A Bankrupt Diet Plan?

Protein is important. Studies have long shown that protein increases satiety -- feeling full. When University of Cincinnati School of Nursing researchers put overweight women on an Atkins diet, their hunger decreased. Initially, they lost weight faster than women on a conventional low-fat diet, but by six months there was no statistical difference between the two groups. Women on the Atkins diet, "had protein with breakfast, protein with lunch and protein with dinner," said Bonnie Brehm, lead author of the study. "I was amazed at how satisfied they were, and they didn't crave snacks."

Taste counts. The Atkins diet launched numerous new lines of low-carbohydrate products from many food manufacturers that flooded grocery stores. "Two years ago, they filled half a grocery wall, now they're just a stand-alone unit because they didn't taste very good and they were expensive," Brehm said.

Diets don't work. It takes consistent lifestyle changes to lose weight and maintain it. "Americans tried [Atkins]," Brehm said. "It worked for a while and then it didn't continue to work, so they abandoned it. . . . The message is moderation, moderation, moderation. But people don't really want to hear that. It's not sexy."

Too many processed, sugary carbohydrates are unhealthy. "Atkins was good in pointing out that refined grains can be a problem, but bad in making any carbohydrate out to be a toxin," said Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Consumption of sugary soft drinks, he said, "has declined by about 12 percent over the last six years. That's an historic turnaround, and I suspect that Atkins, South Beach and Sugar Busters had something to do with it." ·

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