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CNN Sunday Morning
Low Carb Products Gain in Popularity
Aired November 24, 2002 - 09:36 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Remember when every food item had a low fat version? Low fat cookies, low fat ice cream? Now, with the popularity of low carbohydrate diets, many food manufacturers have jumped on that bandwagon, and leading a lot of people to ask, is low carb the new low fat? CNN health correspondent Kat Carney here to help fill us in. And boy, did you bring in some low carb products I didn't even know existed. And I want to get to some of those in a minute, but why is it so popular now?
KAT CARNEY, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the reasons it's so popular -- actually, there are two reasons. One is the media, and another one is word of mouth. I mean, every time a new study like last week's study about the Atkins diet maybe not being so harmful to cholesterol levels -- we run story after story after story. We love to run the stories of celebrities on the diet, and then there is also word of mouth. Everyone knows someone who knows someone who...
CALLAWAY: Who lost weight on a low carb diet.
CARNEY: ... low carb diet.
CALLAWAY: Well, the medical community is not very happy with a lot of these.
CARNEY: No, they are not happy at all. And just to give you a little background on why they claim to work. They're saying -- the people who are writing the low carb diets say that it's the overconsumption of refined carbohydrates that's led to a condition called insulin resistance. And we all know that about a third of Americans are, in fact, insulin resistance. So what the low carbers are saying is if you reduce the amount and type -- the amount of refined carbohydrates in your diet, you can improve your body's reaction to food, and you can, in turn, lose weight.
CALLAWAY: So basically the carbohydrates turn to sugar and contribute to you being overweight and other issues, I guess is what they're saying.
CARNEY: Well, they impair your body -- the hormone -- the insulin hormone -- excuse me, the hormone insulin to help metabolize the food. And what the medical community is saying is they don't believe this is actually true.
And there is only three components to your diet. You've got protein, fat and carbohydrates. So when you are reducing the carbohydrates, you're by default increasing the amount of fat and protein. And they are saying that this can lead to all types of health risks. It can lead to high blood pressure, it can lead to cardiovascular risk. And that's the problem that they have with it.
CALLAWAY: So don't eliminate the carbohydrates from the diet I guess is what they say. Moderation, everyone.
CARNEY: Exactly. Exactly.
CALLAWAY: Let's try to look at some of these products you brought in, because you have so many. We don't have a lot of time. What are some of your favorite products that you brought in?
CARNEY: Well, it's interesting. Everyone thought that the low carb diet was a fad, that it was just going to go away. And you know, as little as three years ago, you couldn't find these products. It was people buying the books, and kind of creating their own diets.
But I went online the other day, and of course, Dr. Atkins is leading the bandwagon with this, and he's created all types of products. Low carb candy bars, low carb quiche, low carb enchiladas. And they actually taste pretty good. And I spoke with the American Heart Association and the American Dietetic Association about this, and they said they really don't have any problems with the products themselves, that these actually do fill a niche for people who are on carbohydrate-controlled diets, people with diabetes. Actually people with epilepsy are treated with low carb diets, or carbohydrate- controlled diets. So you might even want to taste that candy bar. It tastes just like one of the popular ones.
CALLAWAY: I am going to taste it in just a minute. I want to ask you about the pasta first, though, because that's what I think of when I think of carbohydrates, because I eat so much pasta.
CARNEY: Right. A lot of people when they think about these diets, I have to give up bread, I have to give up pasta. Well, this is a lower carbohydrate pasta that I found on the market. And this actually has, let me find this, 8.5 grams of carbohydrate per serving. And regular pasta has 34 grams of carbohydrates. Exactly.
And then I found this at a company called Synergy Diet. They are a bakery, a low carb bakery. They have bagels, bread, doughnuts. And those doughnuts have four grams of carbs apiece, the bread 7.45 grams of carbohydrates. So it's really that much lower.
And the fat wasn't really that much higher. What do you think? OK, well, she can't talk right now. So it must be pretty good.
CALLAWAY: Very good.
CARNEY: Let me show you these two. These are another type of cookies that I found.
CALLAWAY: Those smell so good.
CARNEY: They are very good. I found this online at a Web site called lowcarbcookies.com. And this is one of the reasons that low carb diets are gaining popularity online. This was started by a couple...
CALLAWAY: This is so good.
CARNEY: Exactly. Who went on a low carb diet. They lost weight, and said, but we can't find any products. So they came up with their own cookies and those are pretty tasty.
CALLAWAY: They are tasty, but you know, high fat, though. Where are we going? We're going full circle.
CARNEY: Well, not all of them are higher fat. And the American Dietetic Association and the American Heart Association said, look at the labels. And some of them we turned over and we actually looked at the back, and they weren't that much higher.
Now, some of the Atkins products, like some of the souffles, they had 68 percent of your cholesterol for the day, so you do need to be careful.
CALLAWAY: And these are not in the grocery store right now. Well, maybe the low carb beer, but everything else you got online, right?
CARNEY: You can find low carb beer in the grocery store, but I think you're going to start seeing more and more as they become more popular.
CALLAWAY: Well, thank you for giving some choices for everyone. Kat Carney, thank you very much and thank you for the candy bar. It really is good.
