http://www.netrition.com/cgi/news.cgi?file=20050201155057_0

Popular diets tout new `good carb' government advice
2005 February 01

By By LIBBY QUAID (Associated Press Writer)
WASHINGTON - Interested in following the government's new advice on what to
eat? Advocates of the South Beach and Atkins diets want you to give their
approaches a try, saying they're not all that different from the official
recommendations.
However, both popular low-carb diets omit the government's top
recommendation: Count calories.
Atkins and South Beach both insist that people eliminate most
carbohydrates - pasta, bread, rice and even fruit - in the initial phases of
their diets.
But that's just for the first two weeks. After that, it's all about choosing
"good" carbohydrates: veggies, some fruits and whole grains. And that is
what the new guidelines advise.
"I think the government really got it right this time," Arthur Agatston, the
cardiologist who created the South Beach diet, said in an interview with The
Associated Press.
"The public has been so confused, with the initial lowfat message, and the
plain low-carb message," he said. "Now they really should be getting a
single message of good carbs, good fats, lean protein and fiber."
A good-carb diet, not a low-carb one, is how Agatston describes South Beach.
People surfing the Atkins Web site will find a new article on how the
program fits the dietary guidelines.
"The Atkins maintenance program, once people achieve their goal weight, is
very consistent with the recommendations," said nutritionist Colette
Heimowitz, vice president of education and research for Atkins Nutritionals.
Even in the strictest phase of Atkins, she said, some of the new government
recommendations can apply. For example, in the first two weeks, people on
Atkins are supposed to eat 4 cups of salad a day. The new government
recommendation is 2 1/2 cups of vegetables each day.
The virtue of Atkins or South Beach, however, was not the message intended
by those developing the government guidelines.
Their top recommendation for losing weight was to cut calories, advice you
won't find in either diet plan.
"That's the No. 1 message, calories count, and then when you're counting
calories, get the most nutrition for those calories you're consuming," said
Eric Hentges, director of the Agriculture Department's Center for Nutrition
Policy and Promotion. "I'd be cautious with the idea that there would be
some sort of endorsement. There will not be."
The guidelines are being used to update the Agriculture Department's
familiar food guide pyramid, which is due out this spring.
The panel of scientists and doctors who developed the 41 recommendations in
the guidelines took a neutral position on whether people should follow
popular diets.
"I don't think there are enough long-term studies showing if there is any
side effect to being on these diets long-term," said committee member
Theresa Nicklas, a professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in
Houston. "The bottom line is that calories are what really count."
Yet on the day the government unveiled the guidelines, the low-carb diets
got an unexpected boost from departing Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman,
one of two Cabinet officials who oversaw creation of the new guidelines.
At a news conference, Veneman said people should look beyond the first two
weeks of Atkins, South Beach and other diets at their plans for maintaining
weight loss.
"They're very consistent in many ways with the dietary guidelines," she
said. "Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, eat whole grains, keep fat low.
And more and more, you see these very consistent messages coming also out of
a lot of the popular diet programs."
Low-carbohydrate diets are notorious for those first two weeks, which are
designed to curb food cravings by stabilizing blood sugar. They require
eliminating food that many people say they can't live without: bread, pasta
and rice and sugars like those in candy and alcohol and even fruit.
There are many differences in the two approaches, but in each, people are
allowed to slowly add carbohydrates back into their diets.
Not brownies and fettucini alfredo, though. The catch is that people must
choose "good" carbohydrates - whole-wheat toast instead of a croissant, or
non-instant oatmeal over corn flakes.
Some think enthusiasm for the diets has peaked. Harry Balzer, who analyzes
food trends for NPD Group, a marketing firm, said its surveys show that
people who say they are on low-carb diets has dropped by more than half in
the past year.
By far the most popular diet is "my own diet," Balzer said, adding that his
research shows that about one in four Americans view themselves as being on
a diet.
"People take bits and pieces of a diet and incorporate it into their
lifestyle," he said. "Not everybody grabs an entire diet and says I'm going
to change immediately forever."
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On the Net:
Dietary Guidelines: http://www.healthierus.gov
South Beach Diet: http://www.southbeachdiet.com
Atkins Nutritionals: http://atkins.com
Copyright: Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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