Low-carb diets never really had a chance

You had to see it coming. We Americans are fickle. Sure, we know that obesity has become an epidemic in the United States, but we want the road to weight loss to be simple and painless and paved with steaks and bacon and butter. But no carbs. Never the carbs. It’s just that after a month or two, if you can last that long, you’d consider committing a felony for a piece of toast, preferably one smothered in jam.

And so, a nation that claimed to have one in 10 of its citizens adhering to the Atkins diet, or some similar high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate plan, now boasts only 2 percent who are so inclined. The Atkins diet has gone the way of so many of its predecessors — Pritikin, Scarsdale, The Zone — and been spurned by its capricious lover, the American dieter.

The company that promoted the diet, that hoped to make bundles off us by selling us over 250 products emblazoned with its trademark giant “A,” has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Two venture capital firms bought Atkins Nutritionals from Dr. Atkins himself, who came out way ahead in the bargain, even though he’s dead.

So what happened? The company thinks it was all the competition from established food companies that started turning out their own low-carbohydrate products.

I think that it’s the nature of the diet itself: Any diet that promises you that you can eat all you want of a major food group but mandates that you totally leave out another one (at least in the beginning) is doomed to failure.

I know, there are some out there who have successfully lost weight, and kept it off, with the Atkins diet. But most who try it, after the thrill of the initial weight loss, fail miserably.

Losing weight takes work and commitment, and yes, sacrifice. It takes increasing calories out, through exercise, and reducing calories in, through smaller portion sizes and a careful assessment of where you want those calories to come from. In other words, you have to burn more calories than you eat.

And regardless of the fact that many of us could swear that just the smell of chocolate causes us to gain weight, it just isn’t so.

I thought about the bankruptcy filing as I wandered through Spokane’s wonderful farmers’ market the other day. Open from 8 a.m. until about 1 on Wednesdays and Saturdays, it would drive an Atkins adherent crazy. Tables loaded down with luscious vegetables, perfect fruit fit for a still life, and freshly baked bread beckoned to me.

If I were touting the health benefits of all the produce there, I would say the tables tempted me with antioxidants, dietary fiber, vitamin C, and folic acid, all brought to me lovingly by the farmers who grew them.

When was the last time you talked to the person who grew your food? It’s quite refreshing, and you can chat about how the beans were grown and whether the farmer used any pesticides.

Gazing at the fresh peaches, apricots and huckleberries, I remembered why I think that summer is one of the best times to be watching your calories. There is nothing that tastes as good as freshly picked, locally grown fruit and vegetables, fruit that is not bred to withstand the rigors of a cross-country truck ride.

And here’s what I do with it – I make a great fruit salad that weight watchers and skinny folk both like:

Start with a few peaches. Skin them by dropping them in boiling water for two minutes and then running them under cold water. The skin will slip off. Then slice them up and add sliced strawberries, pitted cherries, huckleberries and whatever else looks good. I always add bananas at the end – I know, they’re not local, but the salad tastes really good with them – and then I throw in some fat-free vanilla yogurt. Then I try not to eat it all at one sitting. (Remember, portion size!) Bon appetit!