Use Your Brain: Whole Grain Craze Is Insane

This Pueblo (CO) Chieftain column features a haughty bread store owner basking in the glory of the alleged demise of the low-carb lifestyle.

"It's so 10 minutes ago," proclaimed Cindy Gershen referring to low-carb in the vernacular of her kids.

As the owner of Sunrise Cafe and Bakery, Gershen took a pretty significant hit because of the Atkins diet and other low-carb programs which have helped millions lose weight and restore their health.

But now she claims that bread is back (she sounds like this opportunistic baker!) because it is so much healthier now with the whole grains that have been added to the mix.

Oh, really? While whole grains are indeed a "healthier" option for people seeking to live a healthy lifestyle (and yes, even those of us who are livin' la vida low-carb!), but how can you call products like "banana chocolate bread" or "pastries" as healthy when they are LOADED with gobs and gobs of sugar? Hmmm?

Using this logic, why don't we add whole grains to french fries at McDonald's? Or, better yet, let's put whole grains in Krispy Kreme doughnuts! That'll make 'em healthy, won't it?

Give me a break, people! Do they really think we are THAT stupid and gullible that we're going to suddenly believe a product is better for us just because they've added whole grains? That's the biggest marketing ruse being perpetrated in our society right now that whole grains by itself suddenly makes everything better for you.

WRONG! While adding whole grains will certainly improve the quality of products such as cereal, bread, and pastries, you still have to contend with all those carbohydrates that are LOADED in these products because they will be converted in your body into sugar to go along with the sugar they have added to these products. If you've read my book, then you know that I refer to sugar as rat poison! Do you think they make whole grain rat poison?! :-O

But this Gershen lady thinks people are tired of the low-carb lifestyle because it only worked in the short term and nobody could possibly eat this way forever.

"They lost 10 or 20 pounds on Atkins, but couldn't keep it off and they were hungry," she opined. "My sense is that people want to stop dieting and just eat well."

Isn't it obvious this bread lady hasn't got a clue? As bread companies continue to bite the dust because of the tens of millions of us who are STILL on the low-carb lifestyle, we've got idiots like this woman out there running her mouth about something she clearly has no first-hand knowledge about.

Guess what, Ms. Gershen. Not only have I lost more than 180 pounds on a low-carb diet, but I have kept that weight off now for nearly a year because I am NEVER hungry nor do I get tired of the delicious foods I get to enjoy with this way of eating. I agree people should "stop dieting and just eat well." That's why I'm livin' la vida low-carb.

As an 80-pound weight loss success by eating a low-fat/low-calorie diet along with exercise, Gershen of all people should be thrilled for people like me who have overcome a lifetime of weight problems. She even has her own locally-televised cooking show in Walnut Creek, California called "Cindy Says: Healthy Cooking Made Simple" where she espouses the virtues of eating healthy.

Good for her, but why is she slamming low-carb? I have said it many times that it doesn't matter to me HOW someone loses weight, but rather that they DO SOMETHING about their weight before it is too late. It amazes me that people like Gershen would rather discourage a would-be dieter from even TRYING the low-carb lifestyle by scaring them away from it for foolish reasons than to wish them well in their weight loss journey. That is reprehensible and irresponsible of any health advocate if you ask me!

The column did quote one low-carb lifestyle advocate named Kevin Carpenter, co-owner of the San Ramon (CA) Castus Low-Carb Superstore (the article incorrectly called it the "Cactus Diet Center"). He noted that sales at his store have been brisk despite the fact that many other low-carb stores have had to shut down. As I have stated previously, any business (low-carb or otherwise) that wants to remain viable has to change with the market by being innovative and flexible to meet the needs of the customer.

Carpenter gets that.

"We have lots of people who come in here who do Atkins, who do South Beach, who do Weight Watchers," he said. "It's like diet center nirvana."

Lots of people depend on low-carb stores such as Castas, CarbSmart, LO-CARB U, and Kick The Carbz, just to name a few, to provide them with the products to complement their low-carb lifestyle. And, yes, they all have great-tasting low-carb and ZERO-carb breads available, Ms. Gershen! It's even made with whole grains but, unlike your products, doesn't contain added sugars and unnecessary carbohydrates.

Swift business at Castus, Carpenter states, is evidence that low-carb is still prospering.

"We have people who drive from as far away as Sacramento on a regular basis to the store," Carpenter said. "We have people come in here all the time and say, 'You have to stay open.' We couldn't close, because what would we eat?"

You can write to Kevin Carpenter to thank him for standing up as an ambassador of low-carb in this column by e-mailing him at castus3@sbcglobal.net.