A new diet craze has University students shedding not only pounds from their bodies, but carbs from their diets as well.
With the emergence of low-carb diets in mainstream America, these trendy diets are showing up on TV commercials, in restaurants and around campus. And although many people are falling for the low-carb craze, some are questioning how safe these diets really are.
“I don’t ever suggest it to anyone as a healthy way to lose weight. The weight loss that it promotes is usually very rapid, which isn’t healthy if you lose weight too quickly,” Campus Nutrition Educator Tonya Hefmer said. “Plus it’s hard on your body, and the weight is likely to come back when you go off of the diet.”
Hefmer said she is often asked about the Atkins and South Beach diets, the two most popular low-carb diets on the market now. She suggests a more traditional way to lose weight.
“Usually calories are what is going to determine whether you gain or lose weight. If there’s a deficit in calories–not enough calories–then your body is going to lose weight,” Hefmer said. “If there is a surplus of calories–more than your body wants–then you’re going to gain weight. So ideally, someone creates a deficit with a combination of exercise and watching what they eat.”
With low-carb foods for Atkins and the South Beach diet hitting grocery stores, many people are stocking up on these foods without consulting their doctors or reading about the diets, and may be doing more harm than health to their diets.
Even though the low-carb diets may have obvious health risks such as rapid weight loss, lack of essential nutrients to the body and possible long-term health risks, students are trying the diets because of their glamour and promising weight loss.
“I felt a lot healthier after I went on the [South Beach] diet. I lost about 20 pounds, and continued to eat a healthy diet even after I went off the diet,” said Nikki Sobecki, a sophomore at the University who went on the South Beach diet this past summer. “Even though I’m not on the diet anymore, I still continue to eat healthy and exercise. I’ve only gained about five pounds back.”
Sobecki said she went on the diet because her family decided to start a healthier lifestyle, and explained why a lot of people gain their weight back.
“When people finally reach their weight goal, they stop the diet, thinking they can go back to their old eating habits,” she said. “Obviously, they’re going to gain the weight back. You can’t just expect to lose weight and have it stay off forever without eating healthy and exercising.”
One problem associated with these diets is the absence of healthy carbohydrates and nutrients when someone is on the diet.
Foods like breads, pastas and fruits often provide a healthy balance of what is needed in a diet, but since the diets cut out foods like this, people are left with an unbalanced representation of what their body needs.
“People are missing out on some heart-healthy, cancer-preventing nutrients in high-fiber foods, and fiber is found in carbohydrates,” Hefmer said.
The University has also caught on to the diet trend.
Nearly every food service in the Union has some kind of diet menu that caters to low-carb dieters. ZZA’s at Night has low-carb wraps to replace the breads for their sandwiches. Steak Escape is now replacing sandwich buns with salads. Even Freshen’s offers low-carb smoothies.
Student Manager Katie Wietmarschen said the Sarah Lee deli is trying a new promotion. With “Get Naked,” students can enjoy their favorite sandwiches wrapped in leaf lettuce instead of bread.
Even though the University is trying to cater to low-carb dieters, Hefmer feels this form of advertising may have a negative result on students who don’t know too much about the diets.
“College students are definitely consumers … wherever they shop, the market sets the tone,” Hefmer said. “Whoever is selling low-carb items on campus knows that people are going to buy them because people are on the low-carb diet. Whether that’s healthy or not, whether that’s right or wrong, that’s how it is.”
