WILL DR ROBERT Atkins’ diet theory finally be laid to rest alongside the world’s primary champion of steak and eggs?
That’s what many nutrition experts predict as the government launches its first official investigation into weight control this month. The modestly named National Institute of Clinical Excellence, otherwise known as Nice, is convening a panel of 20 d
octors and dieticians to compare the effectiveness of low-carbohydrate diets like Atkins with other weight-loss regimes. And there’s no doubt the conclusions will be enthusiastically received, for it is estimated that at any given time more than ten million Brits are on a diet - three million of them already have purchased a copy of Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. Despite all this theoretical enthusiasm, statistics show that the nation continues to get fatter. With a 400 per cent increase in obesity in 25 years and 70 per cent of adults overweight, the tape measure of adipose doom is waved in our faces constantly.
So the possible announcement that there is no scientific basis for the late Dr Atkins’ claim that his high protein diet offers a metabolic advantage is unlikely to cause a furore. It is an assertion that is made almost daily by the medical establishment, and usually quoted in the press alongside a picture of Jennifer Aniston, Renée Zellwegger or Minnie Driver looking serene and slender as a result of said diet.
Will the Atkins diet give you kidney stones? Is there a link to infertility or osteoporosis? Will it lower your chances of breast cancer ? The headlines just keep coming. And that, in fact, is the biggest threat to the continuing appeal of Atkins. The diet industry is hugely influenced by fashion and media, and it may now be time for the next big thing. The North Beach diet, the Shetland diet, the hair colour diet ... who knows? When Robert Atkins first published his book back in 1972, the high-protein, low-carbohydrate dictates of the 1960s (as characterised by the Scarsdale diet, the so-called Mayo Clinic diet, and Professor John Yudkin’s anti-sugar treatise, entitled Pure, White and Deadly) were about to be eclipsed by two decades of low-fat high-fibre theory. The F-Plan ruled, and we were invited to contemplate the lean health of the Masai warrior, subsisting as he apparently did on a diet of little more than millet.
Well, few of us attained the physique of a Masai warrior, and even fewer chose to consider the hundreds of miles a week that the poor chap walked in between millet meals, so it was no doubt inevitable that we should eventually be invited to contemplate a different racial and nutritional paradigm. This time, the Inuit. A hugely healthy populace, subsisting as effectively on a diet of red meat and whale blubber as the Masai on millet. Dr Atkins applauded their severely limited menu with enthusiasm. It produced bodies sleek and fit as the seals they consumed. And without the raised cholesterol levels normally associated with high fat consumption. What he wished to remind us of is that, for dining purposes, we should consider ourselves still in the stone age. Since human evolution is not particularly swift, the berries, fish and meat of pre-agrarian, hunter-gatherer man remain the optimum diet for a lean physique - which is where the Atkins’ weight-loss plan comes in. Blood sugar remains stable, as do insulin levels. And who could doubt the benefits? Raquel Welch looked so much better in her cavewoman fur bikini in the 1960s than she did in the 1990s in a cocktail frock, which surely proves how effective the hairy mammoth must be in nutritional terms.
However, it may have come to your attention that neither whale blubber nor hairy mammoth steaks are easy to locate at Tesco. There is no shortage of other dead animals available to the convinced protein convert, but the most significant problem with following Dr Atkins’ caveman regime is not the sourcing of suitable carcasses, but the seditious whisper of 21st-century tastebuds deprived of a sugar hit.
To address this craving, Unilever has introduced Carb Options, a selection of carbohydrate-reduced staple foods: everything from pasta to soup and ice cream, available in the UK from the middle of September. Carb Options was introduced in the US in January this year with sales targets of $100 million by the end of the year. Carbohydrates are replaced by a combination of fibre, soya, whey and wheat protein, along with low-calorie sweeteners. The final calorie content of the products will vary little from their high carbohydrate counterparts, and they will be more expensive, but similar products - including a range produced under the Dr Atkins label - have already proved a success in the US.
As this represents a significant investment from the food-manufacturing industry, reports that the low-carb food fad has already peaked will not be welcomed by Unilever shareholders, whatever their waist measurements. The same is true for Nestlé Rowntree, who have just launched low-carb versions of KitKat and Rolo for the UK market. Brand manager Claire Hebron describes the sweets as "exciting innovations", and says consumer response in taste trials is "hugely positive".
As the 57g tube of Rolos retails at £1.49 and the KitKat at 79 pence - we decided to check out the taste claim, along with a selection of other products targeted at the sugar-deprived low-carb dieter. Eagle-eyed consumers may notice that the packaging of these products offers two different figures for the carbohydrate total. An Atkins Advantage Hazelnut Crunch bar, for example, contains 17.4g of carbohydrate but a "net carb" value of only 2g. This is calculated by subtracting the intense sugar alcohol sweeteners from the total, as these are considered to have minimum impact on blood sugar levels. But not all nutritionists agree with the theory.
A panel of four committed chocolate fans gave their verdicts on taste appeal:
Atkins Advantage Chocolate Decadence Bar, £1.79 "Horrible, Really odd, marzipan-ish."
"Like nothing I’ve ever tasted before - or want to again."
"Like really cheap, compacted Black forest gateau."
"Worrying white bloom on the chocolate coating. Interior like calcified chocolate cake with a lingering chemical aftertaste."
Atkins Advantage Hazelnut Crunch, £1.79 "Chewy and sweet, quite satisfying, but no hazelnut flavour."
"Better than the first one. Toffee-ish, but boring."
"Like over-cooked carrots."
"The crunch element is missing from this one, but the chewy sweetness would offset any sugar cravings."
Rolo, £1.49 "Something missing. Quite nice, but not the real thing."
"I’m a bit upset by this. It’s like changing the recipe for Coca-Cola. It doesn’t melt in quite the same way."
"I’ve rarely spat out a chocolate, but I think I’ll spit this out. There’s something polystyrene-ish about it."
"Odd, waxy mouth-feel, less sweet than the original."
KitKat, £0.79 "This is like a cheap supermarket copy of a big brand."
"Misses the real crispiness and the chocolate tastes saccharine-ish."
"For a second this bar tasted like it should, but then a sort of made-in-Taiwan flavour emerged."
"Synthetic tasting and much less crisp."
Carb Solutions Chocolate Toffee Hazelnut, £1.59 "Gritty and nasty. Absolutely foul."
"Fake. Insulting. Evil. Chemical rubbish."
"Vile - this bar tasted like salty floor tiles covered in paint."
"This tasted about as natural as a test tube full of chemical waste."
Carb Minders Peanut Butter Cups, £1.29 "This had quite an authentic peanut taste."
"The filling is fine, but the chocolate is nasty."
"OK, but I like peanut butter."
"Rather unpleasant chocolate - like old-fashioned cooking chocolate, and the peanut filling is too salty."
Atkins Endulge Crispy Milk Chocolate, £0.99 "Best so far. Just like ordinary chocolate."
A bit strange, but not unpleasant. Like a chocolate bar for people who don’t like chocolate much."
"I could eat this if I was stuck."
"Very sweet and a tiny, tiny bar, but could keep an addict happy for a bit."
Evidently, this is not confectionery for the connoisseur. The Nestlé-Rowntree products are both higher in fat than the original versions, though they do offer calorie as well as carbohydrate savings (the KitKat just 8 calories, but the Rolos 58). Of the others, the Atkins Advantage products were the best received by our panel of tasters, especially the crispy milk chocolate. But the general verdict on all seven products was that only a really desperate dieter would choose them.
