>From: Sharon Giles <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: Paleolithic Eating Support List <[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: [P-F] Studies suggest Atkins diet is safe (good news on ketosis)
>Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2000 10:51:23 -0600
>
>Studies suggest Atkins diet is safe
>
>NEW YORK, Feb 18 (Reuters Health) -- The extremely carbohydrate-restricted
>Atkins diet is a safe, effective way to lose weight, according to studies
>presented at the Southern Society of General Internal Medicine in New
>Orleans.
>
>A study of the diet conducted at the Durham VA Medical Center in North
>Carolina showed that on average, mildly obese people lost about 21 pounds
>in four months on the diet, and had positive changes in heart risk factors
>such as reduced cholesterol and increased HDL or ``good cholesterol.''
>These results are supported by a second study from researchers at the
>Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in New York.
>
>The Durham study included 41 mildly obese, healthy people who attended an
>outpatient clinic. The study participants followed a program that reduced
>carbohydrate intake to less than 20 grams per day, and included vitamin
>supplements, fish oil supplements and 20 minutes of exercise at least three
>times per week.
>
>Over four months on the diet, the participants lost an average of 21.3
>pounds, and showed a 6.1% drop in cholesterol, and almost a 40% drop in the
>level of triglycerides in their blood. In addition, their HDL levels
>increased by about 7%. In a press release, the researchers also say that
>their study did not find any of the safety concerns voiced by the American
>Dietetic Association, such as potentially dangerous effects on liver and
>kidney function.
>
>``In four short months on the Atkins Diet, we were able to confirm
>scientifically what Dr. Atkins states he has seen in his practice over the
>past decades. The diet lowers cholesterol and triglycerides and raises
>HDL... which may represent an entirely new approach to the control and
>prevention of heart disease,'' said lead researcher Dr. Eric C. Westman,
>assistant professor of medicine at North Carolina's Duke University.
>
>The study is continuing in order to assess the long-term effects of the
>diet.
>
>Reporting the results of the second study, Colette Heimowitz, director of
>nutrition at the Atkins Center in New York, said that it was based on 319
>overweight or obese patients treated at the Center for at least a year.
>Investigators collected information on weight, blood pressure, cholesterol,
>kidney and liver function and other parameters during the study.
>
>``What we found is what we already knew from anecdotal data,'' Heimowitz
>told Reuters Health in an interview after the meeting on Friday. ``There
>were some pretty impressive benefits in body composition, HDL levels went
>up, LDL levels went down and blood pressure decreased,'' she reported.
>Where HDL is the good cholesterol for its association with reduced heart
>risk, LDL has earned the name of being the ``bad'' cholesterol because high
>levels are associated with heart disease.
>
>``We now have data for the scientific community'' on the healthful benefits
>of the Atkins diet, Heimowitz asserted.
>
>The Atkins diet severely restricts carbohydrate intake to induce a state of
>ketosis, or metabolic starvation. Dieters are encouraged to measure urinary
>ketone excretion as an indication of how effective the diet is in inducing
>fat breakdown. ''Ketosis is a benign byproduct of fat burning,'' Heimowitz
>asserted. ``With an adequate protein and fat intake, there is no loss of
>muscle mass...There is no change in (blood) pH if the diet is properly
>done,'' she said.
>
>However the diet is not for everyone, Heimowitz warned. ''It's for those
>who need a correction in their sugar and carbohydrate metabolism...We
>encourage (vitamin) supplementation and an intake of 'good' fats, such as
>fish oil,'' Heimowitz commented.

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