Low-Carb Baked Goods: A Pitiful Imitation. Low-carb diets have recently come into fruition and the question everyone's asking is

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1 Rodriguez 1 Jhon Rodriguez Mr.Smith 1st Period British Literature 11/6/2017 Low-Carb Baked Goods: A Pitiful Imitation Low-carb diets have recently come into fruition and the question everyone's asking is whether or not bread is healthy. The baking industry to combat its ever decreasing sales and false media coverage has tried creating a healthier low-carb version of its baked products. While low-carb baked goods are more profitable than its whole grain counterpart; the baking industry should stick to its roots because low-carb limits creativity when it comes to creating baked goods. The baking industry thrives on originality and taste; something low-carb foods are lacking in, and thus the industry should not succumb to social fads. Although low-carb bread is more expensive than regular bread, low-carb sells extremely well due to the high demand; this is a result of social media and news sites glorifying the benefits of low-carb bread. The boost in demand can also be attributed to the popular selling book The New Diet Revolution by Dr. Robert Atkins, which garnered 15 million sales (Naylor 1). In addition, low-carb baked goods benefit from its higher price by encouraging favorable perceptions among buyers solely on its price alone. The high demand in low-carb alternatives is hurting the industry in sales, Some bakers around the country are seeing a similar drop in business. With millions of people trying the diet created by the late Dr. Robert Atkins, overall bread sales are flat or down slightly, while bread-bashing seems to be at an all-time high (Sharp 1). Sharp also states that The National Bread Leadership Council says 40% of Americans are

2 eating less bread than a year ago, so this fact is the main contribution to the decline in baked goods demand. Besides media coverage and supported health claims from health professionals, customers have other valid reasons for wanting to purchase low-carb bread; one being that some customers are not refrained from trying something new. In addition, most customers genuinely believe that low-carb bread is healthy, which is not necessarily true, since bread in itself is a necessary part of a balanced diet. Lastly, customers want both a low-carb substitute, but still somehow want it to taste just like bread, which is extremely hard to accomplish because creating low-carb bread restricts both fiber and nutrition while substituting in artificial ingredients that can worsen taste and texture. Despite valid reasons for businesses creating low-carb baked products, businesses should focus on creating quality products made from real ingredients for both taste and texture. Wholesome bread tastes better overall than its low-carb substitute due to less artificial ingredients being added into its formula; also low-carb products taste worst than wholesome products for the same exact reasons. Businesses should just stray away from low-carb for it lacks in nutritional value, while restricting quality of ingredients for the sake of unwarranted consumer demands. Additionally, low-carb baked products promote bad business practices in the baking industry. It does this by encouraging businesses to allow the creation of lower quality products to accommodate the growing demands of the public; rather than taking time to create high quality products, businesses are cranking out their products in bulk, but with disregard to quality control; the question arises as to why the media fails to talk about the many negatives of

3 low-carb, while blatantly glorifying its positives. Moreover, low-carb encourages businesses to utilize otherwise unknown and redundant ingredients. These unneeded ingredients help maintain the low-carb aspect in bread, but sacrifices taste, texture and nutritional value; more negative than positive. Unfortunately, some baking businesses have already started to promote fraudulent low-carb bread, Dr. Andreas Eenfeldt states, A good example of the first problem was Julian Bakery s low-carb bread. It turned out that people s blood sugar increased just as much as by eating real bread. And when the low-carb bread was sent for analysis it turned out to contain 17 times more carbs than specified, Julian Bakery s bread used to be an example of the first problem: high-carb bread fraudulently marketed as low-carb (Eenfeldt 1). Fraudulent business practices as a whole is an embarrassment to the industry and what it stands for. Low-carb baked products are essentially edible sponges with very little nutrition. According to Culhane, A low-carb bakery product in Canada is also lower in B-vitamins, iron and folate than its regular counterpart, a fact not being communicated to consumers (Culhane 14). Furthermore, texture-wise, low-carb bread is unnecessarily chewy, which is demonstrated by a youtube video uploaded by Cowboy Tom. Tom states, When you tried to eat it you knew it wasn't gonna go digest, there was something terribly wrong with it, my wife spit hers out and she says it's a sponge (Tom). In reality, low-carb bread basically is an overrated health food that truly is not that healthy. Health food usually provides the consumer with a healthier alternative to what consumers regularly consume, but low-carb bread fails to truly provide what health food tends to provide. Rather than focusing its energy on creating imitation baked products, the baking industry should promote the importance of carbohydrates and the many unknown benefits of

4 eating wholesome baked products of all types. For example, rye, whole wheat, multi-grain, sourdough, brown rice bread, and many others, are bountiful in nutrients essential for the human body. Nutrients like iron, folate, fiber and protein. Additionally, low-carb diets only work when choosing the right carbohydrates and the proper amount to eat; minimizing carbohydrate intake is not the answer because Magee elaborates by stating, To meet the body's daily nutritional needs while minimizing risk for chronic disease, adults should get 45% to 65% of their calories from carbohydrates, 20% to 35% from fat, and 10% to 35% from protein (Magee 1); and choosing the right carbohydrates is equally as important, because We can reap the health benefits of good carbs by choosing carbohydrates full of fiber. These carbs that get absorbed slowly into our systems, avoiding spikes in blood sugar levels. Examples: whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans (Magee 1). Lastly, businesses will not only benefit from informing the populace, but as well as the consumer, as he/she will make more educated decisions when buying the right baked products. Providing the consumer with the proper informational foundation and with a high quality nutritional baked product will help the industry in the long term, rather than choosing to cater to a short-term fad that could hurt the industry instead of benefiting it. Low-carb baked products are not the answer for the decline in wholesome baked product sales; the solution comes in restraining the temptation to convert wholesome nutritious bread into an empty nutrient golf ball (Culhane 14). Yes, low-carb is more profitable, but the customers deserve more than a low quality imitation bread, they deserve the real thing, and they should not be disillusioned by the many false claims low-carb is attributed to; they should have the privilege

5 of knowing the many benefits that comes with eating real bread. In the end, real bread is always the best bread. Works Cited Culhane, Carol. "Saying No To Low-Carb." Bakersjournal, Apr. 2004, pp , Accessed 27 Sept Magee, Elaine. "Good Carbs, Bad Carbs: Why Carbohydrates Matter to You." Webmd, 30 Oct. 2008, carbohydrates#1. Accessed 27 Sept Naylor, Brian, narrator. All Things Considered. Wabe, 18 Jan npr.org, Accessed 26 Sept Sharp, David. "Bakers Losing Bread to Low-Carb Diet Trend." latimes, 16 Nov. 2003, articles.latimes.com/2003/nov/16/news/adna-bread16. Accessed 27 Sept "Sponge or Bread (This Can't be Healthy) - Julian Bakery." Youtube, uploaded by Andreas Eenfeldt, Cowboy Tom, 17 May 2013, the-problem-with-low-carb-bread. Accessed 25 Sept