Reporter's 3 months Atkins experiment

Hi Folks,

Just discovered this article and since my med/biology/diabetes knowledge is like
zero I would like to hear what you guys have to say about the report. The
Guardian newspaper (UK) put one of their reporter on the Atkins diet for 3
months to see how the diet affects him. They also have a panel of experts to
look at his blood test results. The report has been pretty fair in pointing out
that it's an one case study and it's only a study about the diet's effects on
the reporter.

The reporter started at 87.9kg and weighed 80.8kg after staying on the diet for
10 weeks. His body fat went from 27% to 24.8%. The stats from the blood tests
as interpreted by the experts, however, do not look too good. Here are some of
the paragraphs I'd like to highlight:


From "For Alok, this is not a good thing":
Basically for Alok as an individual, the Atkins diet appeared to induce a
metabolic state that was more like diabetes than simple starvation (which is
the other cause of ketosis). This is not a good thing, and indeed the whole
Atkins diet picture looks like a recipe for insulin resistance and consequent
type 2 diabetes - exactly the opposite of what we should be aiming for in
terms of weight loss.

From "Do you want fat with that?":
[Atkins] reckons that people following his low-carb regime will see positive
effects on their cholesterol, for example. The LDL (the bad type), he says,
should decrease and HDL (the good type) should increase. Having more of the
bad than the good kind increases the risk of heart disease. Six weeks into
the experiment for me saw the opposite effect to what Atkins predicted - my
ratio of LDL shot up compared to my HDL cholesterol. My risk of heart disease
had increased.



The whole report can be found in he
************************************************** ***************************
Do you want fat with that?
June 24: For three months, Alok Jha has been testing the health claims of the
controversial Atkins diet. Find out here what happened when he cut the carbs.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/atkin...246422,00.html

Cheers,
Ada

Gotta love those halfass studies...or trial is what it should be called.
It's obvious the guy had a biased opinion from the start.

"Ada Ma" wrote in message
...
Hi Folks,

Just discovered this article and since my med/biology/diabetes knowledge
is like
zero I would like to hear what you guys have to say about the report. The
Guardian newspaper (UK) put one of their reporter on the Atkins diet for 3
months to see how the diet affects him. They also have a panel of experts
to
look at his blood test results. The report has been pretty fair in
pointing out
that it's an one case study and it's only a study about the diet's effects
on
the reporter.

The reporter started at 87.9kg and weighed 80.8kg after staying on the
diet for
10 weeks. His body fat went from 27% to 24.8%. The stats from the blood
tests
as interpreted by the experts, however, do not look too good. Here are
some of
the paragraphs I'd like to highlight:


From "For Alok, this is not a good thing":
Basically for Alok as an individual, the Atkins diet appeared to induce
a
metabolic state that was more like diabetes than simple starvation
(which is
the other cause of ketosis). This is not a good thing, and indeed the
whole
Atkins diet picture looks like a recipe for insulin resistance and
consequent
type 2 diabetes - exactly the opposite of what we should be aiming for
in
terms of weight loss.

From "Do you want fat with that?":
[Atkins] reckons that people following his low-carb regime will see
positive
effects on their cholesterol, for example. The LDL (the bad type), he
says,
should decrease and HDL (the good type) should increase. Having more of
the
bad than the good kind increases the risk of heart disease. Six weeks
into
the experiment for me saw the opposite effect to what Atkins
predicted - my
ratio of LDL shot up compared to my HDL cholesterol. My risk of heart
disease
had increased.



The whole report can be found in he

************************************************** **************************
*
Do you want fat with that?
June 24: For three months, Alok Jha has been testing the health claims of
the
controversial Atkins diet. Find out here what happened when he cut the
carbs.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/atkin...246422,00.html

Cheers,
Ada

Gotta love those halfass studies...or trial is what it should be called.
It's obvious the guy had a biased opinion from the start.

"Ada Ma" wrote in message
...
Hi Folks,

Just discovered this article and since my med/biology/diabetes knowledge
is like
zero I would like to hear what you guys have to say about the report. The
Guardian newspaper (UK) put one of their reporter on the Atkins diet for 3
months to see how the diet affects him. They also have a panel of experts
to
look at his blood test results. The report has been pretty fair in
pointing out
that it's an one case study and it's only a study about the diet's effects
on
the reporter.

The reporter started at 87.9kg and weighed 80.8kg after staying on the
diet for
10 weeks. His body fat went from 27% to 24.8%. The stats from the blood
tests
as interpreted by the experts, however, do not look too good. Here are
some of
the paragraphs I'd like to highlight:


From "For Alok, this is not a good thing":
Basically for Alok as an individual, the Atkins diet appeared to induce
a
metabolic state that was more like diabetes than simple starvation
(which is
the other cause of ketosis). This is not a good thing, and indeed the
whole
Atkins diet picture looks like a recipe for insulin resistance and
consequent
type 2 diabetes - exactly the opposite of what we should be aiming for
in
terms of weight loss.

From "Do you want fat with that?":
[Atkins] reckons that people following his low-carb regime will see
positive
effects on their cholesterol, for example. The LDL (the bad type), he
says,
should decrease and HDL (the good type) should increase. Having more of
the
bad than the good kind increases the risk of heart disease. Six weeks
into
the experiment for me saw the opposite effect to what Atkins
predicted - my
ratio of LDL shot up compared to my HDL cholesterol. My risk of heart
disease
had increased.



The whole report can be found in he

************************************************** **************************
*
Do you want fat with that?
June 24: For three months, Alok Jha has been testing the health claims of
the
controversial Atkins diet. Find out here what happened when he cut the
carbs.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/atkin...246422,00.html

Cheers,
Ada

Well, at least he read the Atkins book and follow it to the letter. I guess he
deserves some respect for that at the very least.


Ray wrote:

Gotta love those halfass studies...or trial is what it should be called.
It's obvious the guy had a biased opinion from the start.

Hi,


He hasn't been following Atkins :

[quote from Guardian]

Alok's efforts did not take his carb intake as low as
recommended even on the more liberal pre-maintenance
level of Atkins.

[unquote]

So, maybe that's why his LDL was so high
after the experiment ...

One shouldn't eat lots of fat and too much carbs together.


Hamburger

Low-Carb since 09/01/03
320/285/200

Hi,


He hasn't been following Atkins :

[quote from Guardian]

Alok's efforts did not take his carb intake as low as
recommended even on the more liberal pre-maintenance
level of Atkins.

[unquote]

So, maybe that's why his LDL was so high
after the experiment ...

One shouldn't eat lots of fat and too much carbs together.


Hamburger

Low-Carb since 09/01/03
320/285/200

Hamburger wrote:

Hi,


He hasn't been following Atkins :

[quote from Guardian]

Alok's efforts did not take his carb intake as low as
recommended even on the more liberal pre-maintenance
level of Atkins.

[unquote]

So, maybe that's why his LDL was so high
after the experiment ...

One shouldn't eat lots of fat and too much carbs together.


Hamburger

Low-Carb since 09/01/03
320/285/200




Good use of eyeballs and a brain.

This would indicate a half arsed little food experiment of some kind,
but not an Atkins experiment.

Thanks.

Jim

--
................................


Keepsake gift for young girls.
Unique and personal one-of-a-kind.
Builds strong minds 12 ways.
Guaranteed satisfaction
- courteous money back
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http://www.alicebook.com

Hamburger wrote:

Hi,


He hasn't been following Atkins :

[quote from Guardian]

Alok's efforts did not take his carb intake as low as
recommended even on the more liberal pre-maintenance
level of Atkins.

[unquote]

So, maybe that's why his LDL was so high
after the experiment ...

One shouldn't eat lots of fat and too much carbs together.


Hamburger

Low-Carb since 09/01/03
320/285/200




Good use of eyeballs and a brain.

This would indicate a half arsed little food experiment of some kind,
but not an Atkins experiment.

Thanks.

Jim

--
................................


