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Tuesday, July 30, 2002

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine "is particularly concerned about the health effects of these high-fat diets" because "more people are going on them," spokeswoman Simon Chaitowitz told United Press International.

The goal of the ad campaign, which will appear on the Internet on Yahoo.com and in a medical journal, is to "alert both consumers and physicians to the dangers of high-protein diets," Chaitowitz said.

PCRM also will launch a Web site - scheduled to premiere on Thursday - for consumers who have had problems with high-fat/low-carb diets to register their experiences. PCRM will compile this information to help evaluate these types of diets. The group's main objections to the high-fat diets is they are composed of foods - particularly animal products - that may increase the risk of colorectal cancer, osteoporosis, heart disease, kidney problems and diabetes complications.

"Even if the diets induce weight loss ... people need to focus beyond weight loss and focus on overall health," Brie Turner-McGrievy, a clinical research coordinator and registered dietician with the physicians committee, told UPI. She noted little research has been done on these diets so the long-term effects are unknown, adding there are concerns diets high in protein can lead to kidney problems and diets rich in saturated fats found in meat and dairy products can lead to clogged arteries and cancer.

Katherine Tallmedge, a registered dietician and spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, said, "Diets high in fruits and vegetables produce a lower risk of cancers and without them you have a higher risk." Fruits and vegetables "have also been shown to lower blood pressure and the risk of stroke and heart disease."

"Diets high in saturated fat raises LDL ['bad' cholesterol] in most people," which increases the risk of heart disease and heart attacks, Tallmedge said, noting that Atkins himself recently developed heart problems.

Low-carbohydrate diets often are touted for their ability to reduce LDL and triglycerides, but this effect is caused by the initial weight loss, Tallmedge said. "Once the weight loss has stopped, they often go higher than ever before," she said.

Ketotis Danger

Another dangerous facet of the high-fat diets is ketosis - a state the body goes into when it is deprived of carbohydrates. In ketosis, the body mainly relies on fat and protein for energy, but it can lead to a variety of physical problems, including calcium loss from the bones and kidney stones. "Ketosis is not a state you want to be in," Turner-McGrievy said.

There are other health consequences of these diets. Tallmedge said an unpublished, six-month study funded by Atkins found 68 percent of the people in the study who were on his diet experienced constipation, 63 percent had bad breath, 51 percent had headaches and some also experienced hair loss.

Some people swear by the high-fat diets and insist nothing else has worked for them, but two studies found people on these diets only lost about an average of 20 pounds in six months. That is similar to the type of weight loss that could be achieved by any kind of diet you would put people on, Turner-McGrievy said.

She said a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found vegetarians had lower body mass indexes and were slimmer overall than people on high-fat diets. Turner-McGrievy conceded people may lose weight on the Atkins or similar diets, but said, "A lot of things help people lose weight. Smoking can help you lose weight ... but it's about overall health. There are definitely a lot better weight loss diets out there for people to try."

Tallmedge agreed. "You don't have to go through a depressing angst-ridden diet to keep the weight off," she said. Long-term studies have shown most people who successfully lose weight and keep it off did so with a low-fat diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, lean meats and whole-grain foods, she said.

Copyright 2002 by United Press International.

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