Atkins diet redrafts way we eat, shop

By William Loeffler, Pittsburgh TRIBUNE-REVIEW

Wednesday, March 3, 2004

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tri...t/s_182463.html

If you think that the whole world has gone low carb, you're not alone.

The Atkins diet has become the nutritional version of "Lord of the Rings" -- an unstoppable pop phenomenon that everyone can quote from, but which only devotees truly understand.

If you walk into any supermarket, foods marked "low-carb" beckon from the shelves. Pittsburgh Brewing Co. is promoting I.C. Light as the original low-carbohydrate beer. Subway, McDonald's, Burger King, TGI Friday's and Eat'n Park all offer low-carb menu items.

Log on to cafeshops.com, and you can purchase tank tops, sweatshirts and even thongs emblazoned with the slogan, "Eat Meat, Not Wheat." The phrase "meat and potatoes" may fall out of the American lexicon, because no Atkins soldier worth his or her weight in pork rinds would go near the starchy white tubers.

Future news headline: "Atkins Dieter Robbed at Breadpoint."

More low-carb products are coming out every week. No one knows this more than Amy Perilstein, because she and her husband, Steve, have to sample most of them. The O'Hara couple are co-owners of TLC (Totally Low Carb) Foods in Blawnox. The other owners are Tracey and Scott Cook of Monroeville.

They carry jams, jellies, barbecue sauces, pizzas, bread mixes, candies, brownies, hot cereals, chips, yogurt, milk, thickening agents, granola and other products low in carbohydrates. The Atkins brand is the most recognized, but an array of other brands suggests that the market for such products -- Carbsense, Sugar Freedom and Health From the Sun, to name a few -- has yet to crest.

As one of the gatekeepers of this new industry, Perilstein takes it upon herself to sample the merchandise, be it chili, ice cream or bread. They don't want to recommend a product to their customers if it tastes like glue.

"A lot of it is new to me," Perilstein says. "We've tried to taste as much as we can without getting ourselves sick."

The store, which opened in January, is part of TLC Inc., a Las Vegas-based franchise. In addition to Atkins and South Beach dieters, customers include diabetics and those with allergies to lactose or wheat.

"We never know what we're getting anymore," says Perilstein of their stock. "We just order and hope it comes in. There's a huge demand and little supply."

In a rack near the checkout counter are books representing about a half-dozen diets, from Atkins to the Zone.

"It's easy to stay on the diet when you can have breads, cookies, candy and sauces at your disposal," says Perilstein, who says she is on the "Low Carb Lifestyle." "You can have your cake and eat it, too."

Some nutritionists say that's wishful thinking.

"The Atkins diet as indicated in the book is not practical or safe or effective over the long term for the vast majority of people," says Madelyn H. Fernstrom, associate professor and director of UPMC Weight Management Center in Oakland.

The Atkins diet severely restricts carbohydrates -- no more than 20 grams -- during the two-week induction period. Dieters can add more carbohydrates in weekly 5-gram increments.

Even that is not healthful, Fernstrom says.

"It revolutionized the way people thought about dieting," she says. "The only mistake is that it did not discriminate between the healthy fat from the unhealthy fat. (If) we're restrictive with carbohydrates, we could become (nutritionally) deficient."

(Atkins does recommend taking food supplements, individualized to a person's health profile, including vitamins and minerals, and essential fatty acids.)

"The other negative is that there are almost no fruits and very few vegetables," Fernstrom says. "I can't tell you how many patients I have who have said, 'I'd kill for a piece of bread.' That's no way to live."

The Atkins plan rearranges the traditional food pyramid issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Instead of complex carbohydrates being at the bottom of the pyramid -- making those the most important foods -- they occupy the top of the pyramid, in the area normally occupied by fats, oils and sweets.

Many people are adopting less restrictive diets, such as South Beach, that allow more fruits and vegetables, something the Atkins diet has been criticized for restricting.

"In our individualized programs, we use a South Beach-style diet," Fernstrom says. "It's an easy-to-follow plan that focuses on lean protein, small amounts of heart-healthy fat, and fruits and vegetables that replace bread, rice, pasta and potatoes." Nuts and peanut butter also are allowed, but in limited amounts.

While Atkins always will have its die-hards, a more likely -- and more healthful -- trend is that more people will switch to a modified Atkins diet, Fernstrom says.

Count Jeffrey Iwanowski among this group. A regular customer at TLC Foods, Iwanowski, 31, of Aspinwall, says he lost 80 pounds on a Atkins-style diet. During one recent trip to TLC Foods, he bought margarita mix sweetened with Splenda, tortillas and a pack of sun-dried tomato bagels with the brand name Sugar Freedom -- all low-carb.

"I never had a weight problem until I hit 28," says Iwanowski, a former hockey and football player.

He's the type of customer that prompted Mancini's Bread in McKees Rocks to climb aboard the low-carb bandwagon -- out of necessity.

"They were going to stop eating bread," says owner Mary Hartner. "We had to find a product for these people. We thought they were probably dying for some bread, too."

As for Atkins, she says, "I think it works. You have to have a lot of self-control to do it. It's pretty hard, if you're Italian, to give up your bread and pasta."

William Loeffler can be reached at wloeffler~tribweb.com or (412) 320-7986.