Atkins diet - interesting article

[Guest guest]

Anne Wigmore ate tons of cheese (about 5 lbs a week ) and seitan as well. My

husband used to wrap it up for her (he and another friend were the only ones

she trusted) in a plain brown paper bag and someone would pick it up for her

weekly. My husband used to manage Erewhon natural food store in Boston in the

70's.

He has quite a few tales like that to tell with these so called fanatic gurus

who don't practice what they preach LOL!

Elainie

[Guest guest]

btw, what did Atkins die of?

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/22/1066631499123.html

The Burning Question

October 23, 2003

Yet another study has shown that the Atkins diet works. But even the scientist

in charge is baffled about why the low-carb regime reduces fat more effectively

than conventional low-calorie, low-fat eating plans, s reports.

An academic nutritionist at the University of Cincinnati, Dr Bonnie Brehm, is at

the cutting edge of research into the biggest question to hit her field in

decades: does the Atkins diet work?

Most nutritionists faced with the torrent of anecdotal evidence for its

effectiveness have simply parroted the mantra that more research is needed,

while muttering darkly about possible long-term health effects.

Brehm and her colleagues, in contrast, have spent the past few years actually

doing the research and will unveil their findings at the American Dietetic

Association's annual meeting next week.

They have been studying the effectiveness of the Atkins diet in trials involving

people classed as clinically obese, implying a weight of more than 92 kilograms

(14 stone) in a person 175 centimetres (5 foot, 9 inches) tall. The latest

results are in - and they appear to vindicate the late Dr Atkins, whose

diet books have sold 15 million copies over 30 years.

According to Brehm, those following Atkins's low-carbohydrate diet for four

months achieved twice the weight loss of those on a conventional

calorie-controlled, low-fat diet. Furthermore, the team found no evidence of

harmful effects from following the diet - at least during the study.

These results are in line with those found in similar small studies now starting

to emerge. As well as backing the claims made for the Atkins diet, these latest

results seem to further undermine standard nutritional advice about the need to

focus on cutting fat and calories.

They are something of an embarrassment to Brehm, whose research is funded by the

American Heart Association, which has long advocated calorie-controlled, low-fat

diets.

As a scientist, Brehm puts unearthing the truth above pleasing her paymasters -

but it is this that causes most concern. She is having problems explaining her

findings - and in the increasingly vociferous debate over the Atkins diet, that

may well land her in trouble at next week's meeting.

The scientific world is becoming increasingly polarised over the diet, with

researchers such as Brehm being given a tough time over their apparent support

for what some scientists regard as the nutritional equivalent of crystal

therapy. At the heart of the controversy is the science behind the Atkins diet -

first published 30 years ago - and whether it is really anything more than a

collection of buzzwords.

Conventional wisdom dictates that calories are the key to weight loss, and so

those who lose weight must simply be consuming fewer calories than they burn up.

Yet, according to Brehm, the obese people who lost weight on the Atkins diet ate

and burned up essentially the same number of calories as those on the standard

diet. What was very different was the proportion of body fat shed by each group,

which mirrored their percentage weight loss. On the face of it, this backs the

central claim of the Atkins diet: that a low-carb diet turns the body into a

fat-burning machine.

To trigger this effect, Atkins dieters are instructed to begin by eliminating

all carbohydrates from their diet, forcing their bodies to get energy by burning

up fat reserves instead. The result is supposed to be weight loss, plus the

production of compounds known as ketones; the higher the level of " ketosis " , the

more fat is being burnt.

That's the theory. Yet studies of the patients in Brehm's trial failed to reveal

a connection between ketosis and fat loss. " We didn't see any correlation - all

of our expectations were confounded, " she says. " I'm hoping someone in the

audience might have some answers. "

Brehm is confident that there is a reasonable, if not simple, explanation for

her findings: " In the end, the energy in has got to match the energy out. "

Even more baffling is why there are still such enormous gaps in knowledge about

how humans respond to diet. The past 20 years have seen obesity reach record

levels in the developed world. This has led scientists to concede that the

standard advice on nutrition and healthy eating has been an abject failure - yet

the Atkins diet is still dismissed as a " fad " by the British Dietetic

Association, with leading nutritionists insisting that there is insufficient

scientific evidence to give it more credence. This lack of evidence has not

deterred many in the medical profession from condemning the diet out of hand.

Last week a poll of British doctors revealed that one in four would advise their

patients to stay fat rather than try the Atkins diet - despite the proven

life-threatening effects of obesity.

Such attitudes might suggest that the scientific world is in the grip of

cognitive dissonance over the Atkins Diet, preferring to ignore whatever

evidence it does not like. Professor Westman, a clinical trials expert at

Duke University in North Carolina, and author of a study of the evidence for and

against the diet, says, " It is making people re-examine dogma - and it's not

always appreciated. "

According to his review, which is due to appear in Current Atherosclerosis

Reports, studies show that the Atkins diet does produce weight loss over six

months, and without obvious health effects. Contrary to the claims of many

nutritionists, there is even evidence that it may be healthier than the standard

diet: despite its promotion of fat and eggs, studies suggest that the diet may

boost levels of the healthy forms of cholesterol.

