Atkins Nutritional Approach: Encyclopedia II - Atkins Nutritional Approach - Criticism

Atkins Nutritional Approach - Criticism

Low-carbohydrate diets have been the subject of heated debate in medical circles for three decades [7]. They are still controversial and only recently has any serious research supported some aspects of Atkins' claims, especially for short-term weight-loss (6 months or less).

But many in the scientific community also raise serious concerns:

• The National Weight Control Registry, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) tracked the habits of successful dieters over a longer term, 10 years. Despite this diet's overwhelming popularity compared to other diets, of the 5,000 Americans confirmed to have lost an average of 70 pounds (32 kg) and able to prove they have kept it off for at least 6 years of the decade of NIH’s data-keeping, less than 1% were confirmed to be Atkins adherents.

• Even in studies only one year long, this diet can fail to produce the greater weight-loss which is claimed to come from factors other than calorie-reduction such as ketosis: It was compared to dieters on Dean Ornish’s diet, Weight Watchers, and The Zone diet for 1 year. The Atkins Diet came last in terms of weight lost at the end of the year. (Dansinger, M.L., Gleason, J. L., Griffith, J.L., et al., "One Year Effectiveness of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone Diets in Decreasing Body Weight and Heart Disease Risk", Presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 12 November 2003 in Orlando, Florida.)

• The May 2004 Annals of Internal Medicine study showed that Atkins Dieters had significantly more diarrhea, general weakness, rashes and muscle cramps. Atkins.com now suggests a fiber supplement.

• Also, acidity from the typically high protein intake can cause Osteoporosis (Feskanich D, Willett WC, Stampfer MJ, Colditz GA. Milk, dietary calcium, and bone fractures in women: a 12-year prospective study. Amer Jrnl Public Health 1997;87:992-7. See also follow-up in February, 2003 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Vol. 77, No. 2, 504-511); this includes 72,000+ people and 18 years of data. Cumming RG, Klineberg RJ. Case-control study of risk factors for hip fractures in the elderly. Amer Jrnl Epidemiology 1994;139:493-503.

With its emphasis on fatty foods, the Atkins diet has generally been considered by most medical and nutritional experts to be unsound. It does not follow the food pyramid, which holds that amounts of carbohydrates, protein and fats (in that order) must be regularly consumed to stay healthy. Some experts have even suggested Atkins' plan is quackery. Among those criticizing the healthiness of his diet, if not also skeptical of the claims of greater weight-loss than other, safer diets, are such organizations as:

a. “...the Atkins diet, as recommended, poses a serious threat to health.” --Chair of the American Medical Association's Council on Food and Nutrition, testimony to Congress

b. "unhealthy and can be dangerous." --C. Everett Koop (Shape Up America! news release, 29 December 2003)

c. "a nightmare of a diet." --Journal of the American Dietetic Association 102 (2002): p.260

d. Also condemned by National Institutes of Health in NIH Publ. No. 94-3700, 1993.

e. Condemned by ACS in American Cancer Society; Weighing In on Low Carb Diets, 2004.

f. Condemned by the American Kidney Fund in American Kidney Fund news release, 25 April 2002.

g. Condemned by American Heart Association in Circulation 104 (2001): p.1869.

h. Condemned by Johns Hopkins in Diabetes 2004. Johns Hopkins University White Paper, 2004

i. Condemned by the American College of Sports Medicine in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 33 (2001): p.2145.

j. Expressing a general sentiment was the conclusion: “runs counter to all the current evidence-based dietary recommendations.” --Journal of the American College of Cardiology 43 (2004): p.725

Opponents of the diet also point out that the initial weight loss upon starting the diet is a phenomenon common with most diets, and is due to reduction in stored glycogen and related water in muscles, not fat loss. They claim that no evidence has surfaced that any diet will cause weight loss unless it reduces food energy below the maintenance level, and reports have indicated that successful weight loss due to the Atkins diet may be the result of less food energy being consumed by the dieter, rather than the lack of carbohydrates. [8] They further point out that weight loss on fad diets, which typically restrict or prohibit certain foods, is often due to the fact that the dieter has less food choices available. Also, a diet of low-carb foods may quickly become dull to many people, meaning that their appetite is somewhat naturally suppressed as they become hungry for carbs, but the dieter either has none handy or resists this hunger.

It is claimed that there is bad breath and fatigue under the Atkins diet: [9], [10], and Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine 68(2001): p.761

On May 27, 2004, Jody Gorran, a 53-year-old Florida businessman with a family history of heart disease, filed a lawsuit against Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. and the estate of Dr. Robert Atkins, claiming that the Atkins diet regimen caused severe heart disease, making it necessary for him to undergo angioplasty. As of 28 May, he has been seeking a court injunction banning Atkins Nutritionals from marketing its products without a warning of potential health risks, and asking for compensatory damages.

Dr. Robert Eckel of the American Heart Association says that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets put people at risk for heart disease. [11]

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which is opposed to the Atkins diet, has noted that in East Asian countries such as Thailand or Japan, the average person's diet consists of mainly carbohydrates such as rice and noodles, yet these groups have very low rates of obesity. The average Asian person is also thinner and slimmer than the average Westerner. This example seems to contradict the Atkin's claim that low-carbohydrate diets help to lose weight.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Criticism", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki