It's become increasingly difficult to distinguish between clinically-approved weight loss programs and ever-present -- and often debunked -- "miracle" diets. The notorious Atkins diet, however, has been re-evaluated by the top experts of the country with surprising results.
A one-year study performed at the University's School of Medicine, recently discovered that the Atkins diet -- a low-carbohydrate plan that allows and encourages dieters to eat high-fat foods, such as eggs and steak -- seemed to produce positive results in patients who followed the regime.
Chosen because of its wide popularity among the general public, researches decided to analyze the effects of the 31-year-old Atkins plan in depth and gather new and more comprehensive data on its efficacy.
In particular, compared with subjects who had followed a low-fat diet for the same amount of time, the people assigned to the Atkins diet saw their levels of HDL -- "good" cholesterol -- rise "much, much more" than their low-fat diet counterparts, according to Weight and Eating Disorders Program Clinical Director Gary Foster.
Also, between the two groups, there was no difference in bad cholesterol, according to Foster.
As for weight loss, the Atkins diet led people to lose twice as much weight as the low-fat dieters did in the first six months of the study. However, after one year, the results were the same for both groups.
These results were quite a surprise for Foster and his team. He had expected that LDL -- the "bad" cholesterol -- would increase in the Atkins plan, with long-term negative consequences.
"We actually had some positive findings," Foster said.
Results of the same kind were found in a similar study founded by the Philadelphia Veterans Hospital.
In a comparison between a low-fat, low-carbohydrate diet plan and the Atkins diet, the latter produced more weight loss and an improvement in the metabolic risk factor of the patients during a six-month period.
"We didn't really know which group would lose more weight," Philadelphia VA Chief of Cardiology Frederick Samaha said. "We were somewhat surprised by the results."
Samaha also said that, weight loss aside, it is likely that it is the composition of the Atkins diet itself that may be beneficial, considering the metabolism risk factors of the study's subjects.
But despite these positive findings, researchers said that they are not ready to include the Atkins diet as standard fare alongside existing programs.
"It would be premature to widely advocate this diet," Foster said. However, he added that "It may give us another option that we might consider."
Further research, meanwhile, is in the works. The National Institute for Health will fund another study. Scheduled to last for five years, the study is already having its ranks filled with volunteers by Foster and his counterparts at Washington University and the University of Colorado.
