AHA Not On Board With Atkins Diet

CHICAGO--The American Heart Association (AHA) was quick to say it does not recommend the dietary regimen that makes up the high-protein, high-fat, low-carb Atkins diet. This statement was in response to a tidal wave of media stories reporting on an Atkins study presented at AHA's Chicago meeting held Nov. 17 to 20.

The study, which was one of more than 3,600 abstracts presented at AHA's annual Scientific Sessions, is the continuation of a trial that had preliminary results published in the July edition of The American Journal of Medicine (113, 30-6, 2002) (www.amjmed.org). In that study, 51 overweight or obese volunteers were put on a low-carb (less than 25 g/d) diet for six months. It was found that not only did body fat decrease, but so did serum total and LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels.

The study presented on Nov. 19 is currently unavailable, as it is now under review to be published by a peer-edited journal. In a Reuters report, it was said that the presentation at AHA's sessions showcased results of a study that was six months long and used 120 volunteers who were obese and had high cholesterol. At the study's conclusion, patients on the low-carb, high-protein diet lost an average of 31 pounds compared to 20 pounds in the high-carb, low-fat group. The high-protein diet was also found to change the composition of cholesterol into larger particles, in addition to lowering LDL and raising HDL ("good") cholesterol. In fact, those on the low-fat, high-carb diet had a 1-percent decrease in HDL, while the low-carb, high-protein group had an 8-percent increase.

The lead author for both studies, Eric C. Westman, M.D., from Duke University, Durham, N.C., told Reuters further research is needed before recommending the diet to lower cholesterol levels.

In its Nov. 19 statement, AHA expressed concerns over the study, such as it was very small, short-term, proves to have no long-term benefits and the weight loss was not shown to be maintainable. AHA also stated, "A high intake of saturated fats over time raises great concern about increased cardiovascular risk--the study did not follow participants long enough to evaluate this."

According to Collette Heimowitz, M.Sc., director of nutrition at the Atkins Center, "What happened is that the media gave the impression that AHA was endorsing [a high-protein, low-carb] diet when AHA only invited Dr. Westman to present his research in the face of emerging science. AHA has their own dietary guidelines and they don't want people to think it's changing the guidelines based on a six-month study."

Robert O. Bonow, M.D., AHA president, concurred with Heimowitz. "People should not change their eating patterns based on one very small, short-term study," he said.