I saw the following headline on the front cover of the latest edition of Top Sante (one of the UK's top-selling health and beauty magazines - according to them, it is THE best-selling
):
THE REPORT YOU HAVE TO READ
HOW THE FAT-BURNING ATKINS DIET CAN RUIN YOUR LOOKS
I'm sure you can understand that it raised my hackles immediately
So, I ended up buying the magazine as I wanted to see what misconceptions etc they would write about. Unfortunately, there is not a web based version of the article, but I have typed it here in full:
Will the Atkins Diet Give You Wrinkles?
Sally Janes
Top Sante Magazine – November 2003 edition - UK
It’s well-known the Atkins diet can have nasty side effects, from constipation to bad breath. But did you know a low-carb, high protein diet could also age you beyond your words?
This is the diet celebrities turn to when they’re going through a weight crisis. If there’s a movie role to slim for or a baby bulge to shift, nothing drops the dress sizes as fast as the Atkins diet. But while Atkins devotees Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Catherine Zeta Jones and Renee Zellweger may look great in their 30s, in a few years time a strict diet could take its toll on their faces.
Gorgeous Jen has recently been spotted leaving a Beverly Hills dermatologist’s clinic. Could it be that the star is already developing fine lines or sagging skin? If so, she’d be wise to take a good look at her nutrition and reconsider her low-carb diet plan.
The diet’s guru, American cardiologist Dr Robert Atkins, who died last April aged 72, devised the plan in the Seventies. Since then, its estimated up to 50 million people worldwide have read Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution. And a poll for ITV’s Tonight with Trevor McDonald in September revealed that three million Brits are now following the diet.
What’s it all about?
The Atkins diet is relatively simple. Carbohydrates are kept to a minimum and bread, pasta, rice, cereals and starchy veg such as potatoes are banned. Atkins dieters fill up on protein-rich foods like eggs, fish, cheese and meat.
The diet comes in 4 stages. The first, ‘the induction period’, is the most drastic. It usually lasts for two weeks and dieters are allowed no more than 20g of carbohydrates a day. The next stage is ‘ongoing weight loss’ and every week dieters increase their daily carbohydrate intake by 5g until they reach the maximum level they can whilst still losing weight. The final two stages are ‘pre-maintenance’ and ‘lifetime maintenance’, where you’ll consume between 25g and 90g of carbohydrates a day.
However, this is much less than the levels recommended by the Department of Health, which suggests 50% of your diet should come from carbohydrates. So, a weight-maintenance diet of 2,000 calories per day for the average woman would mean a daily intake of around 260g carbohydrates.
The Atkins theory is that if carbohydrates are restricted, the body burns fat, as its main source of energy, resulting in dramatic weight loss. According to the Atkins Center in New York, carbohydrates overstimulate the production of insulin, leading to hunger and weight gain. But excluding carbs without careful planning could mean cutting out a wide range of fruit and veg that are proven to fight the ageing process and guard against heart disease and cancer.
Holding back the years
It’s no surprise that those on the Atkins diet suffer from constipation, as limiting fruit and veg reduces fibre intake. But it can also restrict intake of essential vitamins and minerals. Anti-ageing expert Leslie Kenton (author of Skin Revolution – Vermilion £9.99) believes that cutting down fruit and vegetable intake is worrying. “We need a diet rich in vitamins and minerals as they contain phytonutrients and antioxidants that fight disease as well as delaying the ageing process,” she says. “You’ll get many more nutrients from fresh fruit and veg than from supplements.”
It’s the antioxidant vitamins A, C and E, found in many fruits and vegetables that combat ‘free radicals’. These are molecules caused by smoking, sun exposure and environmental pollutants which, in excess, lead to damage to DNA and the body’s cell walls, accelerating the ageing process. “Without antioxidants these molecules cause real damage, ” explains Kenton. “Skin appears almost greenish/greyish. It ages rapidly.”
Leading nutritionists are concerned that the popularity of high fat/low carb diets will undo decades of healthy advice.
“Phytonutrients are most effective when they interact with each other. That’s why it’s important to eat a variety of fruit and veg,” says Dr Frankie Phillips, nutrition scientist at the British Nutrition Foundation.
Defending Atkins
Colette Heimowitz, director of education and research at the Atkins Health & Medical Information Center, says, “It’s a total misconception that the Atkins diet doesn’t contain adequate veg and fruit. In the strictest phase of Atkins – induction – the carbohydrate intake is mainly from vegetables. There’s no question they’re cancer-protective, but sugar intake and obesity will shorten your lifespan and age you more than anything else.”
But it’s not all doom and gloom. The induction period can be restrictive but after that you should be able to include enough fruit and vegetables in your diet as you gradually increase your intake of carbohydrates.
Having read the article, I do feel that they are still addressing the misconceptions rather than the facts, but was pleased to see that at least they were talking about all stages of Atkins, rather than just induction. It was also good to see that they had taken some time to contact the Atkins Center to find out more about it.
However, one thing that did have me seething, was their portrail of Leslie Kenton as supposedly Anti-Atkins - this is totally amazing as Leslie herself has written a low carb book called The X Factor (I myself reviewed the plan here back in February last year:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthread.php?t=34121) and is a total convert to to low carbing after many years of vegetarianism and juicing - her research convinced her that a low carb woe was the way to stay healthy and young.
I was also angry that they had used such a sensational headline on the front of the magazine - but I suppose sensational headlines sell magazines (and newspapers)
- well, I bought it, didn't I, because of that! - and although it wasn't pro-pro-Atkins, it turned out to be a lot less anti than most of the articles that have appeared recently in the British press
- which IMHO can only be a good thing
How the fat-burning ATKINS DIET can ruin your looks
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