whatever happened to the Atkins diet?

Factual Questions
1

It used to be big ,big news.

A couple of years ago, I visited the USA and was shocked at how widespread Atkisn was. Diet fads come and go, but this one seemed different. Atkins was everywhere. Not just in the glossy womens magazines. Supermarket products listed their carbs and Atkins-compatibility. Restaurants had special menus for it, from cheap (Burger King wrapped in lettuce --ugh!) to fancy dining. It seemed to have widespread commercial backing, presumably because it was profitable.

So what happened?
Personal anecdotes welcomed…

2

It’s harder than you might think to stay on a very low carb regimen for a long time. It’s boring and I, personally, didn’t feel very good. (I didn’t do Atkins, but at that time the first stage of South Beach was similarly strict, and also restricted saturated fat.) There were also a few studies published that suggested it wasn’t especially effective in the long term. Also, competing diets like South Beach captured some of the attention.

3

Plus the good doctor died in 2003. So the main spokesperson was gone.

4

Yeah, there’s something about maintaining one’s body in a continual state of ketosis that tends to put one off after a while…

5

I heard that it wasn’t really that good for you.

6

I don’t think the Atkins products sold that well. I think the diet is still fairly popular from people I talk to. As a matter of fact I was at my doctor yesterday and commented to him about the weight he lost and he told me he’s on Atkins.

Everyone has to pick what works for them. Based on what I normally eat, Atkins was very easy for me to follow. But I’m not a huge bread or pasta eater. If you are, probably a low fat diet or a modified diet like South Beach is better for you.

Here’s a recent study about Atkins
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/LIFE11/703270341/1006/LIFE

7

It’s still around - I am currently following it. It’s much nicer to follow now than when I had previously done it. People just sort of leave you alone and don’t get in your face about it anymore - or rather, you don’t run into too many idiots doing it wrong and failing and telling you what to do anymore.

The products are still around too. In fact, the products seem to get more “face time” than the method itself, it seems, since Dr. Atkins died. You could definitely feel a shift in the company from “spreading the bad word about carbs” to “selling our products.”

You also see a lot more diets nowadays that stress lower carbs. A lot of it is exactly the same as what Atkins wanted, just minus his early phases that have very limited carb intake.

8

The marketers have moved from “low carbs” to “zero trans fat”.

9

[post=6136918]You heard correctly.[/post]

Stranger

10

It’s not disappeared, and it wasn’t a a fad, just a return to traditional dieting and a move away from the high-carb, low-fat stuff that was peddled so much in the 1980s as a “solution” to weight problems. There is nothing new about low-carb - quite the reverse.

11

No, we didn’t “hear that correctly”. That link is to a post by you where you mention your own opinions. No study I have found links any health problems to a Low-Carb diet.
http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/abstract/140/10/778
*and insulin sensitivity.

Results: By 1 year, mean (±SD) weight change for persons on the low-carbohydrate diet was –5.1 ± 8.7 kg compared with –3.1 ± 8.4 kg for persons on the conventional diet. Differences between groups were not significant (–1.9 kg [95% CI, –4.9 to 1.0 kg]; P = 0.20). For persons on the low-carbohydrate diet, triglyceride levels decreased more (P = 0.044) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels decreased less (P = 0.025). As seen in the small group of persons with diabetes (n = 54) and after adjustment for covariates, hemoglobin A1c levels improved more for persons on the low-carbohydrate diet. These more favorable metabolic responses to a low-carbohydrate diet remained significant after adjustment for weight loss differences. Changes in other lipids or insulin sensitivity did not differ between groups.

Limitations: These findings are limited by a high dropout rate (34%) and by suboptimal dietary adherence of the enrolled persons.

Conclusion: Participants on a low-carbohydrate diet had more favorable overall outcomes at 1 year than did those on a conventional diet. Weight loss was similar between groups, but effects on atherogenic dyslipidemia and glycemic control were still more favorable with a low-carbohydrate diet after adjustment for differences in weight loss.
*"

http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0022347602402065

http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/summary/140/10/769
"*What are the implications of the study?

