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American Morning

House Call: Atkins Diet

Aired January 28, 2003 - 07:54   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We just heard from a lot of you out there and from diet Dr. Robert Atkins about his diet for keeping weight off. But is it healthy to stay on the Atkins Diet for life?
Let's get some analysis now from our own medical correspondent, a very fit Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. Oh, good morning.

ZAHN: How do you do it, Sanjay? On the Atkins Diet?

GUPTA: Well, I don't. I actually don't do the Atkins Diet. It's funny, when I was downstairs, I actually saw Dr. Atkins dipping a little piece of bagel into a huge thing of cream cheese and taking a bite and that's clearly part of his diet, the high-fat diet.

But, Paula, you know, we've known for a long time the impact of saturated fats on society. This has been one of the most studied things that people have studied. And Dr. Atkins blames it on the carbohydrates, but most scientists...

ZAHN: And trans fats?

GUPTA: And trans fats, right. Most people blame it on saturated fat. That's a sort of fat that Andy Serwer was eating here on the set, bacon, the really red meats, things like that. And the link between heart disease. That's one criticism of the Atkins Diet.

Two, it's just the low carbohydrates. Besides the fact that carbohydrates are a sugar source, they're also a source of vitamin B. They're a source of fiber. They're a matrix for a brain chemical known as seratonin. You had one question about someone who didn't feel as motivated after a few weeks on the Atkins Diet. That's in part possibly because of the decrease in seratonin levels.

Also less fruits and vegetables. Besides providing vitamins, fruits and vegetables ward off cancer, they ward off Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, all sorts of different things.

But the biggest criticism...

ZAHN: But he doesn't tell you not to eat the vegetables.

GUPTA: Well, he says a few berries at the beginning...

ZAHN: He said go for the asparagus and broccoli over corn and carrots and beets.

GUPTA: Right. Right, and not as much of the fruits though, because of the sugar content in the fruits.

The biggest criticism -- and besides, Dr. Atkins has done it for 40 years as he just told us. Most people have a hard time staying on this diet as they do with many other diets. If you are going to stay on it, you've got to take the fish oil supplements, you've got to take other vitamins and stuff like that in order to keep the cholesterol levels down. That's why those people have their cholesterol levels down. Most people think it's because of the additional fish oil supplements that the book also recommends.

ZAHN: Can you explain then why so many people in America have successfully lost so much weight on this diet?

GUPTA: Yes. Well, I think it can be a very successful diet. It actually puts your body into a state of what is known as ketosis, which means that you're just burning fats like crazy. So, you're taking in a lot of fat, but your body is also becoming trained to burn the fat. Why? Because it doesn't have the carbohydrates sort of on the ready to be able to do this sort of thing.

But the problem again, Paula, long-term, could it be bad for your heart? Could you stay on it? And you've got to make sure to take those supplements. Most people forget those supplements.

ZAHN: That's good to remember.

GUPTA: Yes.

ZAHN: Boy, a lot to ingest this morning.

GUPTA: Yes. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you can ingest as much as you want apparently.

ZAHN: Nice to see you in person, Sanjay, for a change.

GUPTA: Yes, I'll see you later.

ZAHN: We are lucky to have him in town for the next couple of days.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 28, 2003 - 07:54   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: We just heard from a lot of you out there and from diet Dr. Robert Atkins about his diet for keeping weight off. But is it healthy to stay on the Atkins Diet for life?
Let's get some analysis now from our own medical correspondent, a very fit Dr. Sanjay Gupta.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Thank you. Oh, good morning.

ZAHN: How do you do it, Sanjay? On the Atkins Diet?

GUPTA: Well, I don't. I actually don't do the Atkins Diet. It's funny, when I was downstairs, I actually saw Dr. Atkins dipping a little piece of bagel into a huge thing of cream cheese and taking a bite and that's clearly part of his diet, the high-fat diet.

But, Paula, you know, we've known for a long time the impact of saturated fats on society. This has been one of the most studied things that people have studied. And Dr. Atkins blames it on the carbohydrates, but most scientists...

ZAHN: And trans fats?

GUPTA: And trans fats, right. Most people blame it on saturated fat. That's a sort of fat that Andy Serwer was eating here on the set, bacon, the really red meats, things like that. And the link between heart disease. That's one criticism of the Atkins Diet.

Two, it's just the low carbohydrates. Besides the fact that carbohydrates are a sugar source, they're also a source of vitamin B. They're a source of fiber. They're a matrix for a brain chemical known as seratonin. You had one question about someone who didn't feel as motivated after a few weeks on the Atkins Diet. That's in part possibly because of the decrease in seratonin levels.

Also less fruits and vegetables. Besides providing vitamins, fruits and vegetables ward off cancer, they ward off Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, all sorts of different things.

But the biggest criticism...

ZAHN: But he doesn't tell you not to eat the vegetables.

GUPTA: Well, he says a few berries at the beginning...

ZAHN: He said go for the asparagus and broccoli over corn and carrots and beets.

GUPTA: Right. Right, and not as much of the fruits though, because of the sugar content in the fruits.

The biggest criticism -- and besides, Dr. Atkins has done it for 40 years as he just told us. Most people have a hard time staying on this diet as they do with many other diets. If you are going to stay on it, you've got to take the fish oil supplements, you've got to take other vitamins and stuff like that in order to keep the cholesterol levels down. That's why those people have their cholesterol levels down. Most people think it's because of the additional fish oil supplements that the book also recommends.

ZAHN: Can you explain then why so many people in America have successfully lost so much weight on this diet?

GUPTA: Yes. Well, I think it can be a very successful diet. It actually puts your body into a state of what is known as ketosis, which means that you're just burning fats like crazy. So, you're taking in a lot of fat, but your body is also becoming trained to burn the fat. Why? Because it doesn't have the carbohydrates sort of on the ready to be able to do this sort of thing.

But the problem again, Paula, long-term, could it be bad for your heart? Could you stay on it? And you've got to make sure to take those supplements. Most people forget those supplements.

ZAHN: That's good to remember.

GUPTA: Yes.

ZAHN: Boy, a lot to ingest this morning.

GUPTA: Yes. And (UNINTELLIGIBLE) you can ingest as much as you want apparently.

ZAHN: Nice to see you in person, Sanjay, for a change.

GUPTA: Yes, I'll see you later.

ZAHN: We are lucky to have him in town for the next couple of days.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com