Atkins Diet Beats Competition But Isn't Great Diet

by Rich Pulham

A new study compared some popular low-carb diets to see which one was the most effective. Although everyone seems excited to find that the Atkins diet proved best, researcher Christopher Gardner says, "Even the Akins regimen isn't a great diet."

The study compared the Atkins diet to the Zone, the Ornish diet, and the LEARN diet. The Atkins came out ahead for weight loss. However, when women stopped dieting, this was also the diet where they regained the most weight.

Although Gardner has been swamped with interviews, he questions all the excitement. "Atkins did double the weight loss (compared to three other diets) but how excited can you get about 10 pounds of weight loss over the course of a year?"

The women in the Atkins group had reduced levels of HDL (the good cholesterol), as well as bigger decreases in blood pressure, triglycerides and body mass. But there are many concerns over the long-term effects of a high fat diet. This study lasted only 12 months and was not able to answer those concerns.

In all the diets studied, some people lost more than 30 pounds. But twice as many lost that amount on the Atkins diet. Perhaps the reason was the simplicity of the diet. An important finding, Gardner says, is how much trouble people had following any of the diets.

Carbohydrates make up the biggest portion of the American diet. Removing them is going to have an impact. Yes, the Atkins diet worked – for a time. By the end of the study, women on this diet were consuming 3 times the recommended daily allowance. And they began to gain back the weight they had lost.

"Just to say (eat) low carbohydrates doesn't mean anything under the sun goes, including butter and pork rinds and steak and whip cream," Gardner said. "The goal everyone agrees on is (reducing) refined carbohydrates," such as sugar, high fructose corn syrup and soda pop, he said.