ATKINS ALERT

THE DAILY RECORD ^ | Aug 13 2003 | Keith Mcleod

[carlo3b]

News
ATKINS ALERT

Aug 13 2003

Diet followers at risk, says expert

Keith Mcleod

SLIMMERS following the controversial Atkins diet are gambling with their health, a nutrition expert has warned.

Dr Susan Jebb said it would be "negligent" to recommend the diet, favoured by stars such as Geri Halliwell and Catherine Zeta-Jones, to anyone overweight.

Millions of people around the world have tried the low-carbohydrate, high-protein regime.

But Dr Jebb, of the Medical Research Council's Human Nutrition Research Centre in Cambridge, said its claimed benefits were based on "pseudo-science".

She argued that, despite a number of studies, no one knew what the long- term effects might be.

Dr Robert Atkins, who developed the diet, believed that carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, rice and starchy vegetables made the body produce too much insulin.

He claimed that led to hunger and weight gain.

His answer was to avoid such foods and eat unlimited amounts of fat and protein, leading the body to burn fat.

But Dr Jebb said such a dramatic change in eating habits was a leap in the dark.

For most people, protein accounts for a mere 15 per cent of their calorie intake. But much higher levels are eaten on the Atkins diet.

Dr Jebb said: "We simply do not know the long-term health implications.

"I certainly think we should be adopting a precautionary principle in terms of public health."

Her warning comes two months after two teams of American scientists declared the Atkins diet was effective and safe.

They found that over six months, 63 Atkins slimmers lost almost twice as much weight, an average of one and a half stone.

After a year, the gap had closed though, with the Atkins dieters down to an average weight loss of a stone compared with half a stone for others.

But Dr Jebb said the studies were too limited to provide meaningful evidence.

Dr Atkins died in April, aged 72, after slipping on ice outside his New York office and hitting his head.

Top

[Charlie OK]

thanks Sam. I dont drink beer just to be drinking beer. I like to try different beers from all around the world. Michelob low-carb sounds like it would taste like watered-down pee. Ick. I like "liquid bread". I think I will be good though. At most I drink a couple of bottles a week.

[Those_Crazy_Liberals]

"Why does anything Atkins get so much attention on FR?? : )"

Maybe because we're all plump from sitting in front of our computers and need the kind of diet that will let you eat like a King and yet look like a waif. :)

[Those_Crazy_Liberals]

"Why does anything Atkins get so much attention on FR?? : )"

Maybe because we're all plump from sitting in front of our computers and need the kind of diet that will let you eat like a King and yet look like a waif. :)

[Mr. Mojo]

My dad went on Atkins a couple months ago and his cholesterol shot up to close to 300 (from 200) in a few short weeks. His doctor was horrified, and told him that his case was far from unusual. He immediately went on a diet of fruits and veggies, lean meat, and a little pasta. In just two weeks his levels came back down to normal.

[carlo3b]

As I wrote on an earlier post, I believe each of our bodies react to various stimuli that in turn create much different results, much like allergies, sinuses, and drug reactions. Just as with fingerprints, we are all unique, and as such we react differently. I'm happy to hear your dad caught it in time.

[BibChr]

Wish you wouldn't pre-judge Michelob on someone else's sayso, even if he shares names with a really good beer. I'm a beer conoisseur myself; Bud is bad. This isn't bad.

Dan

[Redrivergal]

Hi there!

I eat sugar free instant pudding for breakfast every day. I use 1 cup cream and 1 cup water (cream has no carbs versus milk which does). One serving fills me up for the whole morning. I had to switch from eggs for breakfast because of an ulcer I developed from meds I take for
arthritis and for some reason eggs now irritate my ulcer.
But so far I'm not tired of the pudding; my favorite is
white chocolate, sometimes with a few strawberries on top.

[BibChr]

Carbs in the pudding? What brand?

Dan

[Protagoras]

My dad went on Atkins a couple months ago and his cholesterol shot up to close to 300 (from 200) in a few short weeks.

