October 17, 2004

Medical students taught about risks of the Atkins diet
Joanne Robertson

DOCTORS will be taught to warn patients of the dangers of the Atkins diet in the wake of studies claiming that the weight-loss programme could pose a risk to health.
The course, the first of its kind in Britain, will be introduced next year at St Andrews University.


Second-year medical students will be told to warn patients suffering from diabetes or kidney problems that the low-carbohydrate diet could put their health at risk.

Followers of the weight-loss programme, devised by Dr Robert Atkins, are encouraged to cut their intake of carbohydrates but eat as much meat, butter, fat and dairy products as they like. It is estimated that 3m people in Britain follow the diet, whose devotees include the actresses Jennifer Aniston and Renée Zellweger. More than 45m copies of the Atkins diet books have been sold worldwide.

However, a number of scientific studies have raised doubts about the safety of the weight-loss programme. Recent research has suggested that the diet can lead to dangerous side effects in the long term. Other studies have claimed that it can cause fertility problems and kidney damage.

Earlier this year an American follower of the diet sued the Atkins estate for $28,000, claiming the eating plan had caused his cholesterol levels to reach dangerous levels.

Dr Margaret Ritchie, a teaching fellow and research fellow at St Andrews University’s Bute medical school, said she had organised the course to equip GPs to deal with the growing interest in weight-loss programmes.

The aims of the course include alerting “students to the dangers and potential side effects of slimming programmes such as the Atkins diet”.

Ritchie said: “This is an issue which medical students will find they are going to come across. People are using slimming products and doctors are going to come across patients who will ask them, ‘I’m going to start on this diet. What do you think?’” “As far as I’m aware this is the first course of this kind in Scotland and the UK. Slimming is big business and we are trying to educate students to the fact that this is going on.”

The course will be run by Dr Annette Hudson, who has a background in sports nutrition and was a consultant for SlimFast, a slimming product company.

“Atkins is the most extreme diet that is around at the moment,” she said. “It’s high protein and could increase blood pressure and increase pressure on the kidneys.

“Diabetics have to control how much carbohydrate they’re taking. They need to have a maximum but they also have to have a minimum or their blood-sugar level will go all over the place. Any diabetic should go and see their GP before going on any diet.”

Despite her concerns about the Atkins eating plan, Hudson insisted that the rival SlimFast programme was “a good approach”. The rising popularity of the Atkins diet has led to a £140m slump in sales of SlimFast products, made by Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch consumer giant.

The course has been condemned as “scare-mongering” by Atkins UK.

Dr Sarah Brewer, medical adviser for Atkins UK, said: “The Atkins Nutritional Approach (ANA) is not a fad — it has been going for over 30 years and it is estimated that around 50m people are following the ANA worldwide.

“It is a scientifically validated, lifetime nutritional philosophy based on controlling carbohydrates, not cutting out carbohydrates.

“It offers a healthy, balanced eating programme based on nutrient-dense whole foods and regular exercise. There is no convincing clinical evidence to suggest that it has any adverse effects on health.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/articl...1313929,00.html