http://www.sugarsensitive.com/carb/low-carb-diet-food.html The low carb diet food that's available today is actually pretty good! But before you indulge in low carb diet food, be sure to read the labels. en-us Mon, 09 Jan 2006 09:19:36 EST Mon, 09 Jan 2006 09:19:36 EST Weblog Editor 2.0 Remember when diet food in general wasn't so great? Well, over the years, the food manufacturing industry has made great strides in improving it. But you still have to be careful. Read the Label In the 80s, the big weight loss trend was a low fat diet. With it, low fat versions and no-fat of your favorite foods came about. At first they weren't so great, but now you can't really tell much difference between low fat foods and their full fat counterparts. (There's still room for improvement when it comes to lower fat crackers and fat-free dairy whipped cream or fat-free cream cheese.) The problem with these foods is that although they might be lower in fat, chances are the calorie count is the same, if not more. The same is true for low carb diet food. After all, they have to compensate for the loss of flavor when you remove fat and carbs. With low fat foods, they compensate by adding more sugar. With low carb diet food, they compensate by adding more fat. Since carbs are 4 calories per gram and fat is 9 calories per gram, you're actually getting more calories with low carb diet food than you are with low fat diet food. All that being said, the calorie count generally isn't significantly more in low carb diet food or low fat diet food. To be sure, just read your labels. And if you aren't on a low carb diet, don't assume that just because a food is lower in fat or carbs that you can have more of it. Before you do that, again--read your labels! Tasty Treats A lot of foods that were once "forbidden" on a low carb diet are now available in low carb versions. For instance, there's now low carb bread, and it looks, smells and tastes like the real thing! The low carb craze is now so ingrained in so many people that there are now low carb baking mixes, low carb chocolates and even low carb ice cream! Low carb diet foods like these make sticking with a low carb diet plan a lot easier. Still, you should include fruits and vegetables in your daily carb allowance before you indulge in these tasty low carb diet food treats. Mon, 09 Jan 2006 09:19:36 EST