Low-carbohydrate diets seem to be effective and relatively safe. However, people on this diet must be monitored for harmful elevations of bad cholesterol."
*

*Conclusions There is insufficient evidence to make recommendations for or against the use of low-carbohydrate diets, particularly among participants older than age 50 years, for use longer than 90 days, or for diets of 20 g/d or less of carbohydrates. Among the published studies, participant weight loss while using low-carbohydrate diets was principally associated with decreased caloric intake and increased diet duration but not with reduced carbohydrate content.
*

http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/89/6/2717
These data suggest that energy restriction achieved by a very LC diet is equally effective as a LF diet strategy for weight loss and decreasing body fat in overweight and obese adults.

http://jama.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/293/1/43
Conclusions Each popular diet modestly reduced body weight and several cardiac risk factors at 1 year. Overall dietary adherence rates were low, although increased adherence was associated with greater weight loss and cardiac risk factor reductions for each diet group.

I could not find a single article in a legit medical journal that cited any sorts of special high risks for a Low-Carb diet.

My personal opinion- and yours- is worthless here. The cites speak for themselves.

12

Wow, I didn’t know it was a hot button topic here. Since you plan your own menu, it could be as unhealthy or healthy as you wanted it to be. I didn’t gorge on fats.

Here was my normal Atkins menu-

Breakfast-Scram. eggs w/canadian bacon

Lunch - Chef Salad or salad with chicken

Dinner - Broiled chicken/ meat, salad & veg.
Snacks I had sugar free jello. I don’t eat a lot of red meat so I stuck to chicken or turkey. I liked that you could eat as much as you wanted until you were full and the diet allowed cheese and regular salad dressing and not diet. It wasn’t complicated. Also half and half or cream in your coffee.

I also wanted to add that I didn’t have a large amount of weight to lose, 20lbs or so. I didn’t lose quickly, but it wasn’t hard to stay on.

Maybe long term it is unhealthy.

13

Well, for one, it was the “winner” in a very recent, pretty decent quality piece of research appearing in JAMA (with the study question being: Of the Atkins, Zone, LEARN, or Ornish diets, is one superior in terms of weight loss and effect on cholesterol?)

14

The latest test was exactly as Atkins predicted. Lower blood pressure ,lower cholesterol and more weight loss. It has proven itself in endless tests but is not logical. Eating all the meat and eggs seems counterintuitive. It simply proves we are in the dark ages in weight loss… We refuse to believe the evidence no matter how often it comes out that way.

15

However that was only a 12-month test.

DrDeth Right there in your own quotes, your first study says

From the third:

From the fourth:

Not exactly ringing endorsements and still no real major long-term studies. I think I’ll just stick with keeping to decent portion sizes and exercising.

16

Never said it was 100% proven safe and effective. But still-No study I have found links any health problems to a Low-Carb diet.

17

Yet. Remember hormone therapy? Anyway, I long ago got out of the habit of eating meat/grease/fat/blechy stuff and I don’t even enjoy it for the most part. And I have to say I feel way better than I did when I ate that stuff.

18

Yes, “yet” :rolleyes: but “so far” they haven’t found hardly any health problems with a Vegan diet either. Or the Mediterranian diet. There are many diets which did show early signs of problems, that one with lots of watermelon for example.

How you felt on *your *change of diet is meaningful only to you. Nor does “feeling way better” nessesarily mean “healthier”. Do you need a list of fatal conditions where the patient still felt just fine?

My chol = 177, HDL 67, LDL 98, last complete physical which my job makes me get every two years. And, I am pushing 50.

So with that many studies out there and no problems, it’s very doubtful any common serious problems with suddenly appear. It’s as safe as just about anything. Of course, you could be the one dude in a million with weird liver functions and it goes bad for you, sure. Which is why they always say to consult your MD before starting any diet.

19

Goody. This is GQ.

The links posted were in response to the post saying the diet was unhealthy.

According to the JAMA

"After 12 months, participants following the Atkins-type diet had significantly greater weight loss than those adhering to the other diets. Secondary outcomes, such as lipid profile, blood pressure, fasting glucose, and insulin levels, “were comparable with or more favorable than the other diet groups,” according to investigators. "

The diet has been out since the 1960’s and I don’t think there’s been a diet as studied and debated as much as Atkins. Again the JAMA in 2007 says it’s safe.

20

Mine last year: HDL 81 LDL 83 :smiley: