ATKINS' FAT LIP
FAMOUS DIET HIKES RISK OF HEART-DISEASE: STUDY
By BILL SANDERSON
Researchers at the University of Maryland put 26 people on three diets - the high-fat Atkins and the low-fat South Beach and Ornish diets.
Eighteen people finished the study, which required each of them to follow one of the diets for a month. All along, doctors checked their cholesterol and the condition of their arteries.
The Atkins Diet raised the study subjects' bad cholesterol by an average of 16 points, and brought on symptoms of hardening of the arteries, a precursor to strokes or heart attacks.
The subjects had better lab tests on the other two diets. The Ornish Diet lowered their bad cholesterol by 25 points, while the South Beach Diet lowered it by 10 points. The conditions of their arteries also improved on both diets.
"It really is the Atkins Diet that is the worst," said Dr. Michael Miller, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.
He was surprised by how quickly the Atkins Diet brought on signs of inflamed arteries, a heart-disease factor.
"Some markers of inflammation were increased by as much as 30 to 40 percent" by the Atkins Diet, Miller said. By contrast, the South Beach and Ornish diets either left the markers of inflamed arteries unchanged, or cut them by 15 to 20 percent.
Atkins Nutritionals - a Long Island company that markets the Atkins Diet - said Miller's study was too small to draw any conclusions.
"More than 30 years of industry research on low-carb diets and four years of studies specifically on the Atkins protocol have demonstrated its safety and efficacy," said Atkins spokeswoman Colette Heimowitz.
Also, Heimowitz said, those following the Atkins plan in Miller's study got about 50 percent of their calories from fat. Dieters who follow the Atkins regimen gradually reduce their fat intake to below 50 percent, she said.
Miller's study had a catch: Nobody was allowed to lose weight. If someone's weight varied by 2.2 pounds or more, their diet was adjusted to bring it back to where they began.
Weight loss improves people's health so much that it can hide the physical impact of what they eat, the study's authors explained. That's why they decided to find out how the diets affected people who did not lose weight.
Atkins dieters may eat as much fat-laden meat, eggs and cheese as they like, but curb their intake of fruits, vegetables and grains. As a result of their limited food choices, Atkins dieters lose weight because they eat fewer calories, researchers say.
But Miller said that most people find the low-carb Atkins Diet so hard to stick with, they soon gain back their weight.
And given that excess weight itself is a risk factor for heart disease, the Atkins plan could pack a double whammy on dieters' health, the study's authors said.
"We don't recommend the Atkins Diet," Miller said. "Why not start out with a diet that will be healthier for you in the long run after weight loss?"
The Ornish plan encourages users to eat a vegetarian diet, with 10 percent of calories from fat. The South Beach program allows a wider variety of foods and keeps fat to about 30 percent of calories. With Post Wire Services
Source: http://www.nypost.com/seven/11072007/news/nationalnews/atkins_fat_lip_206649.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment