The phrase "net carbs" is everywhere. Food manufacturers and
restaurant chains can't wait to jump on the low carb bandwagon and
undo one another with low, lower, lowest net carb counts of their
products.

The way I see it, there's a few problems here. First, we have no way
of knowing if the counts are accurate. Is Subway's Atkin's wrap count
as low as Subway says it is? What about Blimpie's brownie? Blimpie use
"effective carbs" and tells folks the sweet dessert tallies "0".

IMHO, all of these new-fangled inventions are great for some folks,
but they are ultimately going to lead most folks down a path of false
hopes. Remember low-fat Snackwells? Did anyone lose weight eating
those?

Sooner or later, most successful low carbers find that they must
change their eating habits or the weight comes right back. Low carb
Doritos (which don't look all that low carb to me) don't teach that
lesson.

We've also seen from endless rounds of debates in ASDLC that the sugar
alcohols used in some of the sweeter products react differently in
different people's bodies. So the brownie that may metabolize as 0 net
or effective carbs for you might actually digest as the full 20plus
for me. Yikes. What's a person to do?

For me at least, the answer is pretty simple. I'm amused by the rush
to market by the various hawkers selling their low carb products, but
I don't believe for one moment they have my best interests at heart.
As always, I'll pick and choose what I eat. And I'll take those "net
carbs" claims with a dose of skepticism.

I hope newbies will too.

Duffy
182/122
since 12-01-01