Westman thinks that this unexpected effect may explain a long-standing mystery

surrounding heart disease. In the late 1980s, researchers began investigating

the unusually low rates of heart attacks and stroke among Eskimo communities in

Greenland. Until now, the explanation was thought to lie in their diet of oily

fish. Yet attempts to reduce heart disease using supplements of fish oil

extracts proved disappointing. Westman says the studies of the Atkins diet point

to another explanation: that the lo-carb diet forced on the Inuit by their

environment gives them higher levels of healthy forms of cholesterol, which are

proven to lower heart disease risk.

Despite this, Westman cautions anyone with a medical condition against rushing

onto a low-carb diet. " The problem is that it works too well, " he explains. " The

diet can cause insulin levels to drop by 50 per cent in one day, so diabetics

could find themselves over-medicated. It's the same for those with high blood

pressure. "

Even so, Westman believes that the results are impressive enough to warrant an

intensive research effort on the Atkins diet: " We're in a period when we will

learn a lot. "

It is not a prospect that thrills the entire nutritional science community.

Westman has been vilified for conducting research with financial support from

the Atkins Foundation - despite the fact that some vocal critics of the diet,

such as Dr Jebb, the head of nutrition at the UK Medical Research Council,

have, in turn, received funding from bodies such as the Flour Advisory Bureau.

Brehm has also run into resistance even over her research funded by the American

Heart Association.

" We had a tough time getting our results published - it took 18 months

altogether, " she says. " The big journals really couldn't handle it. But we're

not endorsing the diet: it's just our results. "

What both sides do agree on is the paucity of scientific evidence on the

long-term benefits and health effects of the Atkins diet. With the world-wide

obesity problem now claiming an estimated 2 million adult lives a year, Brehm

believes that the time has come to commit serious resources to studies of

low-carb diets.

As she says: " We need much more doing - and doing quickly. " This is a sentiment

endorsed by Professor Tom , the director of the Nutrition, Food and

Health Research Centre at King's College, London - and a sceptic regarding the

Atkins diet.

" The evidence is that it's the calorie intake that counts, " says. " But

in the end, diets don't work because people don't follow them. We need

large-scale, randomised and controlled trials of treatments of obesity running

for one to two years. "

Those already embarked on such research suspect that it will take a great deal

to overcome the visceral response the mere mention of Atkins provokes among

academics. Says Brehm: " A lot of people just want to hold on to what they

learned in college. "

The Telegraph, London

[Guest guest]

He took the easy way out and fell on the ice, injuring his head! I'm sure

everyone was waiting to see how he would die. I remember feeling pretty

surprised when the wife of the macrobiotic guy died of cancer. It seems

macrobiotics always talked about how it was the anti-cancer diet. Of course

i don't know if she was macrobiotic too. That was a great article by the

way.

Elaine

> btw, what did Atkins die of?

[Guest guest]

A bit like Ann Wigmore dying of smoke inhalation (she's the wheatgrass, vegan,

raw food woman who founded the Hippocrates Health Centre, she was 84 I think and

reportedly very healthy).

I think all the vegetarians were shocked when McCartney's wife died of

breast cancer too.

So far, Bernard Jensen seems to be the winner, dying in his 90s. I wonder what

Dr died of and at what age?

Well, we'll just have to hold out for Anton now, GO MIKE!!!

Filippa ;-)

Re: Atkins diet - interesting article

He took the easy way out and fell on the ice, injuring his head! I'm sure

everyone was waiting to see how he would die. I remember feeling pretty

surprised when the wife of the macrobiotic guy died of cancer. It seems

macrobiotics always talked about how it was the anti-cancer diet. Of course

i don't know if she was macrobiotic too. That was a great article by the

way.

Elaine

> btw, what did Atkins die of?

[Guest guest]

> Well, we'll just have to hold out for Anton now, GO

MIKE!!!

>

> Filippa ;-)

thanks! i won't let the team down!

mp

[Guest guest]

Wow, that's interesting!! Thanks so much for the inside goss on this one. I

read her books and really wondered about it. I've heard similar stories of

vegan raw foodists who quietly have to consume a steak every month to stave off

anaemia!

Filippa

Re: Atkins diet - interesting article

Anne Wigmore ate tons of cheese (about 5 lbs a week ) and seitan as well. My

husband used to wrap it up for her (he and another friend were the only ones

she trusted) in a plain brown paper bag and someone would pick it up for her

weekly. My husband used to manage Erewhon natural food store in Boston in the

70's.

He has quite a few tales like that to tell with these so called fanatic gurus

who don't practice what they preach LOL!

Elainie

[Guest guest]

tell us some more tales! I feel so much better knowing nobody is perfect.

Elaine

> Anne Wigmore ate tons of cheese (about 5 lbs a week ) and seitan as well. My

> husband used to wrap it up for her (he and another friend were the only ones

> she trusted) in a plain brown paper bag and someone would pick it up for her

> weekly. My husband used to manage Erewhon natural food store in Boston in the

> 70's.

[Guest guest]

>> I feel so much better knowing nobody is perfect. <<

Present company excepted, of course! Right?

Christie

[Guest guest]

yes, the dietary purity of people on this list is a thing to behold. but i

like that people experiment with new things, like the warrior diet.

Elaine

> From: " Christie " <christiekeith@...>

> Reply-

> Date: Wed, 22 Oct 2003 23:07:03 -0700

> < >

> Subject: Re: Atkins diet - interesting article

>

>>> I feel so much better knowing nobody is perfect. <<

>

> Present company excepted, of course! Right?

>

> Christie