03/19/04
Money Wise--Cutting Through the Low-Carb Confusion
Are you one of the many who want to shed a few pounds? As you probably know, low-carb diets are all the rage. But you have to be careful when it comes to low-carb shopping. Nowadays there is a whole new breed of prepackaged foods aimed at the low-carb consumer, but they may not be as great as you think.
The name on every dieter's lips--Atkins--has spawned a whole new set of questions. "Well, the FDA has not defined low-carbohydrate as they have low fat. So it's difficult," explained Delia Hammock, the Good Housekeeping Institute's nutrition director.
In other words, reading those labels can be downright confusing. Good Housekeeping checked them out for us and concluded: shoppers should look for just one thing on that low-carb package. "When the consumer looks at the label, they really should go to the calories and see what the calories are," said Hammock.
So, do low-carb foods have fewer or more calories than regular foods? Good Housekeeping compared the two categories in some favorites. One example, macaroni and cheese. Good Housekeeping looked at Atkins Quick Cuisine elbow and cheese, low on carbs, compared to a regular variety, Annie's shells and white cheddar. "While the Atkins brand of macaroni and cheese did have less carbohydrates, it had significantly more calories," noted Hammock.
And therein lies the rub to losing that tub. "When you're talking about weight gain, it's calories that really count," Hammock said.
Mind you, some low-carb foods are also low in calories. But Good Housekeeping says you just can't assume that. "This certainly does not mean you can eat these foods as freely as you want," said Hammock.
Not only that, but Good Housekeeping found you're likely to pay a lot more for those special foods. "On average, a serving of the low-carb foods was about three times as much as the regular foods," said Hammock.
Good Housekeeping's nutritionist says that in a few of the new low-carb foods, the carb count is so high that one serving is about half the daily allowance for phase one of the Atkins program.
If you have money questions you'd like answered in Money Wise, email moneywise@wtoc.com.
Reported by: Dmitra Denmark, ddenmark@wtoc.com
wtoctv.com |
