Posted on 04/17/2007 2:03:10 PM PDT by freedomdefender
The beleaguered Atkins diet may get a breath of life from a new study that suggests the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet regime leads to more effective weight loss with fewer negative health effects than three other weight loss strategies.
The study, which pits the Atkins diet against the Zone, Ornish and LEARN diets, appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
Related: Questions About Breast Cancer? Ask National Experts.
But the findings could be too little too late for the popular diet, which at one time changed the way Americans ate.
Proponents of Atkins say the study is only the latest piece of evidence testifying to the effectiveness of a diet that cuts carbs to a minimum.
"Clearly, this study shows that controlling carbohydrates is as or more effective than the low-fat, low-calorie approaches we've seen in the past," says Dr. Stuart Trager, author of "The All-New Atkins Advantage: 12 Weeks to a New Body, a New You, a New Life."
"The proof is now in the pudding," says Dr. Fred Pescatore, former medical director of the Atkins Center and best-selling author of "The Hamptons Diet," a guide on another low-carb regime.
"These findings are consistent with over a dozen papers in the past five years demonstrating the beneficial effects of carbohydrate restriction," says Dr. Eric Westman, associate professor of medicine and director of the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at Duke University Medical Center. "I think low-carbohydrate diets should be first-line therapy for weight loss."
But will the new research be enough to save Atkins — or even restore it to its former lead position in the pack of new diet regimes? Many diet experts say no.
"Health is not measured as the combination of several cardiac risk markers and weight over the course of a year," says Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine. "If it were, every patient getting chemotherapy would be 'healthy.'"
"Some heart indicators were better, but what about the mountains of evidence about high consumption of fruits and vegetables to promote overall health?" says Keith-Thomas Ayoob, associate professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine's department of pediatrics in Bronx, N.Y.
The JAMA study suggests that women on the Atkins diet not only lose more weight than those on the other diets studied, but that these women also maintain better cholesterol profiles and blood pressure levels.
Related: Questions About Breast Cancer? Ask National Experts.
But Dr. Dean Ornish, creator of the Ornish diet and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in San Francisco, says the conclusions from these findings are misguided.
"This is simply not true," he says. "If you read the study carefully, you will find that the authors reported that there was no significant difference in weight loss between the Atkins and Ornish or LEARN diets after one year.
"This directly contradicts their primary conclusion."
Other experts say the fact that the study only features results for up to one year makes such conclusions premature at best.
"The weight loss with Atkins maxed out after six months and really started regaining then, and somewhat faster than with the other diets," Ayoob says. "It would be interesting to see if, by 18 months or so, everything evened out."
"The public may not realize that keeping weight off for one year is no indication of permanence," says Carla Wolper of the Obesity Research Center at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City.
"It may be that more than two years of weight stability are required before one can feel safe with weight loss achieved."
And some say the shortcomings of the research reach beyond simple weight loss. In particular, there's a belief that the study downplays the wide spectrum of factors that contribute to heart health.
"Numbers don't lie, but they don't tell the whole story — by a mile," says Jackie Newgent, instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. "There are more than just a couple numbers that determine your overall health. And as cholesterol numbers and blood pressure levels improve, it doesn't mean other heart-health indicators improve."
Since heart concerns have remained at the center of the debate over low-carb diets since their inception, the study may do little to silence critics with these concerns.
In recent years, the Atkins diet has also found itself surrounded by a lean, mean pack of other diet regimens, most with their own best-selling books.
Related: Questions About Breast Cancer? Ask National Experts.
Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz's "You: On a Diet," one of the more recent wunderkinds of the growing diet genre, is now enjoying its 17th week on The New York Times best-seller list.
Other diets, low-carb and otherwise, likewise flood bookstore shelves — a phenomenon that threatens to lead to diet-reader fatigue as the choices become ever more diverse and, in many cases, complex.
So, what's a dieter to do?
In short, losing weight and keeping it off may be more a function of adopting an overall healthier lifestyle — and less about cutting whole classes of foods out of your diet.
"This is the message of this article — focus on lifestyle and environmental factors and don't worry about the macronutrient composition of the diet, particularly if you can achieve the NHLBI guidelines of a 5 to 10 percent weight loss," says Dr. George Blackburn, chair in nutrition medicine at Harvard Medical School. "I think that was my message for the past 20 years."
"A healthy diet is the same as it ever was," Katz says. "Focus on health, and the long term, and your weight will take care of itself."
"It's not about demonizing whole food groups," Ayoob says. "It's about how much and how often, and learning to strike a balance between what we know we need, and what we don't want to live without."
And for diet book authors on both sides of the debate, an armistice in the "diet wars" would be a positive outcome by any measure.
