Regards, Ivan
Posted on 06/28/2004 3:46:13 PM PDT by MadIvan
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 typically consist of about 35 per cent protein — more than twice the proportion recommended by mainstream nutritionists. This shrinks to about 25 per cent for long-term Atkins users, but the researchers said that even this is too much for would-be mothers, who should stick to 20 per cent.
David Gardner, scientific director of the Colorado Centre for Reproductive Medicine, who led the mouse research, said: “These findings, together with work carried out in cows, mean that it would be prudent to advise couples who are trying to conceive, either naturally or via assisted reproduction therapy, to ensure that the woman’s protein intake is less than 20 per cent.”
Atkins Nutritionals, the American company behind the diet, said the findings did not prove that it affects fertility. “The study subjects were mice, which are herbivores,” a spokesman said. “Whether or not these findings or effects would apply to humans, who are omnivores, is unknown.”High protein consumption is thought to affect conception and embryo development because of the way food is broken down by the liver. Ammonium is released into the blood, which is known to have negative consequences for the womb and reproductive tract.
In the study, which Dr Gardner presented yesterday at the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology conference in Berlin, his team fed female mice a diet containing 14 per cent or 25 per cent protein. The mice were mated, and their embryos removed. Some were examined for markers of genetic development, while others were transferred to the wombs of mice on a normal diet. While 85 per cent of the embryos from low-protein mice were implanted and developed into foetuses, only 65 per cent of those from the high-protein mice did so. Of those embryos that implanted, 1 per cent miscarried among low-protein mice, compared with 16 per cent of the high-protein group. The high-protein mice were more likely to produce embryos with genetic abnormalities.
Dr Gardner said some caution was needed before extrapolating the results to humans, as they could deal with higher protein levels. But there probably exists a “protein threshold” of between 20 and 30 per cent. “Mice and cows are more herbivorous than we are, and humans are able to metabolise higher amounts of protein.” Any adverse effects of Atkins-type diets are likely to be restricted to women trying to conceive, rather than those who are pregnant.There is no evidence that high-protein regimes have a lasting effect on female fertility.
THE DIET AND THE DOCTORS
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Thanks, Ivan!
Another natural birth control measure? Or more scaremongering propoganda.
It's the latter. The success of Atkins has provoked those with vested interests in the old diet regimes (carbohydrates).
Oh dear. This won't sit well with the bacon-ators ;).
I don't "do" Atkins simply because it's better for me to do the low-fat diet. health issue. Besides, I can't not eat pasta. It's in my genes.
Yea Yea Yea .. years ago, they said the same thing about drinking coffee
I've got three kids to prove otherwise
Mmm me too. On the coffee, not the 3 kids. We have 2 :)
More bogus scare tactics on the Atkins diet from the people on the left. I don't get what the lefties are so afraid of with Atkins. On one hand they portray middle America as dumb and stupid, but then when they start losing weight, they can't stand that either.
Has the Atkins diet spread across the pond, or are they just adding fuel to the American left's Atkins hatred?
Regards, Ivan
I don't believe it one bit having read many first hand reports of people having fertilty problems finally getting pregnant after going on Aktins. They can manipulate studies all they want, but it won't change the truth.
High-protein diets are harmful to doctor's bottom lines...
Erm, any doctor will tell you that you shouldn't be dieting while trying to conceive anyway. Dieting and weight loss introduce physiological changes into the body that hamper conception no matter WHICH diet you're on, and diet stress in the mother can lead to miscarriage or developmental problems.
Talking on your cell phones + eating bacon = no babies.
Except when they finish the diet and are no longer obese they substantially increase their chances of pregnancy by being more attractive to opposite sex.
Don't make me give up my bagel!
I am not sure they properly understand the Atkins diet. If I am not mistaken, Atkins actually advises eating the proper amount of protein for one's body size. He limits carbohrdrates to an individual's tolerance, and suggests leafy green above ground veggies.
He suggests that the remaining calories be fats, but good fats like olive oil, not hydrogenated chemical mfgr. fats.
Too many people bash the diet without understanding it, really.
I don't get what the lefties are so afraid of with Atkins.
The leftists who hate Atkins are radical vegans. They can't stand the idea that there is no scientific proof that eating meat (protein) is unhealthy, so they make up lies and false studies.
It makes sense, only the article dosen't mention it. When the body goes into ketosis, it "thinks" its starving, even though you just ate a dozen eggs and a pound of bacon!
There may be a mechanism triggered by ketone bodies in the blood that makes it more difficult for a woman to get pregnant. A "starving" woman is not a viable vessel for conception.
Carbs are our friends. Well, in moderation.:)
Except that the "caveman" and "cavewoman" ate a diet very high in protein, since there weren't any processed carbs around.
They managed to get us all here.
Yep, and the Eskimoes are still around.
these clowns have had 30 years to cut down this diet and they haven't been able to touch it. time only make the atkins diet look healthier and healthier.
the big conglomerates are *TERRIFIED* about what is going to happen when the public finds out what corn syrup has been doing to their bodies for the past thirty years -- the obesity problem in the US is just one of the side effects...
Some women who have more than 20 lbs to lose are not ovulating, a process necessary to get pregnant. So if they lose the weight on Atkins, and then ovulate wouldn't they still get pregnant providing they return to normal diet?
