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.

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[Eva]

No, I think it's the red meat that people object to. They have been so brainwashed about cholesterol and threatened by the PETA freaks that the idea of eating meat every day is beyond the pale for them. The fact is, we don't eat any more red meat than we did before starting the diet.

[Axenolith]

And the fact that it's "high on the food chain" and therefore a target for a nuclear watermelon (green out\red in) attack.

[carlo3b]

my weight drifted back down by 16 lbs (to 23 lbs net below starting weight...

Can't find an argument in those facts.. keep up the fine work, skinny!

[carlo3b]

That was a fantastic article, and that is the first I've heard of this $100, 000, 000 research project.. That has to tell you something.. I guess it did not come out they way the establishment wanted it to.
Worth the time to read this!

[XBob]

there are thousands of years worth of evidence about the Adkins diet - the Eskimo's and the Laplanders survive/thrive on only protein and fat.

And I personally found the diet to be very effective, with nothing but good results.

The one place there may be problems, however, is if you have failing kidneys, then you need to limit your protein consumption.

[XBob]

bingo - carbs were killing him.

[Technogeeb]

I also switched to a canola-based margarine, but recently I couldn't find any and had gone back to regular margarine

Have you considered trying butter instead of margarine? It tastes a lot better, and is better for you. As long as you don't consume it in a high-carbohydrate diet, the saturated fat from butter is a healthy part of a balanced diet (a lot better than the hydrogenated oils used in margarine) and you get healthy amounts of many nutrients (vitamin A, vitamin E, selenium, etc.) as a nice bonus in addition to the better flavor.

[Russian Sage]

No one disputes the dramatic impact a low carb diet has on type 2 diabetics' blood sugar.

The ADA is just so stuck on the Fat-Will-Kill-You dogma that they would rather your blood sugar levels were 50 or more points higher than watch you eat bacon and eggs for breakfast.

[XBob]

I had a drag out fight with my VA doctors and Dietician a number of months back and fought for an Adkins diet, and they kept refusing me, and insisting that I keep on the high carb diet. I started on a high protien-low carb diet, without their permission, and in fact against their orders, and my blood sugar has now dropped 100 points, my blood pressure has dropped much nearer normal, I have dropped about 25 lbs, my HA1c smac tests have dropped by 3 points, and I am feeling so much better it is amazing. And all without being hungry.

[paulklenk]

I'll take the weight loss...the "doc" can stick to her findings.

Me, too. I've dropped from 260 to 222 lbs., and from a 42 to a 38 in. waist in less than two months, and I fully expect to me my goal of 185 lbs. and a 34 in. waist sometime this early fall.

Most doctors who pooh-pooh Atkins would, I believe, fail a test on its basic principles

MYTHS ABOUT ATKINS

This is not an "all you can eat meat" diet, nor is it a "bacon and eggs" diet. It is not a "no-carb" diet; rather, it is a controlled carb diet. Even in the beginning stage of Atkins, in which most of the weight is lost, 20 grams of carbs a day is included in the diet.

This stage is only one of four stages of the diet, and the last two stages are devoted to teaching people to eat for their lifetime. These stages can actually include bread, pasta, potatoes and other verboten foods, as long as they are in moderation and as long as weight is not regained.

Further, in his book, Dr. Atkins explicitly calls for regular doctor visits and extensive blood tests as an essential part of the plan. These are not optional. Plus, exercise and vitamins are also an essential component of the plan, not just "nice-to-haves", but "must-haves."

[paulklenk]

My dad lost many pounds on Atkins -- he went from being fat to being skinny, and extremely healthy. Had it not been for a lung injury, he would have lived to 100.

This year my brother, who is built exactly like me, dropped over 50 lbs on the diet and now wears a size 34 waist. He encouraged me to try it.

My goal is a 34 waist, and about 185-195 pounds (depending on how much muscle I gain, because I now have a trainer, and muscle weighs more than fat).

I've dropped from 260 to 222 and am well on my way to my goal. (See also my post 50.)

I can't wait for my flat stomach, six-pack-abs and rippling chest and arms!!!!

[SamAdams76]

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

I've seen this statement bandied about by low-carb opponents but have yet to see a low-carb book where this was stated. I've even read the Atkins book and nowhere in the book does it state you can eat "unlimited amounts of fat and protein." Thus, this statement is totally wrong and evidently it is designed to create the impression that Atkins says it's okay to eat ten pounds of steak and cheese everyday.

Anyway, having been low-carb since April (not Atkins but similar), I can attest to the success of the plan. Nearly 70 pounds lost in 4 1/2 months. Of course, I walk 7-10 miles a day too. But it is also emphasized in all these low-carb books that exercise is a major component of the low-carb lifestyle. Critics overlook that as well and seek to create the impression that low-carb diets do not include exercise.

[danmar]

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

Than hold your trap and come back when you have some meaningful scientific proof, you dork!

[Cincinatus]

I've even read the Atkins book and nowhere in the book does it state you can eat "unlimited amounts of fat and protein."

Quite so -- Atkins says to "eat until you are satisfied or full", a very different statement. There is no diet in which you can stuff yourself with food.

I've been on this diet since mid-May and have lost 33 pounds. To me, the best thing about it is that I'm almost never hungry. If you're not hungry, you don't obsess about food and it's a lot easier to stay on your diet. Moreover, I just had some blood work done and my good cholesterol is up and bad is down, even though I've had bacon and eggs for breakfast every day for the last three months!

Atkins is the best diet I've ever found.

[Rudder]

Most dietary regimes favored by the mainstream medical community are not well-founded in scientific research. e.g., don't eat cholesterol, they say.

Does dietary ingestion of cholesterol disproportionately raise blood levels of cholesterol? No.

The main source of your body's cholesterol? Your liver--it makes the stuff.

Is cholesterol bad? Ask your nervous system--it uses it for the essential myelin sheath that insulates nerves. Or, ask your gonads and adrenal cortex which use cholesterol as the forerunner of all steroidal hormones.

IMHO, most of the dietary adivce from the medical establishment is little more than faddy.

[Core_Conservative]

Try switching to real butter, it has noo carbs and tastes so much better (and it's natural) - just my thoughts.

[cowtowney]

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

I do. I'll weigh less.

[workerbee]

My sister has started a modified Atkins plan and I'm curious to see how she'll do. The numbers I see here are impressive -- but I wonder how a carboholic like me could ever survive the first day! LOL.

[Trust but Verify]

It is clear from this passage that the Atkins people were regainingweight by the end of one year. That is the flaw that I see in this 'diet'. If you have to stick with it for the rest of your life in order to keep the pounds off, most people just aren't going to do that. The people I know who have done Atkins have lost weight. Substantially and quickly, but then once they start moving away from the diet, they put it all back on again.