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Atkins Beats Other Diet Plans in Study
By LINDSEY TANNER
AP Medical Writer

CHICAGO ? The low-carb, high-fat Atkins diet gets high marks in one of the biggest, longest head-to-head studies of popular weight-loss plans, beating the Zone, the Ornish diet and even U.S. guidelines. Even so, critics say the results show how hard it is to lose weight and keep it off.

Overweight women on the Atkins plan lost more weight over a year than those on the low-carb Zone diet. And they had slightly better blood pressure and cholesterol readings than those on the Zone; the very low-fat, high-carb Ornish diet, and a low-fat, high-carb diet similar to U.S. government guidelines.

Stanford University researcher Christopher Gardner, the lead author, said the study shows that Atkins may be more healthful than critics contend.

But the study isn't a fair comparison because by the end, few women were following any of the diets very strictly, critics argue, although those in the Atkins group came the closest.

The study "had a good concept and incredibly pathetic execution," said Zone diet creator Barry Sears.

"It's a lot easier to follow a diet that tells you to eat bacon and brie than to eat predominantly fruits and vegetables," said Dr. Dean Ornish, creator of the Ornish diet.

Atkins followers lost about 10 pounds on average at 12 months, versus 3.5 pounds for the Zone dieters.

Women on the Ornish diet lost almost 5 pounds on average and those on the national guidelines plan lost almost 6 pounds. Scientifically, those 12-month results weren't different enough from the Atkins weight loss to rule out the possibility the differences occurred by chance.

The dieters lost the most weight early on, including an average of 13 pounds for the Atkins group at six months ? nearly double the closest competitor, the national guidelines diet. After that, most began regaining weight, a trend most noticeable in the Atkins women.

With an average starting weight of about 189 pounds, even losing 13 pounds meant many women remained overweight.

"There's not a ton of weight loss here," Gardner acknowledged. Atkins "isn't the solution for the obesity problem," he said.

The study involved 311 women about 40 years old on average and was designed to measure the effectiveness of using a diet book to lose weight. Women were randomly assigned to read one of four diet books. They attended weekly classes for eight weeks where diet questions were addressed, but then were mostly on their own for the next 10 months.

At the end, Atkins women had slightly higher levels of HDL cholesterol, the good kind, and slightly lower blood pressure than those on the other three diets. Gardner said differences in weight loss likely contributed to those results.

Ornish and other naysayers argued that the study doesn't answer a big question about the Atkins diet ? whether consistently eating all that fatty food long-term leads to health problems.

The study appears in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

The authors said it's uncertain whether the results would apply to men or older women since none were studied.

The study "shows that nothing works very well," said Yale University food policy researcher Kelly Brownell. His book promoting diet and lifestyle changes similar to national guidelines was used in the study.

"To me, it just screams out for the need to prevent obesity," Brownell said.

The results echo a Harvard study published last year involving thousands of women, which also suggested that a low-carb high-fat diet might be more heart-healthy than previously thought, although it relied on women's memories of what they had eaten over two decades.

Also, those who ate fat and carbs from vegetables rather than animal sources had lower heart disease risks in the Harvard study.

Dr. David Katz of the Yale Prevention Research Center and author of several weight control books, said the new study presents little new information and called it "much ado about nothing."

Nurse Jackie Eberstein, whose consulting company promotes the Atkins diet, said the results are not surprising. Protein makes people feel less hungry and fat helps them feel more full, which makes weight loss easier on Atkins, she said.

Study participant Viola Manges, who does administrative work at Stanford, was assigned to the Atkins group.

Manges, 41, said the diet taught her to make healthier food choices, like eating steamed vegetables instead of mashed potatoes, even if she didn't always follow it strictly.

"I realized I had a bunch of willpower I didn't even know I had," Manges said.

Manges lost roughly 23 pounds, slimming down to a size 6 by the study's end about a year ago. She has regained about 10 to 15 pounds, but said she still tries to follow some of the Atkins recommendations.

The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health and from the Community Foundation of Southeastern Michigan.

RawAlex

I did atkins style to lose 30 pounds, give or take (195ish to 165ish) in less than 8 months. However, it isn't just a short term solution but rather a longer term "lifestyle" deal. As a result of this, I don't eat much rise, potatoes, or other starchy high carb filler foods, I don't consume much processed sugars, and generally I eat better that I use to.

When it comes to burgers, I tend to go flying dutchman style (bunless), and I don't have fries (salad please)!

Diets are good for losing weight, but you have to learn to eat better otherwise, as was shown in the study, you tend to gain it back over time.

latinasojourn

the main advantage to atkins style diet is that you WILL see weight loss if you can stay on it (and add some exercise).

BUT for long term (many years) i don't think it's so healthy.

but starting on it will show results, which will self-motivate people to do the lifestyle thing which includes a proper diet and exercise.

a diet that fails will not stick.

uno

I did a sort of Atkins/South Beach thing and lost around 20 pounds in 2 months or so.

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JFK

to me its not the losing it,although its not that easy eighter ,BUT keeping it off

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Furious_Female

I think Weight Watchers has the best plan, you get a lot of yummy things to eat... if I could just stay on it LOL Atkin's is too much of a fad and short term thing.

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Sosa

I did atkins for quite a while. I was tired as hell but the weight went off pretty damn easy. I went from 245 down too 173 on it. Now I've been off it for a while, and trying to eat more healthy but not as fatty foods and I've went back up to 185. Been right around there for a few months now.

uno

I think my metabolism kicked back in after losing 20 lbs.

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Arafura

Atkins rocks. Been doing it for over a year now and love it. Any diet is a "fad" if you don't stick to it...gotta find something you can live with. And I can definitely live with steaks and rotisserie chicken.

