Atkins Advises Dieters to Eat Smaller Steaks, NY Times Reports
NEW YORK (Reuters) Jan 19 - Promoters of the popular low-carbohydrate, high-fat Atkins diet are saying that people should limit their intake of saturated fat by cutting back on Atkins staples such as meat, cheese and butter, The New York Times reported on Sunday.
Responding to criticism from scientists that the Atkins diet could lead to heart disease and other health problems, the director of research and education for Atkins Nutritionals, Colette Heimowitz, is telling health professionals that only 20% of a dieter's calories should come from saturated fat, the paper said.
Beef, pork, lamb and butter were on the list of "foods you may eat liberally" in diet founder Dr. Robert C. Atkins' book "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution," first published in 1992.
Atkins, who died last year, always maintained that people should eat other food besides red meat, but had trouble getting that message out, the paper said.
20% Dietary Saturated Fat Recommended in Atkins Diet
Jeanie Lerche Davis
Jan. 21, 2004 — For years, the Atkins diet has advised people that eating plenty of meat, eggs, cheese, and whole-fat dairy products was the secret to weight loss.
But in seminars across the country, health professionals are hearing a different tune. An Atkins educator has reportedly said that 20% of a dieter's calories should come from saturated fat, according to a recent New York Times story.
After all these years, is the Atkins organization reacting to criticism that the diet advocates too much saturated fat?
"Nothing has changed," Stuart Trager, MD, chair of the Atkins Physicians Council, told Medscape. "Our message is still the same. Atkins is, and always has been, about controlling carbohydrates — teaching people to eat nutrient-dense whole foods and avoid refined carbohydrates like white flour and sugar."
Atkins never did — and still does not — prescribe amounts of fats or protein, Dr. Trager explained. "Instead, we teach people to be aware of and control carbohydrate consumption. When we eat a variety of protein sources and fats to satiate hunger, we eat less because the food tastes good and is filling. Without portion restriction, this has been shown to result in weight loss."
Do the Math
The 20% identified in the Times article was derived from meal plans and recipes in Atkins books, he said. In fact, during the diet's induction phase, people typically consume up to 60% of calories from fat.
If 60% is divided into thirds — to reflect the variety of monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, and saturated fats that Atkins espouses — 20% calories would be from saturated fat.
"It's important and worth recognizing that both steak and eggs are a balance of fats," Dr. Trager told Medscape. "In a porterhouse steak, saturated fat makes up 17% of total fat. In an egg, including the yolk, saturated fat is only 18% of total fat."
Read the Books
The Atkins diet is vastly misunderstood, Dr. Trager said. "Atkins has never been, as the media and opponents would have people believe, a red-meat diet," he said. "We need to spend less time criticizing individual nutrition strategies and more attention in defeating obesity. Weight loss solutions aren't one-size-fits-all."
However, "an awful lot of people who follow these high-protein/low-carb plans haven't read the books," said Cindy Moore, MS, RD, director of nutrition therapy at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. She is also a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association.
"What they've gleaned from magazines or newspapers or pictures is what they think the diet is — a double cheeseburger without the bun, with extra bacon and cheese," Ms. Moore told Medscape.
Nevertheless, the blanket prescription to eat all the protein and fats you want is what gets patients into trouble — it's just not healthy, she added.
"I still don't understand the rationale in limiting trans fats and not saturated fat," said Ms. Moore. "Trans fats act very similarly in the body as saturated fat — they both increase LDL 'bad' cholesterol and decrease HDL 'good' cholesterol."
Shades of South Beach?
"I sense this cutback on saturated fat is in part a political positioning in response to the South Beach diet book, which is outselling the Atkins New Diet Revolution," said Robert H. Eckel, MD, chair of the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism Council.
The leading health organizations — the AHA, the American Cancer Society, the US Department of Agriculture, the World Health Organization, and the American Dietetic Association — agree about what constitutes a good nutritional diet, Dr. Eckel told Medscape. "It's not so much about good food and bad food, but what the overall diet is like."
He continued, "The quantities of foods that Atkins recommends are unacceptable. In the short term, Atkins and similar diets won't cause health problems. But I don't think they teach anything about the importance of a healthy overall dietary program and lifestyle for long-term success in weight reduction."
Even in the maintenance phase, the Atkins diet is not balanced, Dr. Eckel told Medscape. "The Atkins books says if you start to gain weight when you start eating carbohydrates, return to a more carbohydrate-restricted program. Of course, that's a diet higher in saturate fat, trans fat, and cholesterol. This is not a program — despite the weight reduction — that is consistent with good health and nutrition."
Counterpoint
Dr. Trager disagreed. "Many professionals who criticize this approach demonstrate a lack of understanding and a lack of appreciation for how valuable this tool can be in helping the many who have been unsuccessful in maintaining weight and health through standard diet recommendations," Dr. Trager said.
"Dr. Atkins was the innovator in making better carbohydrate choices and recognizing the negative impact that simple carbohydrates have on obesity," Dr. Trager added. "He stood alone in this mission for many years, since 1972. He tried to teach people that just because a muffin says low fat, it's not ok to eat it."
The AHA recommended diet, consistent with that advocated by many other health organizations, says the maximum intake of saturated fat should be 10% of calories — half of what Atkins advises, Dr. Eckel said.
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20% Dietary Saturated Fat Recommended in Atkins Diet
