Newsfeed 
FC InsiderNews
Submit news[release]
PT writers wanted
Sponsors' link
profood - food ingredients supplier
shopseek shop dir.
infoplus web dir.
|
|
|
Last Updated: Dec 27th, 2006 - 19:07:47 |
Atkins diet may not be safe for every dieter, suggests a case study reported in the March 17 issue of The Lancet, a prestigious medical journal. A woman who had strictly followed the low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet developed a life-threatening condition called ketoacidosis and rushed to a hospital emergency room for help, according to the report.
Ketoacidosis can occur to an individual who follows a low carbohydrate, high fat, and high protein diet such as Atkins diet. Followers of Atkins diet actually monitor their ketone levels in their urine to confirm strict adherence to the diet. Such a diet has been known for a long time to promote formation of acid/ketones in the body, potentially causing a wide spectrum of health problems.
The report, by Klaus-Dieter Lessnau, M.D., of New York University and Lenox Hill Hospital here, and colleagues, says the 40-year-old woman had been successful in terms of weight loss after she started the Atkins diet regimen – eating meat, cheese, and salad, and taking vitamin supplants. In a month before the condition showed up, she was able to lose nine kilograms. She started having low appetite and short breath, feeling nauseated, vomiting four to six times daily five days before she was rushed to a hospital emergency room.
A spokesman for Atkins Nutritional Inc. founded by Dr. Robert Atkins, the originator of Atkins diet, which sells lots of Atkins diet products, denies there is any link between use of Atkins diet and the severe ketoacdosis saying that millions of Atkins diet dieters don’t have the problem and the patient must have had some unknown condition.
Previous studies have confirmed that Atkins diet can effectively help people lose weight, just like other weight loss regimen or programs. A one-year clinical trial of 160 overweight individuals reported in 2005 in Journal of American Medical Association that the Atkins diet dieters lost 2.1 kilograms, Weight Watchers dieters lost 3.0 kilograms, Zone dieters lost 3.2 kilograms, and dieters following the Ornish program lost 3.3 kilograms.
Atkins diet has drawn a lot of criticism from many respected scientists and clinicians as well as many nutrition and medical organizations. The American Heart Association, American Dietetic Association, and the American Kidney Fund all have posted warnings against use of Atkins diet as a weight loss approach.
Adverse effects associated with use of Atkins diet have been well recognized. In a six-month study by Nestel PJ and colleagues and published in Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2001;37:1929-35, researchers found 68 percent of Atkins diet experienced constipation, 60 percent headache, 38 percent bad breath, 35 percent muscle cramps, diarrhea 23 percent and 25 percent weakness.
No long term study on the safety of Atkins diet has been conducted. However, critics emphasize that the adverse effects of high fat and high protein in a diet are well known. One of the most obvious is cholesterol. Studies have found that about 30 percent Atkins diet dieters may increase their serum cholesterol even though the dieters experienced weight loss. A diet with high fat and high meat (protein) was linked to an elevated risk of colon cancer, heart disease, impaired kidney function, complications of diabetes, and osteoporosis, according to atkinsdietalert.org.
A scientist affiliated with foodconsumer.org, who does not want to be named, comments that many Atkins diet followers may not know a crucial fact that high intake of fat and protein can lead to a dangerously low body pH which causes dysfunctional cellular functions which in turn cause many diseases. The low pH explains why Atkins diet followers often have a high excretion of calcium in urine and why many these people do not feel as normal. Many experts agree that it is not healthy to use too high fat and protein in a diet
Another downside with Atkins diet is that people who use Atkins diet may experience deficiencies in vitamins and minerals among others. Atkinsdietalert.org cited The American Heart Association as stating, "High-protein diets are not recommended because they restrict healthful foods that provide essential nutrients and do not provide the variety of foods needed to adequately meet nutritional needs. Individuals who follow these diets are therefore at risk for compromised vitamin and mineral intake, as well as potential cardiac, renal, bone, and liver abnormalities overall."
Editor's note: Patients suffering from many chronic diseases or receiving medical treatment may experience weight loss. But that does not mean people should get disease or medical treatment to lose weight. It may not be easy for any Atkins diet dieters to develop a major disease in a short period by using Atkins diet. But it's reasonable to say that long term use of Atkins diet can be harmful to one’s health.
© 2004-2005 by foodconsumer.org unless otherwise specified
Top of Page
|
|
|
|