Beer, Bread and Media Circuses

Fad diets are hardly a new thing. Some are more ridiculous than others, to be sure, but they aren't new. Even low carb diets aren't new. They were big in the 70s — the current diet du jour, Atkins, is actually a rehashing of a diet from a book by the same Dr. Atkins which was originally published in the 1970s. A little research revealed that low carb diets go back well before that, all the way back to the mid 19th century, believe it or not.

Today, the media is flogging low carb diets with vigour. Some news supports the trend, some slams it, but the coverage is proliferous. It's impossible to not be aware of the Atkins idea. On the off chance you've been living under a rock, here's a quick primer. The principle behind the low carb diet is quite simple — consume as few carbohydrates as possible. Eat lots of protein and fats instead. This of course involves eating a lot of meat, eggs, and other high fat, high protein foods. This is all fine and dandy for your poultry producers and cattle ranchers still reeling from the affects of the mad cow disease crisis, but it's wreaking havoc on grain and potato farmers. Who would imagine that people would suddenly stop eating bread, or that the staple meat and potatoes supper would become meat, hold the potatoes?

It's not just the farmers that are being thrown a curve ball by this paradigm shift in North American menus. Fast food places are all askew. You can now get a salad with your combo at McDonald's, which is most convenient if you feel that eating a Big Mac is suddenly a healthy choice. What's more, super sizing is now passe. No longer will you be able to get your seven ounce fries. Six ounces of carb-heavy julienne-sliced deep-fried potatoes will just have to do. And it's not just Scrawny Ronnie that's trying to ride the wave. For years Subway trotted out Jared and company to tout their low-fat choices, but alas, that just isn't good enough any more. People aren't looking for low-fat these days. It's low carb they want, and there's nothing low carb about 12 inches of fresh-baked bread. So now there are Atkins-approved wraps, made with delicious "whole wheat, cornstarch, oat, sesame flour and soy protein." Mmm, tasty. And healthy, too, or at least as healthy as anything made with lots of bacon and cheese can be.

But let us forget for a moment about the farmer and the fast food, and let us ignore the bakeries and supermarkets affected by this trend. The Atkins diet has apparently reached far beyond the typical demographic for fad diets. This became quite clear with the recent arrival of low carb beer. This is beer we're talking about. Whether or not you drink beer, you have to agree that as far as healthy drink choices go, beer is somewhere between Jolt and maple syrup. Yet there is now not just one, but a selection of low carb beers available. This baffles the mind. It's beer, people, not gatorade! Fad diets are silly by nature, but this is just idiotic. If you are willing to eliminate an entire food group for the sake of weight loss, but you aren't willing to give up beer, then maybe those five extra pounds aren't your biggest problem.

It's only a matter of time until the Atkins diet goes the way of the buffalo and is replaced by some new fad diet, and people will go back to eating bread and rolls and waffles and all will be as it was. There's no need to rush back to normalcy, thought. The longer everyone else takes to get back to bread, the more bagels will be on the day-old rack at the supermarket for me.