"I'm tired of these diet wars," Ornish says. "It's not low-fat versus low-carb. It's both. An optimal diet is low in total fat and low in refined carbohydrates, emphasizing whole foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains."
"The future needs to be about getting away from this 'beauty pageant' mentality of what diet is best," Trager says. "It needs to be about incorporating the best practices of each approach to make lifestyle changes more achievable and improve adherence."
Glad you did not harm yourself, at least, I hope you didn't
I meant the part about there being dangers in reducing carbs.
My doctor did recommend Atkins, as a matter of fact. I’m not sure what is so unhealthy or abnormal about eating vegetables, fruit, protein, nuts/seeds, and healthy fats. Every one of those is directly from nature without added chemicals and other gunk. With Atkins you cut out most processed foods, all refined sugars and white flour. Isn’t that what eating healthfully is all about? Atkins says exercise is “non-negotiable”, and since it’s easier for us to eat at home the low-carb way rather than at restaurants, we’re avoiding those humongous platters of food that are generally served nowadays. Maybe I’m dense, but all I see is a very healthy lifestyle.
Once I got the sugar out of my system, I crave nothing. Not chocolate, not desserts, not bread, nothing. It’s amazing, but it’s because I got all the poison out of my body.
Eating the low-fat way has brought our nation to record high numbers of not only obese people but those who are morbidly obese. I can remember when 300 lbs. was nearly unheard of. Now it’s like the “new 200”! The more we try eating low-fat, the more we gain, but we’ve been brainwashed to believe that’s the only way to go to lose weight! There’s gotta be a conspiracy in there somewhere!
My Dad went on this diet when his Doctor told him he had Type 2 Diabetes. You are spot on about the willpower thing. Funny how he would eat his night time pint of Ice Cream all the time before and then go on this diet.
He developed Ketosis and got that awful Atkins breath. One thing I have noticed is that every person I know that has been on the Atkins diet has lost a lot of weight in the beginning but not a one of them impressed me with their physical stature. Long term few even maintained their gain.
I think the reason for the initial weight loss is that Carbs bind water in the body. Lose the carbs and you lose a lot of water weight. That can't be healthy.
I think you are trying to do a good thing here and I have to admit that the posters are being rather civil but last time it was almost like they were a cult, LOL!
I wasn't trying to insult anyone, LOL! Miracle diet... I suppose this has been going on forever.
Sorry, I tend to run on :)
Arioch7
My doctor would disagree with your doctor. I think the best eating habits falls somewhere in the middle. The healthy foods you mention are those I choose for myself as well. But that doesn’t mean I can’t treat myself to a slice of homemade bread of even a desert on occasion. It’s not all or nothing, it’s moderation in all things that seems to make the most sense.
In my personal experience with people who tried the Atkins diet, they found that they couldn’t stick to the rules and ended up being worse off than before they started the diet. As one friend told me, it was the worst thing she had ever done. Now she eats sensibly and has lost a LOT of weight.
I enjoyed your comments. No need to worry about runnin’ on. My family would tell you that I do that on occasion too. LOL
I had to laugh about your use of the word, “cult”. That word came to my mind as well when I’ve read comments in the past about this particular diet. Oh well, if it is working and continues to work for SOME people, I’m glad for them. Hopefully years down the road they won’t find out that that the weight they lost, or rather, how they lost it, came at a higher price than they realized.
My Doctor says the only weightloss program he recommends is Weight Watchers.
I would think my own family would listen to me. I was a fat kid my whole life until about age 15. I turned the whole thing around and have been in good shape ever since.
Tell a runner to cut out carbs and they will think you are crazy. Seen many fat runners? The Japanese used to be among the thinnest (Healthy.) people in the world and ate plenty of carbs.
For some of the things I do, if you don't eat carbs, you will not be able to complete the objective. Not to mention you get fuzzy-headed on a low carb diet.
Didn't I say I wouldn't get involved in this topic again, LOL!
Arioch7
And you’re wrong. The results aren’t atypical, the only thing that makes my results at all unusual is that I stuck to it. Most people in our instant gratification culture don’t have the dedication necessary to stick to a program where you’re going to average 2 lost pounds a week. This is the culture that invented microwavable popcorn, deep fried Thanksgiving Dinner and wireless remotes to access dozens of TV channels; “nine months from now you’ll be at your target weight” just doesn’t sell well here.
But the punchline for weightloss is always the same, it’s the calorie balance. If you’re taking in more calories than you’re burning you’ll gain weight, if you’re burning more than you’re taking in you’ll lose weight. You can get into nutritional complexities by targeting certain sources of calories, certain things like fat and carbohydrates that come along with your calories, but the core concept remains. The only way eating less and excercising more (and actually sticking to it for more than a couple of weeks) doesn’t work is if you don’t do enough, if your calorie equation is out of balance by 2000 calories a day and you only change it by 1000 calories then sure you’re not going to lose weight, but if you change if by 2500 calories a day and you stick to it you will lose weight. There’s no way not to lose weight if you’re burning more than you’re taking in, you just have to make sure you get that balance with good foods and without over excercising or you’ll burn stuff other than fat which is bad.
