Two New Studies Back Claims of Atkins Diet (Ruben "Round Mound of Sound" Studdard Alert)

Wall Street Journal ^ | May 22, 2003 | David Armstrong

[Mister Magoo]

The popular but controversial low-carbohydrate Atkins diet helped obese patients lose weight faster and with potentially more health benefits than the conventional low-fat diet, according to two studies published in this week's New England Journal of Medicine.

The researchers involved were quick to say there were several caveats and that they weren't endorsing the diet. Still, the appearance of the studies in a prestigious medical journal is certain to give a boost to the often-derided approach designed by Robert Atkins, who died last month.

[grimalkin]

MMM. Raspberries. Gotta love 'em.

[At a Later Date]

Surely, you jest :) I think this diet has gotten a bad rap. I've been on Atkins many times in the past 20 years and have always had success. It's not ONLY meat. You get meat, fish, eggs, dairy, etc. for a while, then you DO get fruits, veggies & breads. Yes, it is limited at first, but if you persevere, the diet pays off in weight loss and lots of energy.

[Thane_Banquo]

Not a low-carb diet, per se, but the Atkins diet. People are told not to eat fruit and vegetables because they have evil carbohydrates (even though it's more important the KIND of carbs you get--natural are better than processed).

[Godzilla]

Not totally, if you read on, some of these items get phased back in on the CWL and maintenance phases of his diet plan. Plus, you have to remember that his premise is that our carbohydrate problems are due to too much processed carbs. More natural, unprocessed the better. That is where one can naturally get the suppliments back naturally. In actuality, if we were eating unprocessed foods, there'd likely to be no problems like being encountered today.

[SJSAMPLE]

Oh, I had the proscribed veggies and cheese (dairy), but all in all, that diet was more boring than anything else. It works, but it's the BOREDOM that will kill ya.

Remember, Atkins himself referred to it as a "lifestyle", not a "diet."

[grimalkin]

Not a low-carb diet, per se, but the Atkins diet. People are told not to eat fruit and vegetables because they have evil carbohydrates...

With all due respect, this simply isn't true. You must eat vegetables on Atkins. It is not optional. He simply makes a distinction between the types of vegetables one must have. For example: spinach instead of high GI potatoes. The important thing is to stabilize blood sugars.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

For such a small amount of weight I thought it was likely they would not have gotten much beyond the induction phase.

By the time you are in phase 3 you can have almost everything except foods high in sugar and most grains.

I have a baked yam a couple of times a week and some sort of berry with a second low sugar fruit on a daily basis. Cottage cheese and other cheeses and a glass of whole milk along with assorted veggies for calcium

[Nov3]

Doesn't talk about the higher cancer rates among the Atkins diet.

That is because it doesn't exist.

[Zipporah]

Didn't mention it in this article but elsewhere it does also mention that triglycerides were lower and 'good' cholestrol was higher in those that were on Adkins. So much for the recommended low fat diet for those with high cholestrol.

[PhilipFreneau]

As someone who used this diet to drop 10 pounds for a vacation, I can personally attest to the fact that it's a very difficult diet to maintain. Eating ONLY meat, day in an day out, contrary to my initial elation, is a PAIN IN THE ASS! They need to market that fact to the public.

I am unfamiliar with a meat-only diet. It certainly does not describe the Atkins diet. I have been on the Atkins diet for about a year, and I regularly eat green veggies (lettuce, broccholi, spinach, and other greens ), hard cheese, eggs, olives, onions, peppers, and fruit. I also eat wild rice on occasion. I drink tea and kool-aid sweetened with Splenda, and heavy cream (and I pour heavy cream over the fruit). Almost forgot, I also eat many types of meat (fish, beef, chicken, turkey, pork, lamb, and shellfish).

I would recommend you read Dr. Atkin's book.

[toothseaquer]

My husband has been on Atkins since January and dropped 30lbs. For him it is easy to follow. He is a meat, salad and potatoes guy and all he does is drop the (hot)potato.
Instead of a baked potato, I pan fry italian squash in olive oil. Microwave broccoli and make a cheese sauce with soy flour. Stir fried veggies are great too.
He gets his tomatoes and avocadoes with the salad and any other veggie he likes, like red cabbage, onions and cukes.
We do eat more beef, but, he has always liked steak, ground beef, chicken, pork and roasts. For a change of pace, I make a beef neck bone soup with garlic and whole pureed tomatoes and celery. I chop 1/2 a carrot and a handful of frozen peas to make it seem normal. Meat balls without bread crumbs are great simmering in the broth. He gives it a kick with tobasco sauce or any hot sauce. A heart warming meal on a cold chilly night. A handful of pork rinds (yuck) simulates crackers. He has very little hunger pangs and doesn't crave sweets at all. I make a ground beef spaghetti sauce and omit any sugar with splenda. He loves it over his chicken, steak or pork chops. For dessert, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese with sliced stawberries sweetened with splenda and a mock chocolate and rasberry sunday made with heavy cream ''sugar free'' pudding. Who says one has to eat only meat all day. Hard cheese and eggs can be fixed in many delicious ways. Read the book and use the imagination and meals can be very exciting. **Warning** avoid the Atkins pancakes and maple syrup stuff...yuck. There is only one side effect, parties, weddings and family get togethers. It is so tempting to eat just one carb. That one carb can throw the burning process for a few days. When you know this, you really don't eat it. Forgive my enthusiasm of the Atkins diet..........

