HOLD THE LARD!: The Atkins Diet still doesn't work

Issue settled. The Atkins Diet—the famous high-fat, low-carb regime that lets dieters load up on pork rinds and Scrapple as long as they avoid potatoes and Wheaties—works. The American Heart Association has been wrong all along, as has essentially the entirely American medical establishment. Not only is gorging on fat the key to becoming thin, it's heart-healthy to boot. So say the headlines:

The public responded predictably to the pro-Atkins results of an Atkins-funded study last month. Sales of Dr. Robert Atkins' diet book skyrocketed over 900 percent on Amazon.com the day the news broke. Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution has now sold over 10 million copies; according to one Atkins stooge, more than 20 million people have signed on for the diet. Celebrities ranging from callipygian lovelies Jennifer Lopez and Minnie Driver to formerly porky Spice Girl Geri Halliwell to one-man body mass rollercoaster Matthew Perry have reportedly taken the Atkins plan straight to the scales.

There are two issues here. One is the effect of the Atkins diet on weight loss. The other is its effect on cholesterol and triglycerides, a group of fatty compounds that circulate in the bloodstream and are stored in the fat tissue.

In the study in question, Dr. Eric Westman of the Duke University Medical Center looked at both. He followed two groups of 60 dieters each, one on a high carbohydrate diet and one on the high-fat, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet. He reported that the Atkins group lost twice as much weight during the six-month study period as did the high-carb group. But this is both unsurprising and meaningless.

Gary Foster of the University of Pennsylvania co-authored a study conducted in virtually the same manner as Westman's. Foster, whose work will soon appear in a major medical journal, provides a simple explanation for the Atkins weight loss. The regimen "gives people a framework to eat fewer calories, since most of the choices in this culture are carbohydrate driven," he says. "Over time people eat fewer calories."

Randy Seeley of the University of Cincinnati co-authored yet another "sister study" with similar results. His explanation is the same as Foster's. Ultimately, Atkins is nothing more than a low-calorie diet in disguise.

In any event, the main issue with any diet—be it Atkins, popcorn, or jelly bean—isn't whether people can lose weight in the short-term but rather whether they can stick to the regimen and keep the pounds off not for just half a year but essentially forever. Yet completely lost in the media mania was that among the 60 Atkins dieters in the Westman group analyzed for weight loss, the dropout rate was 43 percent.

Thus almost half the Atkins cohort couldn't stay with the steak and bacon routine for even six months. By comparison, only 25 percent of the high-carb eaters dropped out.

Moreover, it's generally accepted that drop-out rates anywhere near this level completely invalidate a study because you don't know how all those drop-outs would have affected the result. Maybe those Atkins dieters were quitting not only because of carbohydrate cravings but also because they weren't losing weight or losing it fast enough to satisfy them.

Why would Westman's interpretation be so different from those of Foster and Seeley? It may help to know not only that this particular study was paid for by the Atkins Center, but that it's part of a long-term funding arrangement.

Analyses such as one published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) in May 2000 have shown that funding sources do in fact influence study results and the interpretations (or "spin" if you will) of those results. "When the boundaries between industry and academic medicine become as blurred as they are now, the business goals of industry influence the mission of medical schools in multiple ways," declared an accompanying NEJM editorial.

Westman's interpretation, based on his handful of subjects observed over a mere six months, also directly contradicts three decades of randomized controlled studies published in peer-reviewed journals. A review of over 200 of these published last year in a major medical journal concluded bluntly: "The BMIs [a surrogate measure of weight] were significantly lower for men and women on the high carbohydrate diet; the highest BMIs were noted for those on a low carbohydrate diet."

But what about the blood findings? Wasn't it a real shocker that Atkins dieters consuming heavy amounts of fat saw their HDL ("good cholesterol") levels increase by 11 percent while harmful triglycerides fell 49 percent? (LDL or "bad cholesterol" levels remained the same.)

