Low Carbohydrate Bread: Should You Believe The Hype?

You have surely been there before, dealing with a low carb diet, but you probably had no idea that low carbohydrate bread even existed. You start out on a low carb diet only to realize just how hard it is to follow. It seems that everyone loves bread, and living without it can make eating downright miserable. Even if you manage to lose weight by sticking tightly to your low carb theme, it is too easy to fall off the horse and put the weight right back on. How fun is everyday life without the staple foods that you have grown accustomed to and love? That is why you will absolutely adore low carbohydrate bread. It lets you stick tight to your low carb diet, enjoy low carb foods, and yet treat yourself just enough that you still lose weight.

There has been quite a bit of backlash when it comes to low carb diets in the medical community recently. A lot of this is due to the fact that a low carb diet is so hard to stick to. You may in fact lose weight by sticking to low carb foods, but your willpower can only last so long. Unless your spirit is built like a concrete wall, you will one day give into temptation and end up putting all that weight right back on. This is exactly why you should believe the hype when it comes to low carbohydrate bread. It allows you to get some added nutrition into your diet, enjoy your meals more, and is still low calorie, low carb , low in fat, and full of fiber. Now you can enjoy a more complete breakfast, or midday snack, while still benefiting from the peace of mind that you are sticking to your diet and finding ways to lose weight.

Keep positive and set weight loss goals, while still enjoying the foods you love (like bread). Weight loss is a long term commitment, not just a quick fix for a healthy body.

This article is currently featured on the home page here on 3FC. After reading it, I'd like to give my perception
Why are so many people under the impression low carb is hard to follow? Before I contemplated doing Atkins, I read the book so I would know exactly what this way of eating entails as well as exactly how the plan works. By doing that, I got no surprises....I knew what I had to do to make this work and I was willing to do it. I'm Italian and I grew up in a home with Italian bread & pasta as well as potatoes, rice, cereal, sugar etc. No surprise, I was overweight my entire life! I was tired of being overweight, I was tired of people looking at me and whispering, I was tired of shopping for clothes in the "plus size" section, I was tired of not being able to climb 3 or 4 stairs without stopping to catch my breath but, most importantly, I was 43 years old and I did not want to end up an insulin dependant diabetic like my Dad. I went into doing Atkins with the attitude that I was willing to do whatever was necessary to become healthy.
By the grace of God and pure determination & consistency, I lost the weight I wanted to lose! I feel I am healthier today at 48 years old than I have ever been in my life. I feel great! When I was eating the bread, the potatoes, the rice, the pasta, the cereal, the sugar, the white flour, I felt tired & sluggish but...I never realized why! Now I realize why! And yes, its been nearly 6 years since I've eaten those things but, I swear to you, I do not miss them. I feel so much better without them!
There is 1 statement in the article I do 100% agree with "Weight loss is a long term commitment, not just a quick fix for a healthy body." I will be celebrating 6 years on Atkins in April. I've made a long term commitment to this way of eating and while it may not be for everyone, there is no doubt in my mind that if I hadn't changed my eating habits, by now, I would definitely be diabetic.
As for the low carb bread & the other low carb products out there, no thanks, I'll pass. I don't need those things to keep me from "falling off the wagon". I've educated myself about the low carb lifestyle and I highly recommend anyone considering Atkins or any other low carb plan to do the same!
Just my opinion

This really isn't such a hard way of eating to follow -- and I do feel so much more vital and alive and alert than I did when I was eating all the wrong carbs. Why is it that certain media seem to enjoy making weight loss efforts of all kinds seem unsustainable? I think it isn't just Atkins or other low carb diets. I have read disparaging articles about low calorie diets, too.

I haven't missed bread at all since I started this -- but I have to say, the presence of low carb tortillas and wraps in stores is comforting. It's nice to know that if I really really really just had to have one of those (say, to make a pizza with, or something I was really craving) I could go for that instead of calling Domino's, and I'd still be far better off, and it might save me from a carb binge.

But I don't see it happening often.

I gave up bread long before I started Atkins. I missed it at first, certainly, since I was a bread addict the entire time I was vegetarian (10 years; no wonder I gained 125 extra pounds!) but I got over it.

If I could give up bread while calorie counting and only sort-of-low carbing, I would think any carb addict could handle Atkins. It really isn't hard to stick to, once you figure out your own personal triggers and learn to avoid them.

