Spiceless Atkins diet 'bores you thinner'

Published on Friday 3 September 2004 12:53

IT is the so-called "wonder diet" which has seen millions of people shed weight while eating fatty foods.

But experts today claimed that the fashionable Atkins diet probably only works because it is so boring.

Danish researchers said the dullness of the diet - which has found devotees in celebrities like Geri Halliwell, Robbie Williams, and Brad Pitt - was a likely explanation for why it helped people lose weight.

An estimated three million Britons follow diets like Atkins - which cuts out all carbohydrates such as bread and potatoes.

Known as a "bacon and eggs" diet, because it endorses unlimited amounts of fat, meat and protein - the trend has caused alarm in the medical profession.

Backers have previously claimed restricting carbohydrates helps the body to burn fat.

But the Copenhagen-based scientists today said there was no evidence that cutting out most carbohydrates while stocking up on fatty foods and protein boosted energy expenditure.

They suggested people on the diet simply chose to eat less because the choices they were left with were so unappealing.

The experts, led by Professor Arne Astrup, a nutrition expert from the Centre of Advanced Food Research at RVA University, Copenhagen, wrote in the Lancet medical journal: "The success of the low-carbohydrate diet might be due to the restriction of the variety of food choices - the monotony and simplicity of the diet could inhibit appetite and food intake."

Another factor was that eating a lot of protein was especially likely to make a person feel "full".

This might also reduce food intake and body weight.

In a review of previous studies, the researchers accepted that Atkins dieters lost body fat over a period of six months.

However, what caused the fat reduction was unclear. The Atkins diet advocates free consumption of butter, fatty meat and high-fat dairy products, while restricting carbohydrate consumption.

Three trials have examined the long-term effects of low carbohydrate diets. In all three, overweight volunteers on Atkins-type diets lost more weight than those on low-fat diets after six months.

But two of the studies showed that by 12 months there was no difference between the two groups.

Prof Astrup’s team found followers of the Atkins diet suffered from muscle cramps, diarrhoea, general weakness, and rashes more frequently than people on conventional low-fat diets.

The researchers said longer studies lasting up to two years were needed to assess the weight-loss efficiency of low carb diets.

In the meantime, they recommended that people who wanted to lose weight and stay slim should "switch to a diet reduced in calories and fat in combination with physical activity".

The findings come only weeks after a study found two-thirds of slimmers on the Atkins diet give up after just two months.

Research carried out by analysts ACNielsen highlighted that just seven per cent managed to stick to the regime for a year - compared to an average of 18 per cent for other diets.

About one-in-seven people quizzed in that poll said the Atkins weight-loss plan was too "boring". The Government has also launched an official investigation into the Atkins diet.

A panel of about 20 doctors, nutritionist and dieticians at London’s National Institute of Clinical Excellence are evaluating the low-carb plan.

Dr Susan Jebb, who is considered one of Britain’s top nutritionists, has previously condemned the theory behind Atkins as "nonsense".

She believes people lose weight using the diet, because they eat less not because, as it has been claimed, Atkins dieters burn fat more efficiently. Dr Jebb has also raised concerns about the potential long-term effects of low-carb diets.