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

"Proof that's not the way someone is supposed to be eating if you have to take artificial supplements."

Well, if you'd read the freaking book rather than relying on what know-nothings (including too many journalists) post on the Web, you'd see that this recommendation is based on Atkins' decades as a cardiologist. He'd see people stagger in with arteries clogged, bodies laden with slabs of fat, and so run-down by yo-yo dieting that they needed an intensive period of hypernutrition to compensate for the twin abuses of dieting and hyperinsulinism. Once you're rolling along, secure in your new healthy eating habits, if you heed his recommendations of eating lots of veggies (preferably organic) and nuts and protein-packed foods like eggs and meat, you can taper off the vitamins. (I add: if you rely on store-bought produce, live in a polluted area, or smoke, it's prudent to continue taking them given the depletion of the soil and the stressful effects of pollutants on the body.)

Having said all that, I'm the first to say that Atkins is not for everybody. He'd say so himself: everyone is different. But if you're dismayed by bad bloodwork results and/or an expanding gut, could be yours is the metabolic type that will respond to eating his way. But it's a life change-- if you go back to your old ways, you will gain it back. That is by no means a criticism of the Atkins approach.

[Flashman_at_the_charge]

I'd like to try it but I'd not be able to keep off the carbs. :-(

[Pukka Puck]

Another Flashman aficionado?

I have read just about all of George Fraser MacDonald's books.

[deedgirl]

Clay got robbed yesterday.He should have been the American Idol,He had a greater voice range,and a much better voice,but many said he was not marketable??? I thought who ever had more talent won???Sorry had to throw this in.

[FirstTomato]

my own Atkins experience: I lost 35 pounds and am now happy at my weight of 115 (although sometimes I go up to 120). Once I lost the weight I did return to my regular eating. I increased my exercise and again enjoyed veggies and fruits, but especially the homemade bread I make (yummy with butter). (when I need to lose 5 lbs I do not go back on Atkins however, but a very low calorie short-term diet)

After trying nearly every diet published, Atkins is the only one that I feel delivered results without me feeling like I was starving all the time. And that is why I believe I succeeded, because I felt satisfied and happy. I could have gone down even more, but because I ride horses periodically at my friend's farm, and I wanted to maintain a certain amount of hard muscle in my arms and legs and thought I'd be better off not getting too thin . (but I still think of myself as "fat" though I know better. Old habits are hard to break!)

I would recommend Atkins.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

I would recommend Atkins

I've dropped 60 pounds on the Atkins. Started 18 months ago. Yeah I know, it's easy to diet in Riyadh---we have no life.

[MadelineZapeezda]

I don't know what info you got, but it was disinformation.

I've lost 42 pounds since Jan 24 of this year. I eat meat, cheeses, eggs and lots of veggies and certain fruits. Works like a charm for me and I don't crave sweets anymore. My cardiologist does not have a problem with this diet.

BTW.......I DON'T need my Prevacid anymore because my heartburn also went away.......along with the added weight.

[merry10]

I started the south beach diet on Monday and it went well till today :). You get lots of cheese sticks, eggs for breakfast, and vegetables like celery and cukes. It's like a modified Atkins and also is developed by a cardiologist. Taught me that baked potatos don't SEEM bad for you, but they turn into sugar immediately.

[At a Later Date]

I've been on every diet known to man. I've had to diet my whole life (I'm 30-almost-40-something). Believe me, I know diets. I've found that, for me anyway, the low-carb diets like Atkins are the most effective. I fall off every now and then, but I always go back. Yes, it is a lifestyle. American life revolves around the carbohydrate and for Atkins-ites, it can be tough sometimes. I try to NEVER eat things like bread, corn, potatoes, pasta, etc. That's tough when you just want to run into a deli and get a quick sandwich for lunch. "I'll have an Italian combo with the works on a roll. Hold the roll, please." Nope. Doesn't work. So I end up carrying allowable snacks with me wherever I go and bringing lunch to work. It can be a pain.

But eating in a restaurant is a breeze. (In comparison, eating at a wedding is TORTURE... ah, the appetizers, the pastries...)

But I think it's worth it. I lose the weight, I have more energy, I feel better, my skin clears up. My arthritis eases and my blood pressure and cholesteral are superb.

What more could I ask for in a diet?