Atkins Nutritionals & Rob Lowe tackle misinformation about the low-carb diet
 

https://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/A...in-new-campaign

While I follow the Atkins diet guidelines, I don't like the Atkin's push of their processed foods like bars and shakes. I do a more Paleo version of the diet.

The irony is that Atkins Nutritionals banks on the fact that as people begin a low carb WOE, their instincts for consuming food have been formed by the SAD foods they previously ate. Thinking about having food available, snacking frequently to avoid the dreaded hunger cravings, and virtually emulating the eating habits one had when fully invested in SAD are habits that are forgotten and fall by the wayside after a few months of consistent low carb eating. No complaints about a company trying to make money from healthy dietary approaches, but this one banks on many people starting low carb and sustaining the bad habits built over many years on SAD. Interesting business model . . .

There was a time, a long time, that I needed SAD substitues. And occassionally bought Atkins bars. Problem was I couldnt eat just one. I bet others have the same problem.

Learning to go mostly paleo took more years than I like to admit. Avoiding sugar substitutes works better. Rarely LC treats. And drop diet soda and drinks.
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Anyone count all the diets advertised now it's January ?? MOST have a LC twist. lol. Others claim eat what fits your preferences...just cant wrap my head around how eating cereals and sweets results in ketosis......

I've read about Dr. Atkins on the the difficulty many of his patients had in giving up such foods; even though it was a Point of Death thing since he was a cardiologist! He saw them as a practical tool to increase compliance and help people stay on the plan.

No telling what he would think now, with all the new research. This is also a company with no affiliation with the deceased doctor or his wife, who has maintained connections with her husbands work. Which is why the frozen meals, while decently low carb, are not gluten free, which has become an important distinction for me. But they are probably better than the other frozen meals I see in the case.

Atkins bars were a helpful breakfast item for me when I started. Now, my tastebuds rebel at the artificial nature and my insides rebel at the sugar alcohols :lol: Cold cuts have become my gotos, and a "sandwich" can be made and taken with me.

But the idea of simply recreating the SAD with low carb is not going to happen. Some of these recipes are far too elaborate and require some whacky, and expensive, ingredients. I could see a low carb cafe doing well with such. But not home cooks.

Atkins Nutritionals, while they reference Dr. Atkins' approach to eating in their website story, was certainly not spawned by Dr. Atkins as you stated. While it appears that they've rectified some of their "foods" to eliminate ingredients that low carbers tend to avoid, I find that over many years of low carb eating, I rarely (closer to never) eat snacks and can easily go from one full meal to the next without hunger driving me to snack. My mantra over time has been to avoid pre-packaged foods with more than 3-4 ingredients, as this line when crossed is much closer to indicating that a food is processed.

I know you like Boars Head deli meats and cheese and I do too. The roast beef is my favorite and it says it has no preservatives in it. I like to do several rolls-ups around a pickle spear and put in a baggie to take on the go.

I've pretty much stuck with single ingredient foods, almost nothing packaged with a list of ingredients. That way I know exactly what is going in my body. I was strongly influenced many years ago by the book "Neanderthin", by Ray Audette, when I first started down the low carb path. A still believe that low carb paleo best describes the way I eat, that is paleo without the fruit. Works for me and no need to scrutinize labels.

It was started by him. With his death and the lies told about it, it had to file bankruptcy in 2005. Then it was picked up and repackaged as a snackfood company, which how we see it today.

I agree about the frozen meals. I also notice that some foods claim gluten free while containing corn, which is just as bad for many of us. Also Atkins uses the dreaded Mailtitol, which can cause digestive distress for many of us, and also can spike blood sugar levels. Glycerin Polydextrose and Erthritol are better choices, although I have read that Glycerin may knock you out of ketosis.

Thanks for the clarification, WB.

Atkins Nutritionals were my downfall. I believed they produced a low-carb product and believed the story they told that the "sugar alcohols" in their products did not affect blood sugar. So they advertised products as only being 3 grams of carb with 19 grams of sugar alcohols. Makes no sense

Same with products labeled Keto. I forgot to read the nutrition labels - they are high in carbohydrates - giving the lie to being labeled Keto.

I thought there was a government agency responsible for checking out these kinds of false advertising.

NOT anymore! But hopefully, there will be again :agree:

I wish that Atkins had been able to stick with being a way of life, rather than a marketing tool, but then I also realize that the current Atkins is not any of Robert Atkins doing. Still, I appreciate the fact that they're once again trying to make this a way of life, and I understand everyone needs to make a living (including those who work for Atkins nutritionals), but I wish the meals, bars, and shakes they sold were truly LC friendly. I had high hopes for the meals when they first came out - but just reading the nutrition stats and ingredients was enough to put me off of them.

Years ago (this was way more than a decade ago), I used to buy some of the atkins bars - back then, I vaguely remember them having glycerin in them instead of sugar alcohols. I still couldn't buy a box of them and avoid compulsively eating all of them one after another, but at least there wasn't the horrific gastric consequences of all the maltitol that's in them now.

I think it's a "sticker shock" problem that has been created by years of cheap-as-dirt food. When I stop for coffee to take into the office on early mornings, I'm surrounded by people who are grabbing those wheat/sugar combos that are cheap, but they have to buy so many of them to feel satisfied they are paying as much as I am for my double portion of breakfast deviled eggs.

But my pile of stuff looks smaller. They can't imagine how it might get them through their day.

For dinner, I can get a frozen meal; or a whole pound of ground pork. For the same money, and about about the same effort. The satisfaction and nutrition is far greater with the pork.

But I'm the "crazy one" for eating that way.

So if Atkins made "real" meals, they would cost like $10. And no one would buy them.