Diets concern
especially Americans as they do have a "national weight problem". So it
would only be natural that dieting issues be so over proportioned in the
US. Also, "miracle diet recipes" are very popular and make way rapidly
into people's minds. This also happened with the South Beach Diet
– the diet that will not only allow you get rid of a lot of weight rapidly
without starving but will also help you improve your health condition.
Being so
popular, diets have even gained the power of influencing the food commerce
and industry. If you wonder how, well, food producers that have been educated
for a while to flexibly follow the demands of the market in order to be
competitive, came out with their offer of diet-friendly product versions,
attracting customers in their yard.
It seems
that in countries outside the US, although people have heard of the diet,
generally they are not very anxious to give up their eating habits in
favor of a not so very well studied diet. Yet, Dr. Agatston's "South
Beach Diet" book is said to have been sold to more than 20 countries.
In Canada,
low-carbs diets have gained some popularity but not to the extent they
have in the US. And this happens only at mass level. The federal department
Health Canada will issue new labeling rules and regulations to prevent
manufacturers from making low-carb claims for their products, as the official
opinion is that popular low-carbohydrate diets are nutritionally unsound.
Well, the
question is whether the European and Asian countries, that have a food
history and tradition will be influenced by the this low carb craze. And
it seems that they have no reason to be as they are doing very well on
their traditional eating.
Most likely
to "enroll" are the British that have begun to face the same obesity problem.
Popularization of the diet is being made in India, as well.
The low-carbs
matter is hardly known in countries as France, Italy or Germany where
French baguettes, Italian pasta and potatoes are almost sacred. From the
European countries the healthiest diet that is being practiced is the
Mediterranean diet that basically resembles the South Beach diet,
only it is much older.