Atkins diet 'unhealthy in long term'

By Melissa Marino

Health and Science

January 11, 2004

link to article

Nutritionists are stepping up their warnings against low-carbohydrate diets before an expected marketing push of the Atkins diet in Australia.

Despite advice that low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets can cause health problems in both the long and short term, sales of Atkins products are booming in the handful of outlets that currently stocks them.

Enthusiasm for the 32-year-old diet is as strong as ever in established markets, helped by a strong internet profile, celebrity association and the lure of rapid weight loss.

It is estimated that 30 million people in the United States have adopted low-carbohydrate diets, of which the Atkins model is the most stringent and the most popular.

In Australia, Steven Hines, the managing director of the GNC Livewell chain, said he could barely keep up with demand for Atkins food products. Sales had increased by 400 per cent in the past six months.

Health concerns about the Atkins and other low carbohydrate diets have been renewed with the publication of a two-year study by Deakin University. Co-author Tim Crowe said very low-carb diets would result in rapid weight loss but there were continued concerns about health risks.

In the short term, diet followers could suffer poor concentration, low energy, dehydration, constipation and bad breath. In the long term the risks were more serious if foods that helped protect against cancer, osteoporosis and heart disease were excluded from the diet.

"Fruit, a lot of grains, cereal and even vegetables are the bad guys because they've got carbohydrates in them," Dr Crowe said. "If you cut them out for long enough then you will almost definitely get health problems."

Dr Crowe said the heart and brain preferred to run on carbohydrates and if you cut down on them, the body would use alternative fuel generated by fats. "It's like your body runs on premium (fuel) but you have to run it on diesel," he said.

The Atkins diet was devised by the late Dr Robert Atkins. His 1972 book Dr Atkins' Diet Revolution sold 15 million copies and his philosophy enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s with an updated book, Dr Atkins' New Diet Revolution, which sold more than 10 million copies and spent five years on The New York Times bestseller list. Celebrities including Jennifer Aniston and Geri Halliwell have been linked to the Atkins diet.

Stuart Trager, chairman of the Atkins Physicians Council, said the diet had been misrepresented as a high-fat diet when it advocated the controlled intake of carbohydrates to sustain a healthy weight. Dr Trager said the Atkins diet was safe in both the short and long term.

Manny Noakes, chairman of the nutrition and metabolism advisory committee for the Heart Foundation and a senior dietitian with the CSIRO, said the Heart Foundation did not recommend the Atkins diet be followed for a sustained period. People with cardiovascular problems should not follow the diet.

A recent Federal Government report showed the resurgence of low-carb diets, together with more Australians skipping breakfast, could impede the growth of the baking industry.

- with Miranda Wood

Dr Crowe said the heart and brain preferred to run on carbohydrates

Cardiocytes run on stearic acid (a saturated fatty acid) above all else (95% o5r more)...I'd suggest that good doctor to pick up a biochemistry textbook.

Personally, I think he's got this backwards. During mankind's developmental history, we spent the vast majority of our time running our brains on ketones and protein (not carbs) is credited with our developing larger brains.
Our bodies are lazy when it comes down to it and will take the easiest way out whenever possible. In other words, the brain seems to prefer glucose for fuel simply because it is the easiest source to get, but when only ketone bodies are available it will just as happily use those without any impairment in fuction once the body adjusts to the new fuel source.



Oops! Anybody but me think that this just may be the whole motivation behind this article???

I think the body "prefers" to eliminate toxic substances first - that's why it burns alcohol, then sugar, then fat, then protein, because of the decreasing toxicity of that list.

That actually makes alot of sense:

1) Alcohol
2) Dietary Carbs (By Glycemic Index)
3) Stored Carbs (Liver Glycogen)
4) Dietary Fat & Dietary Protein
5) Body Fat & Dietary Protein
6) Body Fat & Stored Protein (Muscle)

#1 is Alcohol Burning
#2 & #3 are Glucose Burning
#4 & #5 are Fat Burning
#6 is Starvation

#6 is Starvation and we should really never be in such a state. #5 is the Ideal State for weight loss. #4 is the Ideal state for Weight Maintnance. #3 is an acceptable state for Highly Athletic Individuals [during events.] #2 and especially #1 are unhealthy states that we should definitely be in for long periods of time.

Hello.....did Dr Crowe read the book?

WooHoo! I've graduated to chicken legs.....

