Atkins Diet: when a bacon cheeseburger won't make you fat

In a culture that values slimness over extra baggage, Americans have tried countless numbers of diets through the centuries, some with more success than others. Some diet programs have evolved into mainstream, multi-million-dollar diet corporations, such as Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and SlimFast. Yet, despite the popular view that slimmer is better, studies have shown that Americans have gotten fatter since the O80s.

What is to blame for America's obesity epidemic? Answers have included, but certainly have not been limited to, the fast food industry, the evolution of the human diet and the different diets around the world. The controversy concerning what causes humans to gain and lose weight has only been inflamed by one of the most famous diets in the past several decades, the Atkins Diet, which has attempted to debunk the theory that a high-fat diet causes obesity. Yet, for every study that backs the theory of the Atkins diet, another seems to pop up to disclaim it. The ultimate question still remains, despite centuries of research: where, if anywhere, is the truth about obesity?

The Atkins diet was originally developed by Dr. Robert Atkins, and is outlined in his best-selling book, Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution. Originally published in 1972, the book has since been republished in several new versions and has inspired recipe books and other diet guides. Basically, according to http://www.atkinscenter.com, the idea is that one should limit his/her daily carbohydrate intake. This leaves plenty of other foods that have been usually considered fattening as OK to eat. For example, under the Atkins plan, one can eat as much meat, fish, fowl, shellfish, eggs and cheese as he/she wants. As for vegetables, some, such as lettuce, peppers and olives, have high carb levels and one can eat up to three cups a day without breaking the diet. Others, such as asparagus, cabbage and tomatoes, have higher carb levels, and the Atkins plan limits dieters to one cup per day. What the diet avoids are high carb foods, such as breads, sugars, fruit, pasta and alcohol. The idea that it is not fat, but rather carbohydrates, that make us gain weight, has been spun off into many other different, popular diet books, including The Zone, Sugar Busters and Protein Power.

The reasoning behind the Atkins diet, along with its spin-offs, is that diets that encouraged people to cut back on fat while eating all the carbs they wanted cause the body to secrete too much insulin, which in turn causes the body to store surplus carbs as fat. What's even worse is that once high amounts of insulin are circulating throughout the body, cells can become insulin resistant, which can lead to diabetes, and that means high cholesterol and blood pressure, weight gain and even heart disease.

Thirty years ago, when the Atkins diet was first introduced, the response from the medical community was no response at all. Atkins' theories were not even studied by research groups because doctors across the globe saw them as ridiculous. Yet, as America has begun to question the success of low-fat diets, doctors and patients have begun to look elsewhere, most notably back to the Atkins diet, and there have been a great many who have done a complete about-face. Yet, questions still remain.

One of the main current arguments by proponents of the Atkins diet involves a study done by the Harvard School of Public Health, which showed that the amount of fat in the average American diet has decreased since the 1980s, despite the "obesity epidemic." Atkins thus places the blame upon the belief that "low fat is good."

The Atkins diet is not only the result of a few success stories, but has also shown success through clinical testing. A study conducted by a team of doctors at Duke University put participants on a low-carb diet of 25 grams a day for six months. Just as with the Atkins diet, they could eat unlimited amounts of meat, cheese and eggs, while their fruit and vegetable intake was restricted to certain amounts. The conclusion was that the average weight lost per person was approximately 20 pounds.

Is the Atkins diet too good to be true? There have been numerous concerns about the healthiness of the diet over the years. Opponents of the high-protein, low-carb theory claim that statements made regarding the Atkins diet have been misleading. According to the Atkins diet alert website, http://www.atkinsdietalert.org, a 2001 analysis done by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) declared the Atkins diet "unhealthy" and gave it its lowest rating of all diet books. According to PCRM president Neal D. Barnard, M.D., "vegetarian diets are the healthiest, the more moderate low-fat diets are a distant second, and high-protein, Atkins-style diets are the worst, in fact, dangerous over the long run. High-protein diets can harm the kidneys, weaken bones, increase cancer and heart disease risk, and create a number of other health problems."

According to the Atkins diet alert website, the problem that groups like PCRM have with the different versions of the Atkins diet is that they do not allow the recommended daily values of vitamins and essential nutrients, such as vitamins A and C, fiber, calcium and iron, in their plans. What's more is that in studies such as the Duke University study described above, patients developed ketonuria, a presence of ketones in their urine, which is basically the same level as that of a non-dieting person if they didn't eat for a few days. A high ketone count has been shown to cause calcium loss, increased risk of osteoporosis and increased propensity to form kidney stones.

The truth is, there is no truth at all. The multitudes of tests surrounding what causes obesity are still inconclusive, and factions of experienced doctors continue to argue about the credibility of the Atkins diet. What both sides seem to agree upon is that carbohydrates do in fact cause weight gain, and high-carb foods have been ignored in the past as such. Yet, the Atkins diet, flying in the face of what has been popularly considered diet gospel, is still a questionable alternative. Meanwhile, America has been faced with even more ridiculous "fad diets" that have little scientific basis and are based around a few success stories. What should you eat for dinner tonight? Perhaps the best answer is to experiment.