By Marty Meltus and Bill Scanlon
Scripps Howard News Service
All the right conditions have converged into a major low-carb storm.
What everyone thought would be a short-term fad has taken over restaurants and grocery stores as low-carb menus and products flood the market.
Say the words "I'm on Atkins" or "I'm on South Beach" and any diner knows to pass the steak.
Dietitian Liz Marr says the low-carb invasion was triggered when science took a second look at the Atkins diet. "You had this whole scientific community saying, 'Atkins has no science behind it, and we'll prove it,' " Marr says. "Instead, they proved that it's just as effective, at least on a short-term basis, for weight loss, and it doesn't affect cholesterol."
The late Dr. Robert Atkins' food and vitamin company, Atkins Nutritionals, went into overdrive, with everything from a low-carb ice cream to low-carb cereals. As people found they could lose weight quickly, carbs became public enemy No. 1. Sales of white rice, pasta, breads and high-carb fruit juices have dropped between 2 and 5 percent, according to ACNielsen, and manufacturers began formulating low-carb products to pick up the slack.
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