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WOMEN on the Atkins diet while trying to have children may substantially reduce their chances of conceiving, scientists said yesterday. High-protein diets such as the controversial low-carbohydrate regime can significantly lower pregnancy rates and disrupt the genetic development of embryos, according to research on mice and cows. It is not certain that the results apply to humans, but fertility experts said that women seeking to become pregnant would be ill-advised to eat as much protein as Atkins devotees consume. The diet allows followers to eat as much protein and fat as they like. In its “induction” and “weight-loss” phases, menus...

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A businessman has sued the promoters of the Atkins Diet, saying the low-carb, high-fat meal plan clogged his arteries and nearly killed him. Jody Gorran, 53, said Thursday that he was seduced "with a bacon-wrapped cheeseburger" to blindly follow the Atkins Diet, which also made his cholesterol soar to a risky level. The lawsuit, filed with the aid of the Washington-based advocacy group Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, seeks less than $15,000. The suit also names the estate of the diet's late creator, Dr. Robert Atkins. Atkins Nutritionals said it stands by the science...

53-year-old man sued the estate of Dr. Robert C. Atkins and the company that promotes his diet yesterday. The suit says following the Atkins diet for two years raised the man's cholesterol so much that his arteries became clogged and required a medical procedure to open them. The suit is apparently the first to involve the diet, the most prominent and controversial low-carbohydrate regimen and the one most associated with assertions that followers could eat all the red meat and saturated fat they wanted and still lose weight. The plaintiff, Jody Gorran, who is being assisted by the Physicians Committee...

Longest scientific study yet backs Atkins diet 12:21 18 May 04 The claimed benefits of the controversial low-carbohydrate Atkins diet have been reaffirmed in two new studies, one of which is the longest study to date. "I think it's good news for Atkins dieters," says Linda Stern, who led the first study of 132 obese patients at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Philadelphia, US. The diet was devised by the late US doctor Robert Atkins. To lose weight, devotees avoid carbohydrates and consume more protein and fat instead. Both new studies found that subjects on the Atkins diet shed...