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 November 24, 2002 - 09:36 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Remember when every food item had a low fat version? Low fat cookies, low fat ice cream? Now, with the popularity of low carbohydrate diets, many food manufacturers have jumped on that bandwagon, and leading a lot of people to ask, is low carb the new low fat? CNN health correspondent Kat Carney here to help fill us in. And boy, did you bring in some low carb products I didn't even know existed. And I want to get to some of those in a minute, but why is it so popular now?
KAT CARNEY, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: Well, one of the reasons it's so popular -- actually, there are two reasons. One is the media, and another one is word of mouth. I mean, every time a new study like last week's study about the Atkins diet maybe not being so harmful to cholesterol levels -- we run story after story after story. We love to run the stories of celebrities on the diet, and then there is also word of mouth. Everyone knows someone who knows someone who...
CALLAWAY: Who lost weight on a low carb diet.
CARNEY: ... low carb diet.
CALLAWAY: Well, the medical community is not very happy with a lot of these.
CARNEY: No, they are not happy at all. And just to give you a little background on why they claim to work. They're saying -- the people who are writing the low carb diets say that it's the overconsumption of refined carbohydrates that's led to a condition called insulin resistance. And we all know that about a third of Americans are, in fact, insulin resistance. So what the low carbers are saying is if you reduce the amount and type -- the amount of refined carbohydrates in your diet, you can improve your body's reaction to food, and you can, in turn, lose weight.
CALLAWAY: So basically the carbohydrates turn to sugar and contribute to you being overweight and other issues, I guess is what they're saying.
CARNEY: Well, they impair your body -- the hormone -- the insulin hormone -- excuse me, the hormone insulin to help metabolize the food. And what the medical community is saying is they don't believe this is actually true.
And there is only three components to your diet. You've got protein, fat and carbohydrates. So when you are reducing the carbohydrates, you're by default increasing the amount of fat and protein. And they are saying that this can lead to all types of health risks. It can lead to high blood pressure, it can lead to cardiovascular risk. And that's the problem that they have with it.
CALLAWAY: So don't eliminate the carbohydrates from the diet I guess is what they say. Moderation, everyone.
CARNEY: Exactly. Exactly.
CALLAWAY: Let's try to look at some of these products you brought in, because you have so many. We don't have a lot of time. What are some of your favorite products that you brought in?
CARNEY: Well, it's interesting. Everyone thought that the low carb diet was a fad, that it was just going to go away. And you know, as little as three years ago, you couldn't find these products. It was people buying the books, and kind of creating their own diets.
But I went online the other day, and of course, Dr. Atkins is leading the bandwagon with this, and he's created all types of products. Low carb candy bars, low carb quiche, low carb enchiladas. And they actually taste pretty good. And I spoke with the American Heart Association and the American Dietetic Association about this, and they said they really don't have any problems with the products themselves, that these actually do fill a niche for people who are on carbohydrate-controlled diets, people with diabetes. Actually people with epilepsy are treated with low carb diets, or carbohydrate- controlled diets. So you might even want to taste that candy bar. It tastes just like one of the popular ones.
CALLAWAY: I am going to taste it in just a minute. I want to ask you about the pasta first, though, because that's what I think of when I think of carbohydrates, because I eat so much pasta.
CARNEY: Right. A lot of people when they think about these diets, I have to give up bread, I have to give up pasta. Well, this is a lower carbohydrate pasta that I found on the market. And this actually has, let me find this, 8.5 grams of carbohydrate per serving. And regular pasta has 34 grams of carbohydrates. Exactly.
And then I found this at a company called Synergy Diet. They are a bakery, a low carb bakery. They have bagels, bread, doughnuts. And those doughnuts have four grams of carbs apiece, the bread 7.45 grams of carbohydrates. So it's really that much lower.
And the fat wasn't really that much higher. What do you think? OK, well, she can't talk right now. So it must be pretty good.
CALLAWAY: Very good.
CARNEY: Let me show you these two. These are another type of cookies that I found.
CALLAWAY: Those smell so good.
CARNEY: They are very good. I found this online at a Web site called lowcarbcookies.com. And this is one of the reasons that low carb diets are gaining popularity online. This was started by a couple...
CALLAWAY: This is so good.
CARNEY: Exactly. Who went on a low carb diet. They lost weight, and said, but we can't find any products. So they came up with their own cookies and those are pretty tasty.
CALLAWAY: They are tasty, but you know, high fat, though. Where are we going? We're going full circle.
CARNEY: Well, not all of them are higher fat. And the American Dietetic Association and the American Heart Association said, look at the labels. And some of them we turned over and we actually looked at the back, and they weren't that much higher.
Now, some of the Atkins products, like some of the souffles, they had 68 percent of your cholesterol for the day, so you do need to be careful.
CALLAWAY: And these are not in the grocery store right now. Well, maybe the low carb beer, but everything else you got online, right?
CARNEY: You can find low carb beer in the grocery store, but I think you're going to start seeing more and more as they become more popular.
CALLAWAY: Well, thank you for giving some choices for everyone. Kat Carney, thank you very much and thank you for the candy bar. It really is good.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
