By Suzanne Rostler
NEW YORK, Oct 08 (Reuters Health) - Despite personal anecdotes from everyone from your next-door neighbor to Hollywood celebrities, high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets are no panacea for long-term weight loss, according to a report released Monday by the American Heart Association (AHA).
"It's important for the public to understand that no scientific evidence supports the claim that high-protein diets enable people to maintain their initial weight loss," Dr. Robert H. Eckel, one of the report's authors and a former president of the AHA, said in a prepared statement. "In general, quick weight-loss diets don't work for most people."
The report takes aim at popular diets that promise quick results by eating steak, bacon, fried eggs and other high-protein foods, while cutting back on carbohydrates such as potatoes, pasta, vegetables and fruit. Some of the more well-known diets cited by the AHA include the Atkins diet, the Zone, Protein Power, Sugar Busters and Stillman.
According to the advisory, published in the October 9th issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, many of these diets are loaded with saturated fat and deficient in essential vitamins and minerals. High-fat diets can raise a person's risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, stroke and some forms of cancer.
In some cases, high-protein diets lead to short-term weight loss through a loss of body fluid, since carbohydrates attract water. But they can also cause fatigue and dizziness in the near term since glucose, the form of sugar in carbohydrates, is the body's preferred source of energy.
And in the long run, high-protein diets can lead to ketosis, the body's natural response to starvation that can be induced, to a lesser degree, by eliminating carbohydrates. Ketosis can lead to appetite loss--another way that followers of high-protein diets may shed weight quickly.
Another concern is that high-protein, low-carbohydrate menus are simply too boring to sustain for long periods of time.
"The diets could be sustained long-term, but I think they get boring and/or people get concerned about the foods they have eliminated," Eckel told Reuters Health.
While there is no denying that Americans need to slim down--more than 50% of adults are estimated to be overweight or obese--high-protein diets are not the answer, the report concludes.
The AMA recommends that individuals who want to lose weight and keep it off consume the bulk of their daily calories from carbohydrate-rich foods such as whole wheat cereals, fiber-rich fruits and vegetables, and low-fat dairy products. About 15% of calories should come from lean protein sources such as chicken and fish, and no more than 30% of calories should come from fat, of which saturated fat should account for less than 10%.
This diet may also help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of osteoporosis, liver failure, gout and some forms of cancer, the AHA notes.
SOURCE: Circulation 2001;104:1869-1874.
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