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Diet Craze/Crazy Diet? By Carla Kucinski Dieting. Men do it. Women do it. Some diets are successful, while others are failures. These days, dieters are raving about the protein diet, the latest dieting fad that consists of strictly loading up on all the meat you can eat, while limiting consumption of carbohydrates. But, is this new protein diet healthy or could it be harmful? During the 1970's, Dr. Robert Atkins, a cardiologist, sold America on the protein diet. Since then, over 20 million have people tried the diet, according the Atkins' official website. The Atkins diet allows a dieter to consume "nutrient dense" and "processed foods", while excluding high sugar foods and "processed or refined" carbohydrates found in foods such as bread, cereal, pasta and starchy vegetables. The diet does not promote the total elimination of carbohydrates, but a significant decrease in consumption. The diet is based on a process called ketosis, where stored body fat is quickly burned, and as a result the body loses a lot of body fluid. The diet limits carbohydrates instead of cutting down on calorie and fat intake. Ithaca College Sophomore Kim Schaeffer has been on the Atkins diet for two months and she already lost ten pounds. She said she first heard about the diet through her mother who is a registered nurse and who also knew people who had success with the diet. Schaeffer's breakfast consists of coffee, orange juice and fruit. For lunch she eats tuna fish or lentil soup and for dinner she eats either fish, turkey, chicken or pork and a vegetable. She also drinks eight glasses of water a day and she has restricted soda from her diet. Jeanne Lawless, Associate Professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Human Movement said that someone on the Atkins diet should drink plenty of water because they have the potential to develop dehydration. In the beginning, Schaeffer said that it was hard to avoid carbohydrates, especially breads and cereal. "I used to be an avid carbohydrate eater," Schaeffer said, "But, now, I don't even think about it. I lost my craving for bread." Numerous studies have been done to examine whether or not the Atkins diet is safe. Schaeffer said that she has not read any negative comments about the diet. She believes that cutting out high amounts of carbohydrates cannot be harmful because she receives slight amounts of carbohydrates in other foods she eats, which makes up for any loss. Yet, people are concerned about Schaeffer's health. "My mom is a little concerned," she said. "She's always asking me if I'm getting enough to eat and getting enough protein and carbohydrates." Some people believe that carbohydrates induce weight gain, which is why many go on the Atkins diet because of the low consumption of carbohydrates. However, Lawless said that the idea that carbohydrates induce weight gain is a misconception. She explained that when someone takes in carbohydrates, they're stored as energy in the body. And when someone exceeds the amount of carbohydrates that the body can handle, the carbohydrates will be stored as fat. Therefore, excessive intakes of carbohydrates can cause weight gain. "Generally, taking in low carbohydrates depletes the amount of carbohydrates stored in the body," Lawless said. "This is not necessarily harmful, but it can lead to loss of energy." The Atkins diet assumes that dieters will achieve three results from being on the diet: You'll start to burn fat for energy, you won't feel hungry between meals, and your overall health will improve and you'll feel better. Dr. Atkins' website claims that since carbohydrates are the body's main energy source, the body will burn its own fat to create energy. Lawless takes a different angle. Lawless said protein is primarily used to maintain growth, a healthy immune system and basic cellular activities. She said by excluding carbohydrates from the body, protein may act as the energy provider, but at the same time ignore its other functions. "Protein can provide energy, but the body prefers carbohydrates," she said. "Therefore, the protein diet may be taking protein away from other necessary functions." Atkins also said that being hungry between meals is due to fluctuations in blood-sugar aggravated by consumption of carbohydrates. She also said that cutting back on carbohydrates allows a person to maintain a more even blood sugar level throughout the day. "No more fale hunger pains or mid-afternoon brain drains," she said. Although Schaeffer has seen improvements in her weight, she said that she experiences hunger between meals. "I find myself a little hungry sometimes, but I've learned to eat filling and healthy snacks like bananas or popcorn." Some medical doctors and nutritionists, who have researched the Atkins diet have found that this protein diet is not as healthy as Dr. Atkins asserts. The process of ketosis puts the kidneys at risk. Lawless said the diet has potential to be