in a word, low carb, but there is reason for caution.
CNN's medical correspondent Holly Firfer is here with some tips in today's "Daily Dose."
And you know, Holly, I've seen these things where a lot of people talking about low carb, a lot of people eating the eggs, eating the bacon, but what's the scoop?
HOLLY FIRFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the scoop is it is the hottest trend right now in new food, multibillion-dollar industry. You see them everywhere, the low-carb bars, the low-carb bread, the low-carb shakes, and on and on. But then, why are Americans still fatter than ever? Why can't dieters take off that weight? Well, health experts say, just look back a decade to another recent trend and you can draw a conclusions. We're still eating too many calories. Remember when low fat foods were all the craze? We picked up Snackwell's like they were the last food on the planet. They forgot to look at calories and sugar. The same goes here. Although many of the new products are low in carbohydrates, they can be loaded with calories, and sugar and even fat.
Let's put it in perspective. Let's show you the recommended daily allowance for calories is between 2,000 and 2,500. You should get no more than 10 percent of your fat from those calories, so we're talking about 65 to 75 grams of fat a day and sodium counts, too. You should have less than 2,400 milligrams, and the daily recommended allowance, by the way, of carbs is 300 grams.
Now let's check out some of the labels on these low-carb foods. For instance, this bar, this bar, little bar, seems innocent, 270 calories. Not bad.
Now check this out. Snacks, you'd pick up one of these. You're hungry. I pick up a snack. If you look at the label and read the back, this counts as two servings. When you look at it, it says 150 calories. So if you eat the whole bag, that's 300 calories per sitting, 13 grams of fat, that's 26 grams of fat, a third of your fat intake for the day. So the concern is that you might pick this up as a snack, but you're eating far too many calories, far too much fat, and the weight is not going to come along -- come off, and it's also important to remember how you got -- dieting alone won't do it. You have to exercise. You can't just -- is what you eat; 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day is really what you need to do as well.
COLLINS: So pick those up, put them right back down.
All right, talk to us about an impact carb. There's so many terms out there now. This is one of them that people might not be familiar with.
FIRFER: Yes, it's a great question, because you see them on every label. Impact carb, what is that? Well, really, there's no such thing as impact carb. It's really a marketing tool. You won't so that on an FDA or a USDA label. The concern really is with the glycemic index. Some carbs do raise your blood sugar. And when that happens, you secret more insulin, and insulin is a hormone that helps your body store calories, it's fat, and that can make you hungry, so you want to eat more.
So rule of thumb, go for high-density carbs -- those in whole wheat, in brown rice, not the processed foods, like white flour or white rice, because those are the foods that are going to be easily digested, get into your bleed stream quicker, raise that blood sugar level. So you want to stick with things that also have additional fiber, like whole wheats and brown rice.
COLLINS: You know how I am about the rice. It's always my downfall. All right, Holly Firfer, thanks so very much. Good information today.
You're welcome.
Good information today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired December 11, 2003 - 11:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now for a look at what some dieters are eating these days to get and stay slim, in a word, low carb, but there is reason for caution.
CNN's medical correspondent Holly Firfer is here with some tips in today's "Daily Dose."
And you know, Holly, I've seen these things where a lot of people talking about low carb, a lot of people eating the eggs, eating the bacon, but what's the scoop?
HOLLY FIRFER, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the scoop is it is the hottest trend right now in new food, multibillion-dollar industry. You see them everywhere, the low-carb bars, the low-carb bread, the low-carb shakes, and on and on. But then, why are Americans still fatter than ever? Why can't dieters take off that weight? Well, health experts say, just look back a decade to another recent trend and you can draw a conclusions. We're still eating too many calories. Remember when low fat foods were all the craze? We picked up Snackwell's like they were the last food on the planet. They forgot to look at calories and sugar. The same goes here. Although many of the new products are low in carbohydrates, they can be loaded with calories, and sugar and even fat.
Let's put it in perspective. Let's show you the recommended daily allowance for calories is between 2,000 and 2,500. You should get no more than 10 percent of your fat from those calories, so we're talking about 65 to 75 grams of fat a day and sodium counts, too. You should have less than 2,400 milligrams, and the daily recommended allowance, by the way, of carbs is 300 grams.
Now let's check out some of the labels on these low-carb foods. For instance, this bar, this bar, little bar, seems innocent, 270 calories. Not bad.
Now check this out. Snacks, you'd pick up one of these. You're hungry. I pick up a snack. If you look at the label and read the back, this counts as two servings. When you look at it, it says 150 calories. So if you eat the whole bag, that's 300 calories per sitting, 13 grams of fat, that's 26 grams of fat, a third of your fat intake for the day. So the concern is that you might pick this up as a snack, but you're eating far too many calories, far too much fat, and the weight is not going to come along -- come off, and it's also important to remember how you got -- dieting alone won't do it. You have to exercise. You can't just -- is what you eat; 30 minutes of moderate exercise a day is really what you need to do as well.
COLLINS: So pick those up, put them right back down.
All right, talk to us about an impact carb. There's so many terms out there now. This is one of them that people might not be familiar with.
FIRFER: Yes, it's a great question, because you see them on every label. Impact carb, what is that? Well, really, there's no such thing as impact carb. It's really a marketing tool. You won't so that on an FDA or a USDA label. The concern really is with the glycemic index. Some carbs do raise your blood sugar. And when that happens, you secret more insulin, and insulin is a hormone that helps your body store calories, it's fat, and that can make you hungry, so you want to eat more.
So rule of thumb, go for high-density carbs -- those in whole wheat, in brown rice, not the processed foods, like white flour or white rice, because those are the foods that are going to be easily digested, get into your bleed stream quicker, raise that blood sugar level. So you want to stick with things that also have additional fiber, like whole wheats and brown rice.
COLLINS: You know how I am about the rice. It's always my downfall. All right, Holly Firfer, thanks so very much. Good information today.
You're welcome.
Good information today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
