Atkins diet plan feeds food fight
By EILEEN ZAFFIRO, Staff Writer
Last update: 12 July 2004
http://www.news-journalonline.com/N...3HEAL071204.htm
DAYTONA BEACH -- It's become a challenge to go a full day without hearing some Atkins diet disciple brag about his shrinking waistline.
Try getting through a little nighttime television without a commercial about the latest low-carbohydrate thing headed for a grocery store shelf near you.
But something new is rising above the Atkins craze din: doctors and nutrition experts warning about the dangers of pumping the body full of proteins and fats .
Low-carb diets that advocate piling on the animal fat and protein are "increasing the risk of developing cancer, heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes and other chronic diseases," Jeffrey Prince of the American Institute for Cancer Research said in Washington, D.C., late last month.
Other experts have recently chimed in with more dire predictions for those who down mass quantities of bacon, eggs, steak and cheese: trouble becoming pregnant, painful inflammation of the joints, kidney damage, general weakness, accelerated calcium loss, thinning hair, muscle loss, mood swings, headaches and dizzy spells.
"I do not recommend Atkins," said Dr. John Walker, an Ormond Beach cardiologist. "I don't like all the fat."
Some of Walker's patients have tried Atkins because other doctors recommended it, but "they tend to go off it. They don't stay on it," he said.
"I know a couple of doctors who've done it, and they've lost weight, but they're heavy as ever in six months," Walker said.
Walker noted that the American Heart Association has discouraged use of Atkins, and he recommends patients try the lower fat regimen dubbed the South Beach Diet.
Plenty of health specialists continue to battle on the pro-Atkins side of diet wars. They say Atkins users do lose weight quickly, dangerous triglyceride levels can drop, and the healthy HDL cholesterol can increase. Several area dieters who tried Atkins say they're not aware of any harm to their health.
But experts on both sides of the debate agree it's probably going to take more years of low-carb eating to ultimately figure out who's right.
"Ten years ago, I would have said I hate Atkins," said Kim Koevenig, a registered dietitian and the weight management program coordinator at Halifax Medical Center. "Now there's emerging evidence that there's some benefit for some people."
But all the latest diet knowledge Koevenig has gathered still prompts her to steer clients toward balanced diets that include some of the Atkins no-nos: whole grains, fruits and certain vegetables.
Studies have shown low-carb dieters tend to lose weight faster than low-fat dieters in the first six months. But after a year, the low-fat folks catch up, she said.
"There's a big, long-term study going on now with the National Institutes of Health," Koevenig said. "They really don't know the long-term effects yet."
It's going to take some dramatic, scientifically sound evidence to convince Carolyn Dowling that low-carb diets are OK. Dowling, a registered dietitian based in Palm Coast, said she doesn't suggest Atkins to her clients.
Too much protein creates high levels of urea, which can ultimately damage the kidneys and liver, Dowling said.
"If you're healthy and you're young, you might not notice," she said. "There will be wear and tear over time. Also, it just doesn't lay out a good, healthy pattern of eating."
Dowling advocates the official food guide pyramid: whole grains, fruits and vegetables for most calories; low-fat dairy products and lean meats for a smaller amount of daily food; and very limited consumption of alcohol, sauces and sweets.
"Over half of the diet should come from complex carbohydrates," she said. "Your brain and central nervous system rely on those. If there are not enough carbs, your body will go to protein and that's an unclean source of fuel that throws off urea."
Dr. Sanjay Shah oversees the medical condition of patients before and after they undergo gastric-bypass surgery at Halifax Medical Center. At a minimum, he said, "Atkins is a good start for people."
Shah started following the Atkins diet himself about seven years ago, and he still uses something close to it.
"If you're going to do it, you've got to do it for life to keep the weight off," he said.
Two area women who didn't need to lose much weight to begin with said Atkins is a good tool to shed some excess baggage now and then.
Peggy Thompson, a 32-year-old DeLand woman, lost 10 pounds with Atkins earlier this year, but she doesn't foresee becoming a hard-core user.
"If you put carbs back in you'll gain it back," she said.
The diet she follows now combines qualities of Atkins and South Beach.
"I used to be against low-carb because I didn't think my body would function on it," Thompson said. "I'm Italian and I thought I'd go crazy without the bread. The first week I was tired and really craving carbs."
Palm Coast resident Cindy Anderson also lost about 10 pounds on Atkins last year.
"Once the holidays hit, I stopped," the 42-year-old said. "Once you stop conforming to it the weight comes back on."
Anderson ultimately stopped the diet because it turned out to be a tough food plan in a world overflowing with cookies, doughnuts and candy. She's now two pounds heavier than when she started a year ago, and is thinking of trying Atkins again.
G. Michael Harris, a former assistant professor at Bethune-Cookman College who has taught nutrition courses, had huge success with Atkins. He used it to drop from 380 pounds to 205 pounds in 15 months.
"I exercised and I didn't go to extremes with the amounts," the 53-year-old Harris said. "I did a common sense approach and went lean and low starch, more like the South Beach Diet."
Harris believes Atkins is a good alternative for people who lack food discipline and can't or won't exercise.
"Most people can't stick to normal, balanced diets," Harris said. "They can't stick to quantities, and fat tastes good."
Ken Weibling said Atkins rescued him when his doctor told him he wasn't going to see his grandchildren grow up if he didn't lose weight. Like other local Atkins advocates, the 55-year-old Ormond Beach man switched to the South Beach Diet after about six months.
But Atkins still gave him a big jump-start. "I have to keep buying new clothes because they're falling off," Weibling said.
As a lover of all things protein, Atkins and South Beach have been dreams for him.
"Sit me down in front of a 2-pound steak and I'm happy as a clam," he said. "Portion control is not in my vocabulary. I eat until I'm full. I find I can live with this. It suits my lifestyle."
eileen.zaffiro~news-jrnl.com
"Atkins diet plan feeds food fight"
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