Pork rind pizza crust. Better than it sounds, and it really takes care of that craving for me. (I don't even really like pizza, but every time TOM rolls around I crave it like crazy. Go figure.)

There are recipes for pizza crust made from cauliflower and zucchini too, if you don't do pork/pork rinds. It's just that the pork rind crust is really easy.

Thanks!

I do think there are lots of misperceptions about low carb. I think that is slowly changing.

But I also think probably it is easier to stay on for some people than others. It makes sense that the ones who do stick to it don't understand why other people find it hard. Maybe it's because the experience is different for different people.

I totally agree and my perception of that article is that it was aimed for those who cannot (or believe they cannot) live without bread, etc. And clearly, there are quite a few on this site that claim exactly that. However, WE (on our Atkins forum here) have no problem giving those items up.

I'm going to have to assume that for some (like me), all those things must be discarded, for the most part. But that some others are able to eat things like bread, pasta, chocolate, etc. and limit them with no problem....and keep them within a certain calorie restriction and manage to lose weight.

The funny thing is....that back when I maintained for 12 years, I remember occasions where I would have a forbidden food. And if I only did this very rarely, I kept the weight off with no problem.
BUT....I distinctly remember that every time I did this....the "treat" (piece of pizza, piece of cake, etc.) never tasted quite as good as I'd anticipated. I always ended up disappointed. It never measured up to the all the Atkins things I loved to eat and tasted so great to me.

Being surprised that it always ended up never tasting as good as I'd anticipated...combined with the risk of sending me down the road of being unable to control portions, craving, and binges....made me just decide to give them up all together. It just wasn't worth it for me.

I also had my little foray into the land of Atkins chocolate-coconut bars...which also taught me a good lesson and I stopped them too.

Right now I'm trying to decide whether to have my farmer cheese with onion powder and veggies or this fresh broccoli I have that I could steam and add butter and cheese. I LOVE both. Plus have a lovely salmon filet for dinner and will try to control myself from scarfing it down raw (LOVE sashimi) OR steaming it and adding my needed butter. Hmmm...decisions, decisions.

Who needs bread? I already have so many great selections, I can't even make up my mind often about which one I want to have!

deena

Oh...let me add one other thing. IF you go to a very expensive wedding or some event like that, catered by a very expensive catering service....and the desserts are to die for....that CAN be worth having a rare treat.
BUT....compared to those things....all that highly processed, sugary crap in the grocery store...is just that...CRAP...and it tastes like crap....and is not worth even putting yourself at risk for. Just ignore it altogether, IMO.
(I just know sarahinparis is gonna agree with this.)

So where are the negative articles about SBD and WW?

Let's face it.....any WOE that does not fall in line with the entrenched beliefs is gonna meet with skepticism and criticism.....and all sorts of predictions of impending doom.

I don't know...but it almost seems to me that folks went, "Gee, it has to be fat that makes you fat. Fat equals fat, right? You just eat the fat, it travels down to your hips and just parks itself there. Makes sense to me."

Of course, the medical community DID base this on a theory. But apparently it was just that, a theory, that got promoted as fact and now studies are actually showing it to be untrue....though they sure don't seem to be hitting the headlines.

But people generally felt it had to be right...because what else would make you fat....but fat? No biochemical detail was required. It just made sense to them on the face of it.

To me....that seems shaky. Cavemen surely ate fat. What they did NOT eat was sugar. And I don't think humans have evolved so much that their basic biochemistry has changed.

I WILL tell you this, though....for the past few years, more and more good endocrinologists have been putting their diabetic and pre-diabetic/hypoglycemic patients on low carb diets....with more and more success. They have to be doing this for some reason...even though it goes against the current reigning medical beliefs.

deena

Atkins and other low-carb plans are so often bashed because they’re thought to be difficult to stick to - I have news - all diets are difficult to stick to. I find it odd that the problems being pointed to, to bash Atkins and other low-carb plans exist in every food plan that has ever and will ever be designed.

I so often hear comments like "Atkins is doomed to fail, because it's not realistic to expect people to never have a baked potato, french fries, a piece of cake or bread for the rest of their lives."

There's so much wrong with that kind of statement that it makes me cringe.

First there's the assumption that it's unrealistic and impractical for people to avoid a specific food or food type or stick to a specific diet that requires the avoidance of foods or food categories. Tell that to brittle diabetics, children or pregnant women with PKU, people with celiac disease or severe allergies, people with kidney disease, those who are lactose intolerant......

