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dieters critical of Atkins approach Thu 20 November, 2003 19:57
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Jody Gorran was proud of his 32-inch (81 cm) waistline -- until a heart scan
showed an artery had become almost entirely blocked during the two years he was on the Atkins diet.
Lisa Huskey was happy about being on a diet with her 16-year-old daughter, Rachel, until Rachel
dropped dead from a heart arrhythmia in class.
Both say the high-fat, high-protein approach advocated by the Atkins diet was responsible.
"What I contend is that the Atkins diet gave me heart disease," Gorran said at a news conference
sponsored by the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine. "I traded a 32-inch waist for
heart disease."
The Atkins diet has sparked both admiration and debate with its radical approach based on the theory
that carbohydrates make people fat.
It calls for a stringent break-in period designed to induce a metabolic change called ketosis.
Dieters are advised to shun carbohydrates in favour of fats and meat.
The body, overloading on fat and protein, theoretically breaks down fat cells for energy and sheds
pounds of water as it struggles to get rid of toxic breakdown products.
Studies have shown the diet -- like many diets -- can help people lose weight.
But many doctors and the American Heart Association have repeatedly warned that the Atkins approach
could be dangerous because it is too high in fat and protein and too low in fibre and vitamins.
"Anyone who has even been on this diet can tell you they spend the first few days in the bathroom,
urinating," said Dr. Paul Robinson, director of adolescent medicine at the University of Missouri
hospital, where Rachel Huskey was taken.
The body is shedding water to clear out the breakdown products from fat in the diet, Robinson
said at the news conference. The danger comes because the process pulls calcium and potassium
from the blood.
HEART RHYTHM AFFECTED
Robinson said Rachel's calcium and potassium levels were abnormally low. "These are very important
electrolytes in regulating heartbeat," he said.
"Adolescents, particularly, should not go on this diet, until there is more research," added
Robinson, who published a paper in the Southern Medical Journal about the case.
Lisa Huskey tearfully recounted how she and her daughter went on the diet together, happy that it
allowed them to eat all the meat they wanted. "It sounds like it is too good to be true, this
diet," she said.
Dr. Richard Fleming, a cardiologist who has studied high-fat diets, attacked the premise that
carbohydrates make people any fatter than any other food.
"Obesity is nothing more than the overconsumption of calories and it doesn't matter whether those
calories are carbohydrates, fat or protein," Fleming said.
Fleming said the high fat content of the Atkins diet could worsen heart disease not only through
raised cholesterol but by inflaming the arteries.
Gorran said when he started the diet, his total cholesterol level was a very low 148. In May 2001 it
had gone up to 230. Anything above 200 is considered unhealthy.
A scan of his arteries before he started the diet had shown no evidence of heart disease.
"Two and a half years later, after being on the Atkins diet for that length of time, I had heart
disease," the 53-year-old Florida businessman said.
A new scan showed one artery was 90 percent blocked.
Three weeks ago, Gorran had an angioplasty -- a procedure to clear his clogged artery. A mesh tube
called a stent was inserted to keep his artery clear.
"I felt, overall, that I had been betrayed," he said.
Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. says its diet is safe.
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