Atkins results leave dieters and researchers at a loss

People on the low-carbohydrate regimen dropped pounds and improved cholesterol levels, fueling the debate over the long-term safety of this weight-loss approach.

By Susan J. Landers, AMNews staff. Dec. 23/30, 2002.

Washington -- Patients at the Duke Diet & Fitness Center in Durham, N.C., were perhaps hoping for thick steaks when they asked Eric C. Westman, MD, about changing their low-fat menu. But their desire could also have been motivated by a surprising finding made by Dr. Westman, an associate professor of medicine at Duke University Medical Center, and colleagues that a low-carbohydrate but high-fat diet, long thought by many to be the nemesis of healthy living, might not be so bad after all.

The researchers compared the low-carbohydrate diet popularized by cardiologist Robert Atkins, MD, with a low-fat diet, and found that subjects on the Atkins diet lost more weight and realized greater improvements in their cholesterol levels than did subjects on a low-fat diet.

Those findings, presented at a recent meeting of the American Heart Assn., left many dieters puzzled and some physicians crying foul.

Despite his findings, Dr. Westman is still counseling patients that a low-fat diet paired with a program of exercise is the best plan for sensible weight loss and heart health. As for his study, "The results are encouraging, but not conclusive," he said.

Dr. Westman is currently seeking funding to continue his research and other studies are also putting the Atkins diet to the test. The National Institutes of Health has begun a five-year study to determine if the Atkins weight-loss plan is not only effective but also safe for the heart.

For his randomized, controlled study, Dr. Westman enrolled 120 people and placed half on a low-calorie, low-fat diet. The other half followed the low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet developed by Dr. Atkins decades ago. The research, which has been submitted for publication, was funded by an unrestricted grant from the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in New York City. [...]