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Fap

Of course Atikins works, getting rid of carbs, it's a no brainer. But lets see how much energy you have with no carbs..

RawAlex

The long term idea isn't "no carbs" it is "the right amount of carbs". it is very low carb to start with, but over time, you add carbs back in and work on weight maintenance. You choose your carbs carefully, don't eat empty ones, balance it against fiber, and you are pretty much good to go.

After I hit my bottom number, I added carbs and stuff until I started to come back up, managed it well, and now I am stable. I know if I want to take 5 - 10 pounds off in a short amount of time, I could do it.

No processed foods, no high fructose corn syrups, and no big empty carb runs, and life is good. I just played badminton for 2.5 hours tonight, not an issue, still full of energy, and that is hard work.

BlueWire

People over complicate things...

Getting active and making an effort to cut out bad eating/drinking habits is how you lose weight and keep it off. Get out of the habit of having dessert multiple times per week; stop drinking pop; try to limit your frequency of alcohol consumption; get your portion sizes under control; cut out the junk food snacks....cardio 4-5 days a week of some kind for 30 min(walking, running, playing a sport, whatever)...and 2-3 days/week lifting weights for 20 minutes.

If you can do that; not only will you lose weight but you'll be down right healthy within a year. Why spend 10 years screwing around with different fad diets when the answer is right in front of you?

he-fox

Screaming

30 mins a day cardio and weights 2-3 times a week..

shouldnt take a year... hell 30 mins a day cardio should shed more then atkins would the 1st couple months.

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MissMina

Interesting............

BlueWire

yes, this is true. Following this plan would do two things:

1) You'd on avg get about 400 calories of exercise per day (factoring in that some days you lift and do cardio and other days you have as off days).

2) By living an active lifestyle your metabolic rate will increase most likely to atleast 3,000Kcal/day to sustain your weight

3) As your lean body mass increases; that metabolic rate will continue to increase.

So...in theory you could eat a full 2500 calorie diet that is not full of fat...but still very satisfying. In your first month I would guess your calorie deficit would be upwards of 20,000 calories your first month and more like 30,000 in subsequent months with your metabolism increased.

3 Months of this and would have lost over 20lbs while increasing your lean body mass. You'd feel great and feel naked without a daily sweat. The hardest part is getting started....but a close second is stopping once you get rolling

Amadora

Jeniffer Aniston uses this type of diet.

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Sosa

Those that were on atkins and then started adding carbs back which products do you tend to eat for snacks etc?

RawAlex

Bluewire, you are correct, however, I can tell you that what works when you are 20 doesn't work when you are 40, at least not at a level you would want it to. Your body learns over the years how to handle things like eating light and being active, and those fat stores are dense and hard.

At 40, I don't need 2500 calories a day, my body will run on 1800 calories a day without issue longterm and won't lose much weight. Even if I raise my fitness level (which is already quite good, I exercise regularly), I might get that up to 2000 or 2200.

I would have to add a fair bit of exercise and eat, well, next to nothing in order to accomplish what you suggest. Remember, 1 pound is about 3300 calories. If I net difference by 500 calories a day, I would lose one pound a week.

I went on atkins, and I shed 5 pounds the first week, eating like a totaly pig (steak, salads, certain cheeses, etc).

For more people under 30 (prime metabolic time) you could just replace all soda and juice with water, and replace big macs meals with rib steaks (hold the fries) and get the same results.

Slickster

Atkins is nonsense. You need all your food groups. It is not healthy to take carbs, or any other food group out of your diet. If you want to lose weight then take in less calories than your body needs and you will lose weight. Simple mathematics. And remember, fiber is your friend.

I have lost 45 pounds in 6 months and I eat all kinds of carbs. I eat all my food groups, make sure I get tons of fiber, and just watch my calories. Simple. And the best part is the weight stays off. Most people I see doing Atkins gain all the weight back. Why? Because you can't just remove entire food groups from your diet.

Did I mention that fiber is your friend?

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BlueWire

Even if your metabolism is at 1800/day and you can get it up to 2200/day by being active....the exercise calories burned themselves could avg you out to 2600+ per day (or more if you can sweat 7 days a week).

Even if you can just create a deficit of 100 calories on avg per day (factoring that its not realistic to live your live perfect and your body tries to adapt); that is still over 10lbs of fat loss per year.

Maybe i'll eat my words when i'm 40....if i'm lucky enought to make it to 40 ....But I think people who are TRULY active (truly active means that you do more than walk the dog twice a day) can stay in decent shape. Yes, obviously there will be more flab and you wont be like you were when you were 25...

But the argument that good old fasion diet and exercise stops working at 40? I'm sorry....i don't buy it.

BlueWire

Also alex; another thing to point out. People always lose 5-10lbs at the beginning of Atkins because the lack of carbs stored in muscles makes you release a TON of water that is stored i those muscles. Its estimated that you lose...you guessed it...5-10lbs of water within the first 2 weeks of cutting carbs. And when you start eating carbs again; the water in those area gets replenished. And low and behold; the majority of people on atkins put on 5-10lbs as soon as they start eating carbs again.

Is atkins not the best answer for EVERYONE? No, i'm sure there are people's body's who for whatever reason respond better to that type of diet. But people shouldn't pay so much attention to their weight as they do their body comp. Most people who lose those 5-10lbs right away dont have an actual body comp change.

Forest

Ive lost about 30 pounds on atkins with another 10 or so to go

Alex is correct no matter what diet you choose to do you need to make lifestyle and eating habit changes in order to keep it off

The_Muffler

Dr. Atkins died a fat fuck...end of debate!

It's called a balanced diet...and excersize. That's the only way to get it off, and keep it off.

That, or lots of coke, and thai hookers.

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