"Often just losing weight alone will cause improvement in triglyceride and cholesterol levels," the president of the American Heart Association Dr. Robert Bonow told me. Since the Atkins dieters did lose more weight than those on the high-carb diet, it only stands to reason that by comparison their blood levels would also improve more.

Says Seeley, Westman's "weight loss data look just like ours and my argument is that the weight loss accounts for the beneficial effects."

Westman told me that he doesn't believe this to be the case, because another study, in the July 2002 Journal of Nutrition, claims to have found a similar improvement on an Atkins-type diet regardless of weight loss. But the same researchers, using the same group of dieters, published another study at the same time reporting that the Atkins dieters lost an average of 7.5 pounds over a six-week period. So again, blood fat levels merely fell with body fat levels.

Ultimately this fat-fest over a single study shows nothing more than the media's amazing ability to pick out and flaunt a will o' the wisp—even to the point that one American network repeatedly used on-the-air interviews from a representative of the Atkins Institute to interpret a study paid for by the Atkins Institute!

Why? Our increasingly obese population is desperate for some magical formula to avoid the physiological law that body fat is determined by calories in and calories out. The media tried to fill the need, but ultimately failed the public. "It just makes people confused and frustrated," an exasperated Seeley said. Yes, and fatter by the day.

For breakfast I sometimes add 2-3 egg whites to a small tin of tuna, mix it up and nuke it for a couple minutes, then add a dollop of mayo, mix it up some more... it's quite edible.

I just started a version of the Atkins diet 3 weeks ago and have lost 8 lbs so far. There really is something to it. I don't get those shooting pains across the top of my head, or in my throat, when I'm hungry. I don't feel as though I'm going to faint 4 hours after my last meal, I can go 7-8 hours without eating (unheard of before). I'm a believer.

LOL, I wasn't angry, in fact, I haven't seen anyone angry like you mention. Care to expound how my post somehow supported your silly rant, as if you could...

Casually mentioning the fact that it amuses me to see certain posters spew dogmatic nonsense about diets qualifies in your little brain as a rant? LOL...You're quite a headcase.

Rush claims his diet is a low-fat diet, so apparently not.

One of the things I remember Rush mentioning about his diet is that he hired a good cook. He said the diet was easier to deal with because he didn't have to think about, or plan his food intake. (and he acknowledged that he was fortunate to be able to afford to do this. Many people struggle because they HAVE to shop and deal with food)

The implication I got was that not thinking at all about food made it easier for him to resist unhealthy food. It became more about about fuel and less about socializing, or the sensory experience.

I'm somewhat confused:

He(Westman) reported that the Atkins group lost twice as much weight during the six-month study period as did the high-carb group.

and
60 Atkins dieters in the Westman group analyzed for weight loss, the dropout rate was 43 percent.

Lost twice as much...when ? before or after the dropout ? with or without the 43% for the full 6 months ?

It's not that the Atkins diet doesn't work (it does), It's like anything else one doesn't stick to...a fallback to familiar/old behavior patterns.

"Only if you want a high risk way of getting salmonella. A decade ago it was mostly on the shells. But since then the salmonella has gotten inside the egg itself -- especially in the eastern part of the US."

Not a problem anymore. Just buy pasteurized eggs. They are right next to the regular eggs and are only about $ 0.20
more per dozen. No taste difference.

Here is a revision of the food pyramid by Dr. Walter C Willet of Harvard's School of Public Health. The one put out by the Dept of Agriculture, also shown, is terrible:

If you follow this revised pyramid (notice what's at the base) you will lose weight and be healthy in the long term. You also want to take fish oil supplements - everyone should.

This is all discribed and backed up with extensive research in his excellent book, Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to be rational about their diet.

You are correct when you say that people should exercise. However, I was in a car wreck many years ago that has left me handicapped. Exercise is not an option for me. The Atkins diet works for me and I am glad I went on it. Not everyone who is fat is just a lazy slob, like many on this site seem to think.

