[aephi alum]

The low-carb stuff is out there for one reason: It sells. There are a lot of people out there (myself included) who are on low-carb regimens, ranging from Atkins to South Beach to just not eating simple sugars. If you're really craving a bowl of cereal or a piece of toast or some ice cream, it's good to have a low-carb alternative available (though, of course, it is best not to give in to temptation at all).

Some of the low-carb things I've tried are pretty decent (the Subway wraps, for instance). Others are nasty.

IMO, a lot of these things are very dangerous. You must pay attention to the serving size that the carb count is based on; sometimes it's half or less of what you would actually be eating. You must watch the fat content (the Atkins diet says not to, that you can eat all the fat you want, but I'm leery of that). And you must stop. This can be the hardest thing - you decide "The serving size says 3 carbs for one cookie, so I'll just have one cookie" and before you know it, the box is empty. Worse, the low-carb sweets may set off a carb craving that leaves you eating high-carb sweets! So you have to be very careful... but they have their place.