Secondly, it assumes THAT a person following the diet can never have a specific foods that aren’t even (at least permanently) banned from the diet for all eternity. After two weeks on Atkins (and on most other low-carb plans also), you eventually start adding back in many of the foods that the critics say you can’t live without (you don’t have to live without them, you just can’t eat them every day - not rocket science, here).

The diet is being criticized for something the diet doesn’t even do (ban all carb-rich foods forever).

Thirdly, it assumes that cheating is inevitable and that cheating dooms the plan to failure (I‘m not sure that either of those are true). This one that bugs me the most. How many people on ANY plan never, never, ever deviate from it? Do calorie counters never, never, ever forget to log the calories in something, miscalculate the calories in a meal, or even [gasp of horror] occasionally go a day without calorie counting

Yes being able to consistently follow your plan is vital, but it's no more reasonable or unreasonable for someone on Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watcher's or calorie counting to worry about what they must do (or not do) ever again, or at least on a regular basis.

Ultimately I think the arguments really boil down to simple and pure prejudice. I’m not following Atkins right now, but another low-carb plan, but I’m sure everyone on Atkins can relate. A friend or relative will see what I’m eating and say, “Wow, you’re really eating healthy,” then I tell them I’m on a low-carb diet, and they rant about how unhealthy it is (wait a minute, you just said it‘s healthy, how can it now be unhealthy just because we waved the word low-carb over it).

Maybe some low carbers need to write them!

Seriously though, diets that are in alignment with what the "powers that be" think is healthy and balanced aren't widely bashed. Makes sense really. I mean, if it's what is accepted as "healthy" why would it be bashed?

Me? I think that everyone is different and not one thing is the "best" choice for all people.

Seriously though, diets that are in alignment with what the "powers that be" think is healthy and balanced aren't widely bashed. Makes sense really. I mean, if it's what is accepted as "healthy" why would it be bashed?

I totally agree with you.

I can tell you though, from working in the medical field for many years that for starters, they are often changing their opinions on what is healthy and what is not....it's fairly routine in the medical world.
BUT...it's also fairly routine that there are certain entrenched beliefs...in certain areas....where the reluctance to change and to accept the newest and latest studies is....well, downright scary.

I could give you many, many examples that are not even related to diet and nutrition....so it's rather common. Much of it is due to the power of lobbies, esp. those of the big pharmaceutical companies.

BUT...what I find so interesting about this low-carb situation (and mind you, I'm just learning all this new info and researching it).....is that for quite a few years now, many endocrinologists have been gradually switching over to advising low-carb diets to diabetics.
This is not the recommended norm....an ADA diet is usually recommended.
And what's so fascinating is that while this has been becoming the very latest in diabetic treatment by endocrinologists.....the rest of the medical community has not adopted this......especially as it relates to diet and nutrition in general...not just for diabetics.

This is not the normal pattern. Generally speaking, a perspective is "IN" with the medical community and THEN, due to a whole variety of factors, that perspective will suddenly be "OUT" and will be replaced by an entirely new one.

The other thing that intrigues me is how readily the general public bought the "calories in/calories out" and the "fat makes you fat" theories....despite the fact that we clearly have had a massive epidemic of both obesity and diabetes, especially since this whole low-fat thing caught fire.
I mean, normally speaking.....you'd expect people to maybe start questioning things when they don't see any improvement happening....and in fact, see quite the opposite.

deena

Calories In/Calories Out puts all the responsibility squarely on the individual. So we can blame people for being fat: they are gluttons, they have no self control, they sit and watch tv all day and so on ad nauseam. Suggesting there is more to it means we might have to give people the benefit of the doubt and that doesn't play into the whole American ingenuity lifting ourselves up by our bootstraps mentality.

Now you know you've just tempted me to be a rebel, honeyb.

It would also take away a whole minority that we can blame for their own situation. Just imagine if they discover that homosexuality is not a choice but is physiological......or that we all originated in Africa?

It's so easy to blame the other person for things that may not totally be in their control or be their fault.

(And I say good for us for willing to be open-minded enough to consider all new theories may very well be possible....and not just refuse to listen or to reject them out of hand. Just because a belief has been widely-held doesn't necessarily mean it's correct. I'd imagine they felt sure the earth was flat for quite a long time.)

deena