Chewing over Atkins

No diet has aroused as much criticism among its detractors and yet its supporters swear by it

No diet has aroused as much criticism among its detractors and yet its supporters swear by it. Sylvia Thompson steers a way through Atkins mania.

The Atkins Diet has become both the most popular and the most highly criticised diet of our times. And with books such as the Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution (which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide) still on bestseller lists in Ireland and Britain, there seems no end to this particular "diet craze".

Yet, such is the level of debate about the merits of the Atkins Nutritional Approach (as they now call it), that even the post-mortem reports following the death of Dr Robert Atkins last year were hotly contended - with some triumphant claims that he died of a diet-related heart attack with others adamant that his death was due to cardiomyopathy - a long-term heart condition which leads to fluid retention and bloating.

So why does the Atkins Diet cause such controversy? And why does it seem like the population is divided into those who are totally for it and those who are totally opposed to it?

READ MORE

The biggest issue with the Atkins Diet is that much of the advice on what foods to eat and not to eat is so different from established nutritional advice on dieting. The Atkins Diet advocates a high-protein and high-fat diet with extreme limits on carbohydrate intake while the standard advice for losing weight is a low-fat, moderate protein and high-carbohydrate diet.

Dr Atkins, a cardiologist by training, argued that the low-fat craze significantly lowered the percentage of fat in the American diet but simultaneously resulted in a massive increase in carbohydrate consumption - the majority of which are refined carbohydrates in the form of sugar and flour.

In his book, the Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution, he claims manufacturers add sugar to make low-fat products taste good. He also argues that the US Food Guide Pyramid's recommendations have directly contributed to the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes because diets high in sugar and other refined carbohydrates radically raise blood glucose levels which increase the body's production of insulin which in turn sets off a process to absorb sugar for energy use, the surplus of which is converted into body fat.

So the Atkins Diet aims to stop the consequences of the over-production of insulin by starving the body of foods which produce glucose for energy, i.e. carbohydrates, and instead offering the body a diet of protein and fat-rich foods. The theory is that in the absence of glucose-producing foods, the body then uses stored body fat as its energy source.

The biggest attraction of the Atkins Diet is that would-be dieters can continue to eat a lot of the food they already enjoy eating. And the "trick" seems to be that a high-protein diet leaves dieters feeling full and therefore they eat less between meals and are less likely to eat the foods that aren't allowed.

Businessman Emmet Kelly (34) lost about 11 kilos on the Atkins Diet. "I found over time that I was eating a lot of bread, chips or crisps at lunchtime with very little protein and in the evenings we were eating a lot of pasta and rice dishes. But once I switched to eating more protein foods (such as bacon and sausages for breakfast, slices of ham for lunch and fish or meat dish for dinner), I found I was less hungry."

"Now that I've lost weight, my morale is better and I've started exercising. I had never dieted before and I thought the Atkins was a trick but now I feel that the critics of the Atkins Diet don't mention morale. If you feel better, you'll exercise."

Alison Russell (39) has been on the Atkins Diet for a year and has lost about 49 kilos in that time. "My husband started on it too but he couldn't do without fruit. He craved oranges. During the summer I added in things like raspberries and blueberries but I'm still on the Induction Phase [the other three phases are Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance and Lifetime Maintenance] because I want to loss some more weight.

"I think if you're very disciplined and dedicated, you can follow the Atkins programme but if you cheat, you will put yourself in danger."

Ms Russell has been in contact with her doctor throughout the year and has been in good health. Apart from taking a Vitamin C supplement for colds, she does not take the nutritional supplements recommended by Dr Atkins.

"Previous to this, I went on the Jenny Craig diet - a high-carb, low-fat diet. I lost weight very successfully on it but once I stopped purchasing the prepackaged food for the diet, I gradually put the weight back on. Now, I can cook bacon for breakfast, steak for dinner and take cooked chicken and hard-boiled eggs in mayonnaise to work for lunch. I don't feel deprived but I did find it very difficult to give up bread in the beginning."

Critics of the Atkins Diet point to side effects including constipation, halitosis, fatigue and headaches. They also suggest that because fat intake is often increased, changes in blood rapids may raise the risk of coronary heart disease. There is also a concern that high protein intake of the diet may put an extra strain on the kidneys. However, as yet, there have been no long-term studies to prove the Attains Diet is dangerous. And a recent BBC2 Horizons programme seemed to solve the paradox of Atkins. It concluded that although the Atkins Diet allowed people to eat a healthy quota of fat and protein, they actually eat as few calories as people on low-fat diets.

Perhaps the biggest lesson to learn from all of this is that we should take care to eat enough protein in our diets which may then help us not to bulk out our meals with too much carbohydrate foods - especially of the refined variety. Perhaps the middle ground should involve holding off on the low-carb bars and hoping the US trend of low carbohydrate restaurants doesn't catch on here.

And those who want to cherrypick the best of Atkins could concentrate on buying good quality protein foods, lots of fruit and vegetables and eating less white bread, pasta and rice.

Now, there is evidence that this really would make a difference.