Has Atkins Been Vindicated?

Disclosure: I’ve been on low carb diets. For the most part I did well on them, going into what’s called “ketosis” fairly easily, and dropping weight. The problem I have with Atkins and other low carb diets is that without careful planning, they can get boring.

In my case I ended up eating mainly meat, cheese, and green vegetables. As I’ve said before, any diet that narrowly restricts the foods you eat is going to be tough to sustain and even tougher to not cheat on.

But to hear some dieticians talk, you’d think that eating a low carb diet was as abhorrent as clubbing a baby seal to death with another baby seal. It raises your cholesterol, they said. It causes heart disease, they said. Kidney failure, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and probably adults becoming Justin Beiber fans … if it’s messed up, someone has claimed low-carb is responsible. (caution – that link may not be SFW, unless your work is okay with a swearing squirrel ranting about Atkins.)

Were they right? Or were they, driven by a fear of a change in thinking, talking out of the wrong sphincter muscle?

New research shows that the second one might be nearer to the truth. Not only is low carb effective at dropping unwanted body fat, it may also be better for your heart than a high carb, low fat diet.

For years we’ve had it beaten into us to avoid animal fats. Why? They’re saturated, and that saturated fat raises cholesterol levels in the blood, went the answer. But half the fat in a steak is actually “monounsaturated” – the same type as found in “good for the heart” olive oil. The other, saturated half is about 1/3rd stearic acid. Like olive oil, stearic acid raises the “good” HDL (high density lipoprotein) cholesterol in the blood.

That leaves just 30% of the fat in a steak as the sort of saturated fat that can raise “bad” LDL (low density lipoprotein) cholesterol. But hang on a minute – even this demonised fat will simultaneously raise the “good” HDL.

HDL,LDL …WTF? If only there was someone who could put this in simpler terms.

Here to put this in simpler terms is science journalist Gary Taubes. “All of this suggests,” said Gary, who in no way resembles a pet sea snail, “that eating a porterhouse steak rather than carbohydrates might actually improve heart disease risk”.

Okay, so the fat in red meat isn’t as bad for you as originally thought. And dairy fat is pretty heart smart too. That may be why other short-term studies agree with Gary. The studies, by Frederick Samaha, MD and Gary Foster, PhD (six months and one year, respectively) showed positive effects from following a low-carbohydrate diet.

Samaha and colleagues found low-carb diets reduced triglycerides and improved insulin sensitivity. Foster discovered significantly higher HDL cholesterol levels  (remember, HDL is the good one – just pretend the H stands for Hero), drastically lowered triglycerides, and no change in LDL cholesterol levels (the bad one) than the low-fat diet plan.

But there’s no long-term studies of Atkins, claim vegans and high carb defenders. Gary’s article is 9 years old and all you’ve got since is a few PhDs saying the data shows he’s right, but… but… it’s all based on short term studies! Long term it’s harmful!

Well, no. In fact a long-term study of the Atkins diet was performed, and it was published May 3rd 2010. Gary Foster (no relation to Gary Taubes) wasn’t satisfied with just doing a 1 year study, so he went back and did a 2 year one. Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and going by the catchy name “Weight and Metabolic Outcomes After 2 Years on a Low-Carbohydrate Verses Low-Fat Diet,” the study revealed results that surprised almost everyone.

After following the Atkins Diet for two years, study participants still showed increased HDL (‘hero’, or good cholesterol), lowered triglycerides, and normal LDL (‘loser’, or bad, cholesterol) levels or less. Raising HDL cholesterol levels improves the body’s ability to eliminate excess LDL cholesterol, thus improving cholesterol and heart disease risks.

So long story short, all the crap about the Atkins diet being bad for your ticker is just wind ans sails by people who are mad that not everyone eats the way they do, just as some people get mad because not everyone drives the size of car or truck that they drive, not everyone worships the God they worship, or not everyone has a thing for corduroy pants the way that they have a thing for corduroy pants.

At the end of the day, some people just like different stuff than others. But at least the health myths used to deflate the Atkins diet are put to rest.

I still don’t recommend Atkins because of the exclusionary element. Fruit is good for you, dammit. Eat what you want, but in moderation.