Training & Nutrition - Marketing Scam?

I was at the store today picking up some items for my dinner. In the dairy section I noticed that Atkins was selling milk (For $4 USD a half gallon) advertising it as 90% Carb free. Does regular milk actually have that much carbs in it? It reminds me of the "fat free" fad where things like chocolate syrup would advertise as fat free even though they are high in calories.

Here's a chart that I found at http://www.annecollins.com/dietary-carbs/carbs-milk.htm


Milk (serving size 1 cup) Carbs (g)
Milk, whole, 3.3 percent fat 11.3g
Milk, low fat, 2 percent fat 11.7g
Milk, low fat, 1 percent fat 11.6g
Milk, fat free/ skimmed 11.9g
Buttermilk, from skimmed milk 11.7g
Milk, canned, evaporated, whole 3g
Goats Milk 10g
Soy Milk, regular 4g

Here's a small article that I got at http://www.dairyfoods.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/products/BNPProductItem/0,6783,115368,00.html


Northeast dairy leader HP Hood, Chelsea, Mass., continues its history of innovation with the introduction of Hood Carb Countdown™, a line of dairy beverages with significantly fewer carbohydrates than milk. The four-variety line appeals to the growing number of low-carbohydrate dieters in America today.

Hood Carb Countdown varieties include Homogenized, 2% Reduced Fat and Fat Free white varieties, and 2% Reduced Fat Chocolate. Hood Carb Countdown provides the essential vitamins and minerals found in milk, without all the carbohydrates. The three white varieties have 75% fewer carbohydrates and 50% more protein than whole milk, while the 2% Reduced Fat Chocolate variety has 90% fewer carbohydrates and 33% more protein than chocolate milk. All varieties provide 3g of carbohydrates per 8-oz serving and offer significantly fewer calories than their higher-carbohydrate alternatives.

Hood Carb Countdown dairy beverages are approved as part of the Atkins Nutritional Approach™ eating plan, which is a low carbohydrate diet. Sugar is a carbohydrate and limited on the Atkins Nutritional Approach, therefore all of the Hood Carb Countdown products are made with the no-calorie sweetener sucralose.

“We reduced the carbohydrates in the milk through a proprietary technology combining ultrafiltration and dairy ingredient technologies,” says Peggy Poole, v.p. research and development and quality control.

Kinda interesting how this low carb milk has the same grams of carbs as Evaporated milk.

Well It is interesting to learn something new. But I won't buy into the Atkins thing for two reasons.

1. I lost 60 pounds without it by basically cutting back on the useless carbs and increased the amount of water I ate and of course a well balanced diet and exercise.

2. I never trust anyone who writes a diet book and then markets high priced foods and supplements to boot.

As to the #2 statement, he also died because his body couldn't come back from a simple fall.

As to the #2 statement, he also died because his body couldn't come back from a simple fall. I'm no supporter of the Atkins Diet but do you have any proof that his death from a severe head injury had anything to do with his diet?

-s

As to the #2 statement, he also died because his body couldn't come back from a simple fall.
Not quite a simple fall, he died from head trauma after a fall in April.

Marty

Several reports had it where due to the lack of several other elements his system needed his body wasn't able to bring him back.

Several reports had it where due to the lack of several other elements his system needed his body wasn't able to bring him back.

Probably pure speculation. If he even did follow his own diet he was most likely taking all those high priced supplements he was marketing to make up for all the things he wasn't getting in his unbalanced diet.

Got to love the Atkins marketing. I remember eating "diet plates" at restaurants, which were usually steak or hamburger and cottage cheese, with maybe a half a peach on the side....in the 60's.

The label of the skim milk I use says that one serving (1 cup) contains 13 gms of carbs, all from sugar. I prefer cottage cheese as a source of dairy protein, since for the same calorie serving as milk you can get more protein and a lot less sugar.

After Christmas, I was flying home from Denver. Due to bad weather in Detroit my flight was delayed in Denver which caused me to miss my flight in Minneapolis. To compensate us the airlines gave us a $15.00 meal voucher.

Well, we went to a restaurant in the airport, can't remember the name but it was the Olive Garden or some similiar chain. They had at least 4 items on the menu that were labeled Atkins or low carb. You could even get fewer carbs if you told the waiter to hold the onions and green pepper! Even the waiter commented on how carried away with this stuff people are getting.

The ironic part was that my grilled chicken sandwich was so huge that I could have eaten it for 2 more lunches, there were probably enough calories to meet at least half, if not more of my daily requirements. Plus, it was served with a choice of french fries, baked potato, or potato chips, none of which were really necessary and added nothing but empty calories. If restaurants would quit supersizing everything and people stopped believing they had to clean their plates everytime they went out there would be no need for these crazy diets.

Back in the days when McDonald's first starting selling hamburgers, 1 hamburger, a small fries and a small coke was to much for me to eat, my sister and I shared. Nowadays, that same size (adult) hamburger is the kid's meal. It's no wonder that the 6 an 7 year old girls at our school have the figures of middle age women.

One of the reasons why they think these diets work is because people feel satisfies and eat less, imagine that!

Kathi

I've seen the bran fad, the Atkins/Scarsdale round 1 and 2, The Oatbran fad the low fat fad all acompany by many marketing ploys to get people to buy regular items for a highter price just because it's "lite" or whatever. Very few of these diets don't come with some kind of supliment or whatever that you have to buy from them.

There is way to much scamming going on out there as well as unrealistic expectations. People want to lose 20 pounds in ten days, did they gain that 20 pounds in 10 days? Probably not.

I should start the Parker diet it's easy when I was over weight I cut out all the pop and chips, ate a balanced diet and burned more calories then I ate.

So far I've been impressed by the South Beach diet and
the Dr. who wrote it. It isn't low carb per se, but low
glycemic. To date his only supplement is a small book
($4.95 at Sams club) which gives glycemic index for
alot of different foods. His take is you cook your own
that we already have way too much overprocessed
predigested nutrient removed food.
Of course he is making a ton of money on his book or
sign up at his web site so maybe he doesn't need to market add ons.
Low carb milk? sounds hokey to me.
Marty

I agree with Marty up there.. I've read the SBD.. my wife is reading it now, and we'll probably get on the bandwagon.. I've already adapted some of it's ways...

The thing with "Low Carb" milk is weird... Milk naturally has sugars in it, much like fruit... Milk has Lactose, Fruit has fructose... these sugars are generally not bad for you, as long as you don;t overdo it...

To me, it sounds like the makers of the "low Carb" milk need more to process the milk... that couldn;t be good... it's like the so-called wheat bread you get at the store... the first ingredient on there is usually "enriched flour"... Dr. Agatson (in the SBD book) talks a lot about this... if you eat whole grain, there is no need for "enriched flour" They strip the wheat down so much, they have to add stuff back into it to make it more healthy... that doesn;t sound good either...

What really rolls me is the "low carb" beer... now everyone is going back and forth saying "my beer has less carbs tthan your beer" it's stupid... bring back the girls wrestling !

JEff

When I got over 200 I put myself on a diet, eat less move more, and what do you know? I'm around 170. And I will have 500 miles on my bike in January! I'm trying for 6000 in 04.

What really rolls me is the "low carb" beer... now everyone is going back and forth saying "my beer has less carbs tthan your beer" it's stupid... bring back the girls wrestling !JEff

I read an article about in Newsweek. It all boils down to this

lite beer= Lo Carb beer
Some manufactures just changed the labels on their lite beers