Posted on 04/17/2007 2:03:10 PM PDT by freedomdefender
The beleaguered Atkins diet may get a breath of life from a new study that suggests the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet regime leads to more effective weight loss with fewer negative health effects than three other weight loss strategies.
The study, which pits the Atkins diet against the Zone, Ornish and LEARN diets, appears in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).
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But the findings could be too little too late for the popular diet, which at one time changed the way Americans ate.
Proponents of Atkins say the study is only the latest piece of evidence testifying to the effectiveness of a diet that cuts carbs to a minimum.
"Clearly, this study shows that controlling carbohydrates is as or more effective than the low-fat, low-calorie approaches we've seen in the past," says Dr. Stuart Trager, author of "The All-New Atkins Advantage: 12 Weeks to a New Body, a New You, a New Life."
"The proof is now in the pudding," says Dr. Fred Pescatore, former medical director of the Atkins Center and best-selling author of "The Hamptons Diet," a guide on another low-carb regime.
"These findings are consistent with over a dozen papers in the past five years demonstrating the beneficial effects of carbohydrate restriction," says Dr. Eric Westman, associate professor of medicine and director of the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at Duke University Medical Center. "I think low-carbohydrate diets should be first-line therapy for weight loss."
But will the new research be enough to save Atkins — or even restore it to its former lead position in the pack of new diet regimes? Many diet experts say no.
"Health is not measured as the combination of several cardiac risk markers and weight over the course of a year," says Dr. David Katz, director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine. "If it were, every patient getting chemotherapy would be 'healthy.'"
"Some heart indicators were better, but what about the mountains of evidence about high consumption of fruits and vegetables to promote overall health?" says Keith-Thomas Ayoob, associate professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine's department of pediatrics in Bronx, N.Y.
The JAMA study suggests that women on the Atkins diet not only lose more weight than those on the other diets studied, but that these women also maintain better cholesterol profiles and blood pressure levels.
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But Dr. Dean Ornish, creator of the Ornish diet and president of the Preventive Medicine Research Institute in San Francisco, says the conclusions from these findings are misguided.
"This is simply not true," he says. "If you read the study carefully, you will find that the authors reported that there was no significant difference in weight loss between the Atkins and Ornish or LEARN diets after one year.
"This directly contradicts their primary conclusion."
Other experts say the fact that the study only features results for up to one year makes such conclusions premature at best.
"The weight loss with Atkins maxed out after six months and really started regaining then, and somewhat faster than with the other diets," Ayoob says. "It would be interesting to see if, by 18 months or so, everything evened out."
"The public may not realize that keeping weight off for one year is no indication of permanence," says Carla Wolper of the Obesity Research Center at St. Luke's Hospital in New York City.
"It may be that more than two years of weight stability are required before one can feel safe with weight loss achieved."
And some say the shortcomings of the research reach beyond simple weight loss. In particular, there's a belief that the study downplays the wide spectrum of factors that contribute to heart health.
"Numbers don't lie, but they don't tell the whole story — by a mile," says Jackie Newgent, instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education in New York City. "There are more than just a couple numbers that determine your overall health. And as cholesterol numbers and blood pressure levels improve, it doesn't mean other heart-health indicators improve."
Since heart concerns have remained at the center of the debate over low-carb diets since their inception, the study may do little to silence critics with these concerns.
In recent years, the Atkins diet has also found itself surrounded by a lean, mean pack of other diet regimens, most with their own best-selling books.
Related: Questions About Breast Cancer? Ask National Experts.
Michael Roizen and Mehmet Oz's "You: On a Diet," one of the more recent wunderkinds of the growing diet genre, is now enjoying its 17th week on The New York Times best-seller list.
Other diets, low-carb and otherwise, likewise flood bookstore shelves — a phenomenon that threatens to lead to diet-reader fatigue as the choices become ever more diverse and, in many cases, complex.
So, what's a dieter to do?
In short, losing weight and keeping it off may be more a function of adopting an overall healthier lifestyle — and less about cutting whole classes of foods out of your diet.
"This is the message of this article — focus on lifestyle and environmental factors and don't worry about the macronutrient composition of the diet, particularly if you can achieve the NHLBI guidelines of a 5 to 10 percent weight loss," says Dr. George Blackburn, chair in nutrition medicine at Harvard Medical School. "I think that was my message for the past 20 years."
"A healthy diet is the same as it ever was," Katz says. "Focus on health, and the long term, and your weight will take care of itself."
"It's not about demonizing whole food groups," Ayoob says. "It's about how much and how often, and learning to strike a balance between what we know we need, and what we don't want to live without."
And for diet book authors on both sides of the debate, an armistice in the "diet wars" would be a positive outcome by any measure.
"I'm tired of these diet wars," Ornish says. "It's not low-fat versus low-carb. It's both. An optimal diet is low in total fat and low in refined carbohydrates, emphasizing whole foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains."
