Low-carb mistakes
12/28/2004 12:00 PM
By: Ivanhoe Broadcast News

Those low-carb diets are still going strong. According to the research firm AC Nielsen, more than 17 percent of households in the United States include someone who is on a low-carb diet. Another study shows 40 percent of Americans are "watching their carbs." Everywhere you look, there are new, low-carb chocolates, ice creams, cereals, beverages ... even beers! But not all is perfect in the low-carb world. Mistakes on these strict diets can curtail even the most well-intended dieter's success.

Registered Dietician Molly Kimball, from the Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans said one mistake people make when it comes to low-carb living is an "all-or-nothing mentality."

"They're either on low carbs, or they're not, so they're picking the croutons and carrots out of their salad, or they just say, 'The hell with it,' and they're going to have the bread basket itself. It doesn't have to be that way. If they're having a little bit of carbs throughout the day, that can make it a lot easier to stick to in the long run," Kimball said.

Another mistake? Not counting sugar alcohols in the total intake of carbohydrates from foods. Sugar alcohols are a type of carbohydrate that are not completely broken down and not completely digested. "Legally," on food labels, manufacturers are able to say that you can subtract it from the total carbohydrates, and it's not included in net carbs. But it's still causing your body to produce insulin. What's important to note, Kimball said, is that you can subtract the grams of fiber from the total carb count in every food. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate, but the body does not digest it.

A third mistake is simply eating too much. Many times, people on low-carb diets will consume more calories just because a food has the words "low-carb" on it. Kimball says it's a dangerous trap to fall into.

"All they look at is carbohydrates, so if you have a smaller person, and they're eating tons of cheese, tons of nuts, you know a lot of butter, bleu cheese dressing, steaks ... If they're a smaller person to begin with, they're simply going to take in more calories than they need to in order to burn body fat," she said.

Instead, she said, "Choose lean proteins. Go with grilled fish, lean pork, lean beef or chicken. If you're doing fats, choose healthier fats like nuts, avocadoes and olive oil."

One of the biggest, and most misunderstood, mistakes comes from the land of low-carb treats. More than 1,000 low-carb foods have hit the shelves in the last five years, and many of them fall into the "treats" category.

"The calories that they had initially cut out, they're putting right back in with these low-carb versions of the traditional foods. So, again getting back to the idea that the calories do still matter. People often do stop losing weight when they're adding in these low-carb treats," Kimball said.

For example, one serving of a low-carb ice cream often has nearly twice the fat as a serving of many regular ice creams.


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