Really on the diet? Not just a "kinda like Atkins"? How much weight did he lose?

[Mr. Mojo]

He lost 10 lbs (he only needed to lose around 20), and he followed it strictly.

[theophilusscribe]

I'm from Italian extraction - give up pasta? When you pry it from my cold, dead hands...

LOL! We must be twins! Congratulations to you too! :o)

[theophilusscribe]

Thanks! When I first started WW, I took a quiz about my eating style. The quiz showed me that I needed more carbs because they fill me up more. Of course, then I went for the whole wheat breads and cereals with low points and lots of fiber. They've worked really well for me.

Sorry to hear your friend is not doing so well on WW. Maybe she would have more success on some of the other plans. A diet has to be satisfying and manageable. If a diet makes you feel ill, empty, or obsessive about your menu for the day, it will never be possible to maintain it. That's why WW is good for me and Atkins is good for others. There are lots of plans out there. If she shops around, she should be able to find one that will work for her. That is, if she is really motivated to lose. . .

[Edmund Burke]

Hitler was a vegetarian, and look what happened to him...suicide!

[Young Rhino]

Has it worked for you?

Yes.

[SamAdams76]

BTW, on Atkins, as I recall, every gram of fiber cancels out a gram of carbohydrates, maybe someone can correct me on this.

It's true but it has to be in the same food. That is, if you are eating nuts with 11g of carbohydrates per serving and they have 6g of fiber, you can figure on a net carb total of 5g a serving for that food. But you can't eat a bowl of Quaker oats and then deduct the fiber from the bag of chips you eat with it! Doesn't work that way.

[lysie]

Thanks, I'll try it.

[SamAdams76]

I have never seen ANY diet that works when you aren't on it.

No kidding. People crack me up when they say things like: "Maybe that Atkins diet works for a while but as soon as you go off it, the weight comes right back on."

You feel like hitting them in the head with an eraser. Duh! I suppose it would be a news flash for them to learn that exercise only keeps you in shape if you keep doing it. As soon as you stop exercising, you get out of shape. Oh well, I guess exercise must be one of those "fad" things.

[XBob]

88 - "I think everyone's body is different this way."

I am pretty certain that you are mostly correct. Unfortunately, the dieticians and doctors do not think this, and are bound up it the concept of eating carbohydrates, and feeding carbs to those whose bodies work better on protein.

One of the things I have noted in my many travels, is the frequency of diabetes or lack of it, in indigenous populations.

I have noticed that frequency of diabetes (now this is a generalization, but none the less, I think a fair generalization), diabetes occurs more often in populations which have survived starvation frequently in their developments over thousands of years, and who have survived on meat.

I have noticed that diabetes is more common among northern europeans (those who had to survive the cold winters with no crops and survived by hunting, and survived with lower metabolic rates, and lack of 'grown' foods - (carbohydrates). They could store fat better and live on their fat and endure starvation better with low metabolic rates when few carbohydrates (grains, fruits and vegetables) were available. This is also true of arabs (lack of water and droughts, and desert living. And even along the nile river, the Egyptians had to wait for the yearly floods to grow the grain. The Egyptians have a very high rate of diabetes. The American Indians, who frequently had very adverse conditions, and starved in the winters, and lived on hunting). They have the highest rates of diabetes of any ethnic group in the US.

While those who grew up in prehistory in lands of plenty of growing food (carbohydrates), fruits and vegetables, etc, have very low rates of diabetes, relatively. South Asians, South East Asians, particularly, where you can go out nearly the whole year round and 'pick a banana' off the tree.

My own ancestors came from Germany, and immegrated to Germany from Northern Russia near the Bering about 1500 years ago.

[meyer]

She argued that, despite a number of studies, no one knew what the long- term effects might be.

I predict that within 100 years, nearly all the poeple that used Atkins' diet will die.

[SamAdams76]

Milkshakes or cereal bars designed to replace one or two meals a day are "a promising approach", says Dr Jebb.

I think that's all we need to know about this Dr. Jebb.