I still take exception to these studies, because everyone was told not to eat eggs they caused high cholesterol. Now the 22% they said was harmful has been downgraded to very low amount and eggs are a great source of protein.
Next, we were told for years to eat margarine with all those triglycerides, and butter was bad for us. I never bought it, because God made natural products and man made substitutes. NOW they say butter is better.
IMHO, I will eat what God provided through cows, chickens and pigs and with my ancestors living to ages beyond 90 yrs of age, it shows that common sense and a godly lifestyle have more to do with health and long life than manmade products or man's studies.
Thanks for info though, your posts are great.
Show me the eclair!
Maybe they did. Maybe they also ate complex carbs between hunts.
It only takes an ounce or two of carbs to stay out of ketosis.
I've done Atkins pretty much on and off since he came out with it, way back.
You really have to follow it to the letter, with the test strips, vitamin supplements, and seeing that you keep your system flushed from the protein strain.
I understand that Eskimos are the only people on Earth able to synthesize Vitamin C from fats, like housecats!
Update:
"What about the Eskimos? Most animals, except humans, make their own vitamin C and it's possible to get enough vitamin C to sustain you from fresh meat, especially liver. The word "eskimo" means raw flesh eaters."
There are a lot of people doing maintenance, as oppossed to trying to actively lose weight, although they'd fall into the category of being on the Atkin's diet. The term diet can describe a way of eating without meaning weight loss. This makes studies and articles like this grossly misleading. Also, there are a lot of people on the diet actively trying to loose weight that don't use the test strips. If one understands the diet and knows how to do it properly, the strips aren't necessary.
Anti-Atkins Akbar to you!
I love pasta, too - and now I can have it on my highly successful Atkins Diet plan:
I saw the new lo-carb pasta in the store... how does it taste? I've heard mixed reviews. Great and so-so... none say it stinks - but it's pasta, so how can it?
hey... Your tagline isn't Atkins friendly! :op
They managed to get us all here.
And they lived to the ripe old age of 30!
"Carbs are our friends. Well, in moderation.:)"
Yes, carbs can be our friends...oatmeal, fresh fruits and vegetables....processed foods, sugar, white flour not so friendly.
eclaire? We call them eggclaire in Yonkers?
It wasn't the diet that got 'em.
It was the mastodons, and the giant skeeters, and critters in the water.
Oh, and bad liquor.
That makes sense --- plus when you plan to breed horses or cows, you start by fattening them up not by putting them on any kind of diet. Weight loss isn't good when trying to get pregnant.
I worked with a woman who couldn't conceive after two years of trying --- her OB-GYN told her to gain 10 pounds --- no fertility drugs --- and it worked.
The thing is like with oatmeal, most people don't realize that there is a big difference between, steel cut or pinhead oats, rolled oats and instant oatmeal. The instant stuff, aside from usually being filled with sweeteners, is very easy to digest because it has almost no fiber. That means that it is going to hit your bloodstream in a rush what you can't use at that moment will become fat and you will get hungry again.
The pinhead oats are full of fiber that digest slowly. You get a longer burn time. You have more time to use the calories and you do not get hungry as quickly.
Exeactly, real, oatmeal, the type you cook on the stove *steel cut", Irish oatmeal are excellent for breakfast and help cut cholestrol too.
Not to mention they taste soooo good! Man, I love that stuff. I grew up hating oatmeal because Mom always used the quick stuff (better than instant, but not much), with lots of water. It was slimy, bland, and left you feeling starved half an hour later.
But I really, really like the steel cut kind. I make a couple days' worth at once so I can just heat it up instead of waiting for it to cook - it does take a long time.
Good things come to those who wait.
Cook it in a crockpot. It is hot and ready for you when you get up in the morning. I generally have oats on Sunday morning, flaxseed waffles on Saturday and eggs the rest of the week.
The Dreramfields pasta id delicious - jusy watch out not to eat too much!
They managed to get us all here.
And they lived to the ripe old age of 30!"
No dentistry had a heck of a lot to do with that!
It strikes me that it's a definite certainty that being morbidly obese, as some of my friends and acquaintences on Atkins used to be, is most assuradely NOT healthy.
In 1973 when I had my son I had gained 30-35 lbs, and Atkins had just come out, I lost all of it. Then there were the scares and outcries that it was dangerous so I did not use it again, until recently.
Of course for years I did not need a diet until 1990 when I had to quit running and doing situps. Now I have to lose some, and Atkins is my first choice. I knew from 1973 that it works, and I felt great on it.
In 1973 when I had my son I had gained 30-35 lbs, and Atkins had just come out, I lost all of it. Then there were the scares and outcries that it was dangerous so I did not use it again, until recently.
Of course for years I did not need a diet until 1990 when I had to quit running and doing situps. Now I have to lose some, and Atkins is my first choice. I knew from 1973 that it works, and I felt great on it.
I have gone on the Atkins diet twice.
BOTH times, I got pregnant -- Patrick is now 3 and little Jack is 1.
Been on the South Beach and I lost 81 pounds since having baby Jack.
Now that I know the Atkins is causing these pregnancies....I'm stickin' with South Beach! ;)
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