Most restaurants including fast food franchises now provide several menu options for folks on low carb diets. However a review of the nutrition facts does beg the question - Do low carb diets work?

Every morning on my way to work, I grab my coffee and bagel at a popular coffee and donut franchise. Generally I order the plain bagel with regular cream cheese, however being heavily influenced by my neighbor who thrives on low carb diets, I decided to try their lower carb bagel instead.

I must admit that the lower carb bagel was delicious, and it felt just like a fluffy, warm, and soft croissant that just seems to melt in your mouth. Having prepared baked goods at home, I knew that the croissant-like feel and taste came at a cost - higher fat content. Hence I went to the company website and reviewed the nutrition facts and here's what I found:

* Regular Bagel (Serving Size 1 Bagel) - Calories: 320, Total Fat: 2.5g, Saturated Fat: 0.5g, Cholesterol: 0g, Total Carbohydrates: 62g, Protein 12g
* Lower Carb Bagel (Serving Size 1 Bagel) - Calories: 380, Total Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 4.5g, Cholesterol: 20mg, Total Carbohydrates: 45g, Protein 25g

So while the lower carb bagel lives up to its promise of lower carbohydrates and higher protein (in addition to its excellent taste), it has significantly higher fat content, higher cholesterol, and higher total calorie count.

Several studies have shown that low carb diets do not work for the long term since they are much too strict and hence not sustainable for most ordinary people. In fact if such low carb diets are followed blindly without consideration to the higher fat and cholesterol as in the case if the lower carb bagel example, it may in fact be downright dangerous to your health long term.

Instead follow a more practical plan that teaches you to eat the right calories without restricting to low fat or low carb diets only. Imagine if you could create your own unique diet. You choose the foods you want to eat, plug it into a program, and your very own custom diet will be created for you! In fact, losing weight could be downright fun!

After following such a simple plan and having fun eating and yet losing pounds I still frequent the coffee and donut place. However I have now switched to the plain bagel but with reduced fat-lightly spread cream cheese. No lower carb bagel for me please! But no more heavily spread regular cream cheese either!




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