Longest scientific study yet backs Atkins diet

[Monique]

from http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99995003"

Stern's year-long study (Annals of Internal Medicine, vol 140, p778) was twice the length of any previous study. Half the patients followed the Atkins regime, limiting daily carbohydrate intake to just 30 grams. The rest tried losing weight through a conventional low-fat diet much richer in carbohydrates.

By the end, both groups had lost about the same amount of weight, between five and eight kilograms for the Atkins group and three and eight kilos for the low fat group. But the Atkins dieters lost almost all their weight in the first six months, then remained at a steady weight.

"But what we really need is a study showing whether people on the low-carbohydrate diet for years have different odds of heart attacks, strokes and diabetes," she says.

Although broadly supportive of the Atkins regime, Yancy warns that the diet could pose risks including the higher "bad" cholesterol, bone loss and kidney stones. Because of this, he discourages first-time dieters from using the regime.

 

[adrenaline]

Still does not have the long term data like pritikin's diet. There is no doubt you lose weight fast (i recommend it for those who need to lose weight fast for surgery). my main concern is... does it prevent the diseases as welll as other established diets (mediterranean, pritikins etc. )? as it implied? In addition, they are consuming foods that have high carcinogenic potential. (less greens, more nitrates etc.) I think atkins will be vindicated for short term weight loss, but not sure about long term.

 

[Monique]

Is it true that people on Atkins diet go into ketosis, that doesn't sound very healthy to me.. I also wonder what happens if they resume a regular diet, has the body set itself to the carbohydrate deficiency? It would seem so since a steady weight is reached after 6 mo of dieting.

So what is the pritkin's diet? Does anyone know the epidemiology of when being overweight has been a problem historically? I'm sure this is not the first time we're dealing with this, but the overabundance and overprocessed nature of the food definitely is to blame, together with the automatization and industry.

 

[selfAdjoint]

Yes, the very low carb diet does induce ketosis, and it is dangerous. Some of the Atkins sites I have seen recommend just tuoghing it out. They say the ketosis goes away after your body adapts to the diet. I notice a news story that Atkins produces bad breath. That of course is a symptom of ketosis.

 

[Njorl]

The people I've known who have done the diet have done it for short term only. They switch to a new diet when they reach the weight they want. Actually, they shoot for a lower weight, knowing that the transition to the new diet will put a few pounds on. All of them saw doctors regularly, and scheduled an appointment specifically after entering ketosis.

I tried the diet for a brief period. I found the appetite reduction incredible, but I got kidney stones right away. I was drinking 2 gallons of water a day and still got kidney stones! Argh!

Njorl

 

[adrenaline]

Njorl you bring up a good point. If a person is predisposed to gout, kidney stones they are not a good candidate for atkins due to the higher purine intake (for gout) and the relative dehydration that occurs with the high protien diet. In addition, high rates of gallstone attacks seen with this diet.

 

[Moonbear]

I think the current version of the Atkin's diet is a revision of the original version, and allows a little more carbohydrates into the diet. I'm not a fan of the diet. It does produce short-term weight loss, but such rapid weight loss doesn't seem healthy or sustainable. Everyone I've known who has done the Atkin's diet regained all the weight once they stopped. I really think the effectiveness is due to the caloric restriction more than anything else, and probably because a lot of the carbohydrates people consume in a modern diet are from refined flours and sugars, not whole grains. I lost 15 lbs since January (and now am at a healthy weight that I've been maintaining quite well) just by cutting out foods made with white, processed flours, white rice, or with lots of sugar (colas, fruit drinks, and those 300 calorie coffee drinks from Starbucks) and switched to whole grain breads (I'm not a fan of bread anyway, and the whole grain ones have so much more flavor, so this was easy), wild rice instead of white rice, more natural juices without added sugars (or the low-sugar ones when available), and when I have to have pasta because I don't feel like cooking anything else for dinner, I stick with ones like elbows that I can easily use a half cup measure to only cook one portion. Oh, and I added breakfast to my diet. Yes, it does help to add a meal! I just had toast with a slice of cheese on it, and that would get my metabolism going in the morning, plus kept me from being as voracious by lunch time, so I could curb my appetite better then. It all worked very well and I really haven't changed that much other than to get rid of a lot of hidden sugars that I didn't need.