Posted on 05/21/2003 2:20:12 PM PDT by Johnny Gage
Two Studies Vindicate Atkins Diet
May 21, 2003 4:00 pm US/Central (AP) A month after Dr. Robert C. Atkins' death, his much-ridiculed diet has received its most powerful scientific support yet: two studies in one of medicine's most distinguished journals show it really does help people lose weight faster without raising their cholesterol.
The research, in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, found that people on the high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet lose twice as much weight over six months as those on the standard low-fat diet recommended by most major health organizations.
However, one of the studies found that the Atkins dieters regain much of the weight by the end of one year.
Atkins, who died April 17 at age 72 after falling and hitting his head on an icy sidewalk, lived to see several shorter studies that found, to researchers' great surprise, that his diet is effective and healthy in the short run.
Although those reports have been presented at medical conferences, none until now has been published in a top-tier journal. And one of the studies in the journal lasted a year, making it the longest one yet.
"For the last 20 years that I've been helping people lose weight, I've been trashing the Atkins diet -- without any real data to rely on," said Dr. Michael Hamilton, an obesity researcher who was not part of either study. "Now we have some data to give us some guidance."
Now, he said, he would neither trash it nor endorse it. "I'm going to say I don't know. The evidence isn't in," he said.
One study ran six months and was conducted by the Veterans Affairs Department; the yearlong study was led by Gary D. Foster, who runs the weight-loss program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Atkins' diet books have sold 15 million copies since the first one was published in 1972. From the start, doctors branded the Atkins diet foolish and dangerous, warning that the large amounts of beef and fat would lead to sky-high cholesterol levels. In both studies, the Atkins dieters generally had better levels of "good" cholesterol and triglycerides, or fats in the blood. There was no difference in "bad" cholesterol or blood pressure. Dr. Frederick F. Samaha of the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center, who led the VA study, said both studies indicate that people do lose more weight on Atkins, "but the difference is not great."
The 132 men and women in the VA study started out weighing an average of 286 pounds. After six months, those on the Atkins diet had lost an average of 12.8 pounds, those on the low-fat diet 4.2.
The other study involved 63 participants who weighed an average of 217 pounds at the start. After six months, the Atkins group lost 15.4 pounds, the group on the standard diet 7.
But at the end of a year, the Atkins dieters had regained about a third of the weight. Their net loss averaged 9.7 pounds. The low-fat dieters had regained about one-fifth of the weight, for a net loss of 5.5 pounds.
The year-end difference was not big enough to tell whether it was caused by the diets, Foster said.
About 40 percent of the patients dropped out of each study. And while supporters of the Atkins diet say it is easier to stick with, people on the Atkins regimen were just as likely to drop out as people on the standard diets.
The important finding, Foster said, is that the Atkins diet appears to be a healthy short-term way to lose weight. Nobody has studied it long enough to tell whether it is a healthy way to maintain that loss, he said.
Collette Heimowitz, director of education and research at Atkins Health and Medical Information Services, said people there were not surprised by the weight loss and improved cholesterol.
"But I'm thrilled that serious researchers are taking a hard look at the program, so that health care professionals and physicians would find comfort in offering Atkins as an alternative to the one-size-fits-all hypothesis of low-fat, low-calorie," she said.
The studies did not convince Kathleen Zelman, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.
"There's never been any denying that low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets such as Atkins do, absolutely, cause weight loss," she said. "But do they hold up over time and can you stay on them over time?"
From Foster's study, it does not look like it, she said.
are you a diabetic?
Thanks I was afraid without an carbs maybe the blood sugar would get to low.
Beer aggravates it!
Get Alluperine (spelling?)from your Doc.
I have lost and gained back about 150 pounds over the years by the Atkins Diet just can't seem to be able to add those small amount s of carbs back without falling completely off the wagon!
I am going to give it a go again!
Maybe JimRob would be willing to make a forum for Atkins diet here at Freep?
My gout improves with diet if I drink enough water and get the weight down.
I have learned that I must keep some sort of sweets in the house, or I'll eat other things to make up for not being able to feed my cravings. Hard candies last longer and do not have as many calories as chocolate bars. At work, when I feel a craving, I go down to the vending machines, look long and hard at every item in them, think of how fattening everything is, then go back up to my desk. It's two flights of stairs each way, so I even get some exercise.
One thing I have learned about weight loss is that you really have to find what works for you. For instance, all the diet articles say to not skip meals, to have frequent small snacks or you will feel hungry and pig out. For me, that is not the case at all. I cannot snack. I eat two meals a day. I do not diet. I eat any food I want, just not a lot of it. I've lost 70 pounds.
It would be interesting to know how these people would have fared on any other kind of diet. Those who want the "quick fix" of a rapid weight loss without changing their long-term eating habits will inevitably regain much or most of their weight when they go back to eating indiscriminately. "Yo-yo" dieting is a way of life for many folks.
Mr. Otta has now been on Atkins for five months and has lost 30 pounds.
And you wonder why those of us who have had such success with his program get pissed off at you?
Dogmatic scientists piss me off. Take note dogmatic evolutionists.
I'm looking forward to the major food companies jumping on the band wagon and low-carb foods flooding the supermarkets. The dam has broken. Now how do I go about buying stock in Splenda?
Exactly right.
On average, the typical American adult eats 150 lbs. of sugar per year. That's right, POUNDS. 1/2 lb. per DAY. 200 years ago, the average American ate 10 lbs. of sugar per year.
I think this might have something to do with the obesity problem in this country...
Get a scale that measures percentage body fat as well as weight. My weight loss has plateaued but my waist keeps shrinking and my body fat percentage keeps declining. My percentage body fat is down to 19.5%, in the "fit" range for a guy my age. Atkins talks about this in his book. Fat is less dense than protein/muscle. So you can lose fat and not lose weight or even lose fat and gain weight.
Also, don't forget that Atkins boosts energy tremendously, and eliminates the energy swings associated with changes in blood sugar.
No it's not.
Large Italian grandmothers eat a lot of spaghetti, hint, hint.
Hint: read the article and learn what those of us on the Atkins program have known for a long time. Going on the plan improves your cholesterol numbers.
It's been done. (0-3 effective carbs anyway) Try hard candies for diabetics. Very good. Atkins' Endulge bars are very good as are his Advantage bars. For ice cream, try Blue Bunny brand available at Walmart supercenters. Excellent!
I've been doing Atkins since Sunday, and I'm down 12.8 pounds already. It's a little eerie, if you ask me. Like I just pressed a "lose weight" (that's "loose wait" in FReepSpeak) button.
Has anybody noticed slower healing while they are on Atkins? I know some people who have been on the diet, and they have had problems recovering from surgery, and the like. I also noticed that my wife, who is on the diet for a few weeks, got a bruise on her forearm that has not gone away after a week.
Does anybody out there have experience slow healing on Atkins?
I'm with you. I know a woman on a modified Atkins type diet who's lost something like that in four weeks.
Maybe the key word is "avereage." I mean, you know the one about the statistician who drowned, wading across a river with an "average depth" of four feet?
Dan
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.