>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. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com