There was a typical Atkins-dominated piece, complete with images of
steak broiling in butter and pounds and pounds of cheese melting, last
night on the local Dallas ABC tv news station.  But it was encouraging.
The first few lines: "For decades, foods high in protein like red meat,
eggs and cheese were forbidden foods for dieters. Yet Judy Gurlizt ate
them all, in huge amounts, and scaled back 30 pounds. Gurlizt attributes
her high-protein diet to an increase in good cholesterol and a decrease
in her risk of heart disease. Protein diets, like Atkins and Protein
Power, have helped thousands of people to take off weight. Still,
dieticians warned that there was a risk. New research in the Journal of
Nutrition may prove dieters right and skeptics wrong."  (Article at
http://www.wfaa.com/localnews/news8/stories/wfaa030214_gp_proteindiet.ca
e8ba0.html)


Here are abstracts of the abstracts from the Journal of Nutrition
(http://www.nutrition.org/current.shtml#HUMAN_NUTRITION_AND_METABOLISM):



A Reduced Ratio of Dietary Carbohydrate to Protein Improves Body
Composition and Blood Lipid Profiles during Weight Loss in Adult Women

*This study demonstrates that increasing the proportion of protein to
carbohydrate in the diet of adult women has positive effects on body
composition, blood lipids, glucose homeostasis and satiety during weight
loss.



Key Words: obesity . body fat . blood lipids . insulin



*Increased Dietary Protein Modifies Glucose and Insulin Homeostasis in
Adult Women during Weight Loss

This study demonstrates that consumption of a diet with increased
protein and a reduced CHO/protein ratio stabilizes blood glucose during
nonabsorptive periods and reduces the postprandial insulin response.



Key Words: insulin . amino acids . leucine . obesity . syndrome X



While I'm very happy to see the research and the press, I am a getting a
little tired that no one seems to want to explain WHY the diet works.
But there's hope there too.  Have any of you seen the recent article by
Dr. Atkins which takes a decidedly paleo slant?  I cannot seem to find
it this morning, but please post it if you have it.