AR-News: (US-az)'Jury's still out' on Atkins

[Animalconcerns]

[from Arizona Republic]

For more than 30 years, the Atkins Diet has been going against the grain,
recommending high-protein foods that often are associated with various
ills, from colon cancer to heart disease.

That hasn't stopped millions of Americans from bellying up to the Atkins
bar, which was bolstered late last year when two short-term studies showed
the diet to be healthier than anyone expected.

But doctors, nutritionists and other experts are not certain of the
long-term health effects. Nor do they all agree with findings that
indicate Atkins may be as good for you as it is effective.
...
People should not interpret last year's studies as proof that Atkins is
safe and healthful, although that is likely just what dieters are doing,
said Dr. George Blackburn, director of the Center for the Study of
Nutrition Medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard
University.
...
In a six-month study involving 132 severely obese men and women,
researchers at the Philadelphia Veteran Affairs Medical Center last year
found those on a restricted-carbohydrate diet not only lost more weight
than those on a conventional diet, but also had reduced levels of
triglycerides, which contribute to heart disease.

In a similar yearlong study finished last year by Dr. Gary Foster at the
University of Pennsylvania, those on the Atkins Diet lost the same amount
of weight as those on a reduced-fat diet, but experienced lower
triglyceride levels as well as an increase in HDL, the "good" cholesterol.

Foster said he was surprised when his study found the Atkins Diet did not
increase cholesterol, given the proven perils of fatty food. And he was
shocked by the increased levels of HDL.
...
Not all doctors and nutritionists have been swayed by Foster's earlier
study, the results of which were published in November in the New England
Journal of Medicine.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which promotes a
vegetarian diet, issued a warning about Atkins and other high-protein,
low-carb diets, saying risks of long-term use include colorectal cancer,
heart disease, osteoporosis and impaired kidney function. Dr. Carol
Johnston, a professor of nutrition at Arizona State University who has
published two studies on the reduced-carb Zone Diet, said the Foster study
was fatally flawed, invalidating its "questionable" results.

The biggest problem, Johnston said, was that participants were not
rigorously monitored, allowing them to cheat on the diets. Her suspicion
was borne out when Johnston, who analyzed Foster's study, found that 40
percent of the Atkins dieters were not in ketosis, a condition in which
the body burns fat because there are no energy stores supplied by
carbohydrates. Atkins depends on ketosis for weight loss.
...
Reach the reporter at (602) 444-8773.

full story:
http://www.azcentral.com/health/diet/articles/0224atkinshealth-ON.html

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