<<Health concerns about the Atkins and other low carbohydrate diets have been renewed with the publication of a two-year study by Deakin University. Co-author Tim Crowe said very low-carb diets would result in rapid weight loss but there were continued concerns about health risks. >>

Good news after all. A 2 year study found NO health risks just rapid weight loss.
The concerns that they had before the study continue.
That is what it says !! Plain simple English, with a little spin.
danny

Since I started low carbing I eat far more fruit and vegetables than ever before. In fact most days I didn't eat any at all, I do eat more calcium rich veg and take a suppliment for that and multi vitimen but only because of the reports that many veg don't have much in way of vitimens any more. As for skipping breakfast I don't usually do that any more.I

"Health concerns about the Atkins and other low carbohydrate diets have been renewed with the publication of a two-year study by Deakin University. Co-author Tim Crowe said very low-carb diets would result in rapid weight loss but there were continued concerns about health risks."


Does anyone know if this study is on the internet? I did a google search and only found news articles referencing it. Based on some quotes in the articles, I doubt if the study was scientific. An example: "Of particular concern to Shane and Tim was the death of a 16-year-old girl in the UK, which the coroner report stated was the result of a low-carb diet." Shane and Tim are the coauthors of the study.

Here is a related article that focuses more on Dr. Crowe.

Fad diets that can starve you to death

By Peta Rasdien

link to article

IT IS just a matter of time before an Australian dies from the controversial low- carbohydrate, high-protein diets sweeping the world, a comprehensive study of the fashionable weight-loss programs has found.

Research by Deakin University dietician and lecturer Tim Crowe found the popular diets pushed the body into starvation mode, affecting the way the heart beats.

Dr Crowe's study is the most thorough research done of the diets in Australia and comes as the owners of one of the most popular examples, the Atkins Diet, prepare to launch their branded food products in this country.

The move has alarmed local health groups, who believe the diets contradict many of the basic eating guidelines outlined in recent years.

The United States-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has begun an internet campaign against the diet because of the potential risks.

The committee has set up an on-line registry for people who have experienced problems while on the diet, at www.atkinsdietalert.org.

Dr Crowe said there had been three sudden deaths linked to the regime in the US in the past year. A further 60 sudden deaths have occurred in morbidly obese people on doctor-supervised, extremely low-calorie, low-carbohydrate diets.

Dr Crowe has analysed more than 100 studies worldwide of low-carbohydrate diets and their side-effects.

He said the only thorough study of long-term, extreme low-carbohydrate dieting focused on epileptic children who were put on low-carbohydrate diets in order to reduce brain seizures.

The study found children exhibited high cholesterol, irregular heart beat and osteoporosis which Dr Crowe believed could indicate similar problems in otherwise healthy adults on the diet. Dr Crowe said he spoke to one man who had a history of heart problems and had to go off the diet because he was experiencing heart palpitations.

Others had complained of feeling run down and lethargic.

"It is probably only a matter of time (before there is a death in Australia)," Dr Crowe said. "(But) for true evidence of the harm we would need a cluster of people exhibiting the same problems following similar diets and getting similar problems."

Dr Crowe's analysis found there was little benefit from going on the Atkins or any other strict low- carbohydrate diet.

While the diet did help people lose three to four kilograms in the first week, this consisted mainly of water and following the initial weight loss there was no difference in weight-loss rates to any other calorie-controlled, low-fat diet.

"There are no major advantages and there are quite a few disadvantages that we know such as constipation, dehydration and so the list goes on with possible longer term side effects and risks," Dr Crowe said.

"Why bother . . . particularly when it is cutting out a lot of foods in your diet; fruit, vegetables, a lot of grains cereals; they are all pretty good foods as far as I am concerned that people should be eating."

Of course they starved!! hello!!

Oh yes the calories have nothing to do with it. We won't feed these people, call it low carb, and show it's dangerous

How many morbidly obese people die suddenly on lowfat diets? How many morbidly obese people die suddenly not dieting? How many morbidly obese people already have heart irregularities before they start a diet?

Do some real research, Dr. Crowe, then ring me up when you've published it.

Three deaths in the U.S., in a population of tens of millions of low carb dieters? Well, it's time to join Weight Watchers. What a complete fraud this guy is.

AMEN!

I'm eating more calories than I did on a low-fat diet and am down 10 pounds with more energy, better skin, healthier hair, and a serious loss of cellulite than I ever had eating fewer calories.