harmful. Ketosis forces the kidneys to work harder. The body fat that is broken down is excreted through urine, which causes frequent urination. Some medical doctors and nutritionists, who have researched the Atkins diet have found that this protein diet is not as healthy as Dr. Atkins asserts. The process of ketosis puts the kidneys at risk. Lawless said the diet has potential to be harmful. Ketosis forces the kidneys to work harder. The body fat that is broken down is excreted through urine, which causes frequent urination. Liz Applegate, a member of the nutrition faculty at the University of California wrote in an article on the Onhealth website listing some of the health issues involved in the Atkins diet. She believes that a low intake of carbohydrates may lead to colon cancer or other intestinal disorders. She also warns that the diet will put a person at a higher risk of getting heart disease later in life due to the high intakes of cholesterol associated with meat and eggs. Yet, she admits that they do not have enough evidence to show that the diet is safe. Those who first go on the Atkins diet quickly drop pounds, Lawless said. She claims that most of the initial weight loss is due primarily to loss of body water. She said that most people who follow the protein diet are bound to lose weight because they reduce their total calorie intake by eliminating certain foods. "60 percent of calories come from carbohydrates," she said. "Some protein diets take in up to 30 or 40 percent." Health organizations such as the American Heart Association support diets composed of 10 to 15 percent protein, 55 to 60 percent carbohydrates and 25 to 30 percent fat. Thus, these organizations may not support the Atkins diet because it does not meet its guidelines. Lawless said that the body should not take in more than 15 percent of protein. In order to calculate how much protein one is getting you have to first determine your calorie needs. If you are overweight, multiply your weight by 10. If you are at your desired weight, multiply your current weight by 15. For example 140lb x 15 = 2100 calories a day. Then, multiply your caloric needs by 12 percent to find your protein needs. (2100 x .12 = 252) Divide that number by 4 calories per gram. (252/4=63). That number will equal the total number of protein grams one should consume daily. Lawless said she goes along with the mainstream by not recommending the Atkins diet. Even one of the most prestigious universities specializing in nutrition and science, Tufts University, agrees with Lawless. The Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy created a website [www.navigator.tufts.edu] called the Nutrition Navigator, which has become the first online rating system of nutrition webpages on the Internet. The purpose of the site is "to help one sort through the large volume of nutrition information on the Internet and find accurate, useful nutrition information you can trust." An Advisory Board composed of well-known, established nutrition specialists in both the U.S. and Canada, evaluate a website pertaining to the subject of nutrition and health and then rate the site based on the collected information. Points are measured based on the accuracy of content, the depth of the information, the date of when the site was last updated and the usability of the site for the Internet surfer. A website can fall into four possible categories including: "Among the Best" 22-25 points, "Better than Most" 17-21, "Average" 13 - 16 and "Not Recommended" 13 points or lower. Atkins' website received a poor rating of twelve points from Tufts, falling into one of the four categories listed as the "Not recommended" category. Tufts' Nutrition Navigator website does not recommend Internet users to trust the information provided on Dr. Atkins' website. Sites which fall into the "not recommended" category "contain misinformation, lack the appropriate scope, or portray information out of context of current dietary guidance." According to its website, Tufts states the following about Dr. Atkins website: "Misinformation and questionable advice from promoter of very low carbohydrate diets". Lawless said, in today's culture, there is too much emphasis placed on being thin and that many people diet for the wrong reasons. "It's funny because one thing I always tell my students is that we're all on a diet," she said. "People think diet only means losing weight." Lawless' opinion of the Atkins diet is constantly changing because she thinks that there is a lack of adequate research on the topic. "In general, nutritionists are not too keen to recommend the Atkins diet because of adverse effects," she said, "and because there are other ways to cut back on calories." Lawless said that you can maintain a healthy body weight, by simply following dietary guidelines, appealing to your body's energy needs and eating plenty of whole grains, fruits and natural foods.
Carla Kucinski is a sophomore journalism major at Ithaca College. |