Pick up in one hand a full 5 gallon bottle of water, in the other hand pick up one that’s half full, carry them around a bit, now put them down. That’s what I did when I dropped the weight, I put that bottle and a half of water down, and I did it while growing muscle because I had a good excercise regimen. How could that be anything but healthy? I have more energy because I don’t have to expend as much in simple daily activities like getting out of bed. Because I reduced my impact weight and improved my overall strength my bad knees and back are all but a thing of the past. Because I got much of my excercise out doors I improved my level of vitamin D, one of the things vitamin D does is help your body process calcium so now my bones are stronger, and of course they’re getting less wear and tear too.
Eat less and excercise more is the best way to lose weight and keep it off for the rest of your life. Just don’t be dumb about it. Some people use it as an excuse to starve themselves, only bad things can happen from that. But much like with people that stay in the Atkins induction phase too long and do damage to themselves with that, the fault lies with the user not the method.
How wonderful that you were able to turn your life (shape) around. teehee I was always a skinny little thing but the aging process has taught me that I can’t eat what I ate when I was younger. :)
This regimen is incomplete and perhaps even dangerous unless you wash down those nachos with something cool and refreshing.
So what's the problem? Sometimes I want a freakin' potato! lol!
All joking aside, the *real* Atkins diet is a good one. Most people think the "induction" phase (which only lasts 2 weeks) is *the* diet. Atkins saved me from type 2 diabetes and PCOS. It really works for *my* health. (I won't try to speak for everyone.)
It works. People think that the first stage (all protein) is the whole diet and never bother to learn the rest of it. If you follow the actual diet, you *will* loose a ton of weight.
In the begining you eat all the meat and fat you can handle and that's a good thing. It gets you through the carb cravings and frustration that comes with a new diet. But if you keep it up, your body will adapt and figure out how to use food fat as an energy source... bypassing your *own* fat.
In all honesty, I have never gained weight on a pure- protein diet. And I've tried. I did, however, maintain.
It was my doctor who put me on Atkins.
Consulting a doctor is wise when one has weight issues. Good for you. I hope the diet is working well for you. :)
Do you have any links explaining the link to pancreatic cancer? Pancreatic cancer took my father almost three years ago, so I'm interested in any new understandings of the disease.
Thank you! And it did it's job, that's for sure. But I wasn't consulting the doctor for weight issues. See, I was having episodes of hypoglycemia, chronic fatigue, hair growth that *no* woman wants, hair loss on my head, no menstruation cycle (for a year!) and high blood pressure. I had gained some weight, but it wasn't over the top. All this happened fairly fast and I was alarmed.
Turned out I had PCOS and was developing Type 2 diabetes. I'd been eating a low-fat, low-protain, high-carb diet for years and though I was doing the healthy thing. (The low blood sugars were happening after episodes of high BS. My body was responding slowly to the demand for insulin, then it would overproduce and drop me to the floor.)
He put me on the lowest possible carb diet for 6 months to reverse all the damage done by carbs along with Metforamin. After that time, I was put on a 60g maintenance diet that I was supposed to stay on for life.
Within 2 months my BP stabilized, my BG's stabilized, I'd lost 20 pounds and all the other symptoms straightened out.
Why I responded so well to the low-carb diet became even more apparent when we discovered the I had Celiac disease. Low-carb=less gluten.
I "fell off the wagon" a few years ago, but now all the old symptoms are coming back. I guess it's time to stop playing around.
You should also know that my friend's cardiologist also put her on a low-carb diet for uncontrollable high blood pressure. *With* BP medication her BP was running 175/145. He put her on the LCD with flax seed oil and she was off her meds in less than a month. At a check-up my husband discovered his BP was dangerously elevated and his cholesterol was terrible. He did 30 days of a LCD with flax seed oil and his numbers were perfect at the follow-up appt.
We don't eat low-carb for vanity, we eat it for health. I am NOT going to say that this is the ideal diet for everyone. All of us have unique physiology's and what works for one may be a death-sentence for another. I *AM* saying that if you're "doing everything right" (eating a low-fat/high-carb diet) and you find the classic issues of elevated BP, erratic blood sugars, horrible cholesterol, PCOS symptoms), you may want to consider this novel approach. There's a book called "Protein Power" by Michael and Mary Ann Eades that explains the science behind the diet and it's link with health in a very comprehensive way.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.