If you combine whatever diet program you like with the Eat Right 4 Your Type program, you'll have a winner.

http://www.dadamo.com/

The main reason Atkins or any other diet doesn't work for everybody is because different blood types react to foods differently. For example, diets high in meat are great for Type O, but horrible for Type A.

Just went over and read the AIDs article. Hate to digress here, but I still don't get the African Aids problem. Does Fumento explain the transmission there? (BTW, like you, I argued ten years ago that the hetero prediction was a myth, I was fighting the sex ed hysteria at my kids local Catholic school--all AIDS all the time--I got explicit numbers from the CDC which when examined showed there was no hetero epidemic and point nothing percent risk of female to male transmission. It showed IV drug use and bisexuality as the only factors; mothers would get hysterical when I would tell them this and accuse me of all kinds of stuff). V's wife.

Ultimately, Atkins is nothing more than a low-calorie diet in disguise.

The Atkins diet works because the carbs it eliminates generally represent about 60-percent of the calories one consumes. Consume fewer calories than you burn and you will lose weight. A Texas A&M urine analysis study pointed out the most dangerous, long-term unresolved issue with the Atkins diet is the loss of calcium it causes. Is osteoporosis in an Atkins dieter's future?

I have no dog in this fight, but I must admit it's amusing to see just how angry some Atkins advocates get when their dogma is challenged. I hope you survive your fatwa, and that the diet Jihadists find another outlet for their energies.

I really don't have a dog in the race either, but I get a little frazzled when someone refers to peoples' successes as "dogma". Liberals use dogma to support Kyoto. Dieters use several methods and settle on the one that works. For many people, that is Atkins.

Don't worry Senator, when we all drop dead at 45 because of the diet you can dance on our graves and sing a "See, I told you so!" song.

The diet works for a lot of people, including me. I certainly thought it was nuts until I read more about it, and was still skeptical until I tried it. I suspect that more and more studies will show it works until the evidence is pretty much indisputable, but that is no reason to change your mind.

People that are using the Atkins method are not pushing a Dogma on the world, they are trying to pass on a method that worked for them. If it goes against the prevailing DOGMA of lowfat high-carb diets, and lets smug non-Atkins people say stuff like "All you have to do is exercise," then everybody wins, I guess.

Your experience sounds a lot like mine. I lost 35 lbs through a combination of exercise and the Atkins diet. Well, exercise is part of the Atkins regimen anyway. And like you, I found that losing weight through Atkins increased my energy so that I could exercise more vigorously and longer.

I saw your pics. Way to go!

I have eaten Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner with Annie, on 3 different dates, and she eats normal, trust me. She even cleans the plate.

That is reassuring to the fan club which includes myself (and you truly are a lucky man in that respect).

BTW, great job with the weight loss. As for running, I had to give it up as well. It basically hurt from the knees down. I am fortunate enough to live in a hilly area so I can get a pretty good heart workout just walking. Hopefully, you can enjoy a good stiff walk on an incline treadmill or up and down hills.

I read the book. He recommends a very low carb diet. That's what separates him from every other diet. Carbs make you fat. Fats make your arteries fat. You will lose weight eating lots of red meat and bacon and your casket will be lighter.

I seriously doubt that your arteries are going to fill with fat when your cholesterol level is falling or for the short time that you are on a high fat diet. The people Dr. Atkins is helping are ALREADY fat and thus have ALREADY been putting "fat" into their arteries. Without an intervention, they won't stop. Get it now!

I understand, clearly there are people who can't exercise due to medical conditions. I am happy you've found the Atkins diet works for you, and I certainly won't throw stones at you for doing what you can to lost weight.
I really believe however that a big portion of folks on Atkins right now could see significant weight loss by exercising. Except for a small portion of the population, not many Americans exercise regularly. And looking at the next generation (school-age kids), they spend more time watching TV and video game and less outside exercise than ever before.

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