Keepsake gift for young girls.
Unique and personal one-of-a-kind.
Builds strong minds 12 ways.
Guaranteed satisfaction
- courteous money back
- keep bonus gifts

http://www.alicebook.com

Ada Ma wrote in message ...
Hi Folks,

Just discovered this article and since my med/biology/diabetes knowledge is like
zero I would like to hear what you guys have to say about the report. The
Guardian newspaper (UK) put one of their reporter on the Atkins diet for 3
months to see how the diet affects him. They also have a panel of experts to
look at his blood test results. The report has been pretty fair in pointing out
that it's an one case study and it's only a study about the diet's effects on
the reporter.

The reporter started at 87.9kg and weighed 80.8kg after staying on the diet for
10 weeks. His body fat went from 27% to 24.8%. The stats from the blood tests
as interpreted by the experts, however, do not look too good. Here are some of
the paragraphs I'd like to highlight:


From "For Alok, this is not a good thing":
Basically for Alok as an individual, the Atkins diet appeared to induce a
metabolic state that was more like diabetes than simple starvation (which is
the other cause of ketosis). This is not a good thing, and indeed the whole
Atkins diet picture looks like a recipe for insulin resistance and consequent
type 2 diabetes - exactly the opposite of what we should be aiming for in
terms of weight loss.

From "Do you want fat with that?":
[Atkins] reckons that people following his low-carb regime will see positive
effects on their cholesterol, for example. The LDL (the bad type), he says,
should decrease and HDL (the good type) should increase. Having more of the
bad than the good kind increases the risk of heart disease. Six weeks into
the experiment for me saw the opposite effect to what Atkins predicted - my
ratio of LDL shot up compared to my HDL cholesterol. My risk of heart disease
had increased.



The whole report can be found in he
************************************************** ***************************
Do you want fat with that?
June 24: For three months, Alok Jha has been testing the health claims of the
controversial Atkins diet. Find out here what happened when he cut the carbs.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/atkin...246422,00.html

Cheers,
Ada


It's another lame Atkins bashing attempt by the media. The panel of
experts consisted of two biochemists, a health psychology reader,
whatever that is, and a nutritonist. Isn't it strange that they
didn't include at least one medical doctor, especially when they are
comparing his medical condition to that of a diabetic?

All the analysis by the biochemist is low level stuff, and done at 6
weeks. While they spend lots of time bashing Atkins, they don't even
give basic info, like what his cholesterol levels were before and
after, though they do say they got worse.

Perhaps most telling is the comment from the nutritionist:

"Alok's efforts did not take his carb intake as low as recommended
even on the more liberal pre-maintenance level of Atkins."

Hmmmm, I thought he was doing Atkins? So, here we have the bio guys
claiming he was in some unhealthey diabetic ketosis state and the
nutritionist saying he never even cut carbs really low.

What a joke. If they want to do a trial with a reporter to report his
experiences trying to lose weight, that's OK. But, then he should be
following the real Atkins plan, shouldn't he? And if they want to
report on the effects of LC on people's cholesterol, how much weight
they lost, etc., why not site the Duke University study, which was
done on a reasonable group of people, in a controlled environment, not
one reporter?

Ada Ma wrote:
| Well, at least he read the Atkins book and follow it to the letter.
| I guess he deserves some respect for that at the very least.
|
|
| Ray wrote:
|
|| Gotta love those halfass studies...or trial is what it should be
|| called. It's obvious the guy had a biased opinion from the start.


He did certainly did not follow the book to the letter. He made a very
grave mistake that was certain to skew the results against the Atkins diet;
whether he did this on purpose or not, who knows?

That mistake was having his blood tests before, and six weeks (42 days) into
the diet. If he actually read the book he would know that docto Atkins
specifically says to wait at least 90 days for the second blood lipid tests
because there may be a slight elevation in cholesterol while the body
adjusts to burning fat instead of carbs. By 90 days the cholesterol
usually starts to drop; dramatically for some.

Was he out just to get a story, or was he trying to purposely trash Atkins?
Either way, it was not a fair or unbiased trial. Whuy did he not report his
cholesterol levels after the 90 days on the diet?

His reults are meaningless. Any one of us who have been following the Atkns
plan for a length of time know about the dramatic positive changes in blood
lipids that go with it when it is followed correctly.
--
Peter
270/215/180
Before/Current Pix:
http://users.thelink.net/marengo/wei...htlosspix.html