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Pastimes : Crazy Fools Low-Carb Blog -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ms.smartest.person who wrote (27)	3/21/2004 11:11:41 AM
From: ms.smartest.person	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 55

Professor: Low-carb diet helps cut appetite By DAVID ROGERS, Daily News Staff Writer Sunday, March 21, 2004 ? Although the high-protein, low-carbohydrate Atkins diet has been around for about three decades, its rise in popularity is pushing scientists to examine its effectiveness and safety. In 1998, Dr. Eric Westman, an associate professor of medicine at Duke University, initiated the first clinical trials of the Atkins diets in 20 years. In 2002, his preliminary study, funded through an unrestricted grant by the Robert C. Atkins Foundation, was published in the American Journal of Medicine. The 51 overweight participants in Westman's six-month study ate only 25 grams of carbohydrates a day. They were allowed to eat as much meat and eggs as they wished, along with two cups of salad and a cup of low-sugar vegetables. Forty-one of the participants adhered to the diet and lost an average of 10 percent of their body weight, an average of about 20 pounds per person, Westman said Thursday during a talk on the Atkins diet, part of "Empowered for Health: Innovations for Better Living," a Duke University health forum at The Breakers. "How can this possibly work? There are studies going on now, finally, to look at the mechanism, and it's pretty clear that when dietary carbohydrate is restricted, appetite is suppressed," Westman said. "Appetite suppression leads to a calorie deficit state. You just don't eat as much. So you are eating fewer calories than you are expending. And when you are in a calorie deficit state, the body draws on your stored fat.... So basically, it's calorie restriction. There's no magic." Westman, William S. Yancy and other Duke colleagues have conducted a soon-to-be-published, six-month randomized controlled study comparing a low-carb diet (with nutritional supplements) to a low-fat diet. That study indicates those on an Atkins-type diet are better able to maintain that diet than those who follow traditional low-fat diets. People on the Atkins diet eat a higher percentage of fat than those on the American Heart Association diet, which recommends no more than 30 percent of calories from fat, but reduces the number of overall calories consumed. Once the goal weight is reached, Atkins diet followers can increase their carbohydrate intake to about 75-100 grams per day, Westman said. The second Duke study showed that, even with consuming a higher percentage of fat than allowed in the low-fat diet, participants following the low-carb diet lowered their cholesterol and triglyceride levels, by 4 percent and 49 percent respectively, by the end of the study. More extensive research, however, is needed to determine the long-term effects of the Atkins diet on cholesterol and other factors that influence the development of heart disease, Westman said. Higher levels of ketones a concern Westman said he and his fellow researchers are concerned about the safety of the diet. All participants in the study had elevated levels of ketones in their urine. Ketones are an acidic by-product created when fat is metabolized to create energy for the body. Normally, ketones are absorbed by the body and only very small amounts appear in urine. Though Westman said participants' ketone level was not high, the consistent presence of the by-product raises questions about whether the diet might be damaging to the body in the long-run. Recommendations Westman said lower-carbohydrate diets appear to have benefits. However, current research indicates the Mediterranean diet is the healthiest, he said. That diet emphasizes eating plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole-grain foods; moderate amounts of lean meat, particularly fish; and avoiding starchy foods, sugary foods and saturated fats. Westman recommended Dr. Walter Willett's book, Eat, Drink and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating, as a credible source of information on the topic. ?drogers@pbdailynews.com palmbeachdailynews.com!-505687748?urac=n&urvf=10798854267710.15412568348439326