Dieters Charge Atkins Approach Damaged Hearts

Dieters Charge Atkins Approach Damaged Hearts
Thu 20 November, 2003 19:55

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 favor 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 fiber 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.