With lagging sales due to current dieting fads, bread bakers have slipped down into the bunker to regroup:
The US bread industry is to hold a crisis “bread summit” on Friday to discuss falling sales amid the growing craze for protein- rich, low-carbohydrate regimes such as the Atkins diet.
Some 40 per cent of US consumers are eating less bread than a year ago, according to the National Bread Leadership Council, which is organising the meeting. The summit will focus on ways to dispel what the industry believes is misinformation encouraging consumers to switch from bread to meat.
The council’s Patrick Davis said it was not clear whether the fall was a fad or a longer term change in eating habits. “Is it a real shift in how Americans like to eat? That’s what we’re going to discuss.” Mr Davis added that, while the average American ate 54 pounds of bread a year, Italians and French ate almost three times as much but did not seem to suffer from obesity.
I’ve got to say, I’m pulling for bread in this one, and not just because I’m a bread fan.
I’m not a nutritionist, but I can play one in the blogosphere (Hey, I did take a nutrition class in college). This Adkins-style diet fad seems totally misguided to me. Anyone who opts for meat and fatty foods over a diet of grains and vegetables is asking for long-term health problems:
Many doctors and the American Heart Association have warned that the diet could be dangerous. The Heart Association advocates a diet based on whole grains, fruits and vegetables.
It warned that over time the Atkins diet and similar approaches could raise cholesterol. Other experts have said the diet might also increase the risk of kidney disease and the PCRM [Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine] adds osteoporosis and colon cancer to the list of risks.
The PCRM, which advocates a strict vegetarian diet, has set up an online registry at www.atkinsdietalert.org for people to offer complaints about the diet.
Stick with the bread, not the bacon.
Playing devil’s advocate… there are recent studies saying long-term health problems from the Atkin’s diet may be overblown.
And… there are studies showing a strict vegeterian diet may not be the healthiest way to eat.
I believe in balance. No reason to get rid of grains. No reason to get rid of meat.
It seems to me that at least in the initial research phase study results tend to be all over the map. But I’m confident that over time if will become increasingly clear that this Adkins diet has negative long-term health consequences.