"The future needs to be about getting away from this 'beauty pageant' mentality of what diet is best," Trager says. "It needs to be about incorporating the best practices of each approach to make lifestyle changes more achievable and improve adherence."
actually, there is only one danger: - You're going to be beset with inane comments like this one, which was invented by the disease industry.
“Actually, it is the very most natural, healthy way of eating. It’s just not compatible with restaurant junk.”
IMO, the best way to lose weight is to limit restaurant eating (way too many carbs and fats). This from someone who was once in the business.
Only problem with Atkins is that you have to severely restrict your booze intake (carbs). Instead, I stopped eating desserts. A man has got to know his limitations (and his priorities).
Don’t you love those geniuses?
“I’m so depressed, I could just die.”
“Well, just cheer up!”
“I think my marriage is collapsing.”
“You two need to get along with each other!”
“My family’s near bankruptcy.”
“Dude, you need more money!”
Geniuses.
Lost 18 pounds by not eating white sugar or white flour products and started movin’.
You stole the words straight from my mouth! A billion dollar industry is wrapped around the simple fact of EAT LESS!
It' amazing that intelligent people cannot figure that OBVIOUS fact out for themselves.
“Low carb milk?”
You can actually buy such a thing. Only it costs twice as much as regular milk. Plain, unsweetened, soy milk is low carb also.
Yes, but soy milk is probably the biggest threat to health that money can buy. Soy products (not sauce, which is fermented) contain phytoestrogen, which is our #1 carcinogen at this time. It causes breast cancer, and prostate cancer, and evidence is pouring in that it is also the culpret in Pancreatic cancer.
“soy milk is probably the biggest threat”
Moderation in all things. (except maybe pizza!) :)
I respect your opinion, but I disagree. As for restaurant food, it would help so many people if they would stop eating out or at the very least be wise about what they order. We live in Alaska and rarely eat at restaurants. When we have to go to town for supplies is when we do eat at a restaurant. It's 200 miles to "town". :)
I didn't know that! Our son and DIL got on a soy milk kick this last year and they keep trying to talk me into drinking that instead of my usual no-fat milk. I'm a Wisconsin dairy girl at heart (born and raised there), and I love my milk.
I highly recommend Atkins to those who are significantly overweight.
I helped me lose 70 lbs in 2 1/2 months.
It has been my experience that Atkins folks are very loyal to their diets.
That's cool. I did get them to concede to a few of my points the last time around but they countered with "Well, not everyone is as active as you."
Oh well, to each their own.
Arioch7
There is low carb milk in special places at stores.
I have one carb.
I'm getting ready to get on Atkins, it worked for me in the past, although I seriesly "fell off the wagon" when I started drinking beer again... Not that namby-pamby low carb stuff, but the sort of beers you have to chew: Namely stouts and porters, with an ale thrown in for good measure.
However, once I was done with the induction stage (the most severe part of the diet, which gets your body into ketosis) - BTW, when most people mis-assume about the diet is that you stay in the induction stage. You don't, your only there for about 2 weeks... I used to snack quite a bit on veggies: Mostly cauliflower and broccoli, some celery too. No carrots... Their glycemic index is too high. A typical lunch at work was a can or two of tuna fish, with some champagne vinegar, a salad (w/ blue cheese dressing), and maybe some cheese crisps that I'd make (simply fry up some parmasean and romano cheese in some olive oil). If I was "on the road," Hardees makes a low carb thick burger, or I might hit McDonalds for a couple of .99 double cheese burgers, and just eat the meat, along wiht the salad.
For dinner, another salad, and some sort of meat... I'd only eat red meat about 4 times a week. The rest of the time, either chicken or fish. Or maybe a spinache and mushroom omlette. If I was in the mood for potatos, I'd mash up some cauliflowr with butter, sourcream, cheese, chives and bacon. Tastes just like a twice baked potato. Occassinally, I'd have some brussel sprouts. Lots of spinach. But then, I LOVE spinach.
And when I really wanted a treat, I'd make myself some garlic crusted boneless chickenbreast, with Alfredo sauce. YUM!!!!
Frankly, I was eating healthier than I ever had in my life.
Mark
Actually not. But I am glad it worked for you.
Thanks. LOL I don’t care if people I don’t know want to use the Atkins diet, but I sure wouldn’t encourage those I love to do so. I find it ironic that some people who couldn’t find it in themselves to change their bad eating habits before, can find the willpower to do so if someone touts a miracle diet in front of them. They ignore all risks to their overall health in their attempts to lose weight.
One bit of advice that everyone should be able to agree on is that it is very wise to speak with your doctor before leaping into one of the many diet fads that are out there.
BTW, I do not believe that my suggestion to research a diet plan and consult with your doctor should be considered an “inane comment”.
Actually yes, unless you’re so overweight you simply cannot excercise (which would be WELL beyond 15 pounds) if works well. In fact you have it exactly reversed, it’s the last 10 to 20 pounds that are a bitch to lose through eating less and excercising more. If you’re 50 or 60 pounds over weight just adding 20 minutes worth of moving around a day for a couple of weeks will knock off a good 5 pounds, it’s when you start having less spare fat to burn that it gets harder.
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