24 July 2004

Atkins Nation

Being a student of Graphic Design I am, naturlich, as much of an observer of marketing trends as my bizarre schedule will permit. Both The Wife[tm] and myself look with droll bemusement on the Atkins trend.

If you really want to get my The Wife[tm] going, start talking to her about "net carbs". She's a type 2 diabetic, diagnosed since about three years now, has a good rhythm going, has good glucose number, usually between 100 and 150. Feels great usually.

We regard the Atkins wave with a jaundiced eye. Myself, I notice that the soundness of a thing usually is in inverse proportion to its hype, and if a celebrity endorses it, then all bets are off. The low-carb lifestyle (it's a lifestyle now?) is hyped so strongly that it's a bandwagon now, and bandwagons are all momentum.

The concept of the "net carb" is apparently because there's more than one sort of chemical substance that yields carbs, and Atkins respects one and not another.

As my love will tell you, it doesn't matter how your carbs get there. They eventually all become glucose, just some faster than others.

I tell you, everybody should get to know a diabetic. You will learn more about nutrition than any number of ad campaigns (which are, after all, designed to change your mind...not inform you) will honesly tell you.

She gets hopping mad and starts to complaing about "Atkins Fuzzy Math".

Indeed.

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