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American Morning

Paging Dr. Gupta: 'New' Atkins Diet

Aired January 19, 2004 - 07:53   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.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: So, are you on the Atkins diet? Well, then you'd better actually put down that bacon. Many Atkins adherents probably think they can eat all of the high-fat meats they want. But now, it looks like promoters of the popular diet are changing their tune.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is live at CNN Center now with more on this.

What's the deal here? Things are changing.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they could be changing a little bit, Heidi. And, you know, we've talked to the makers of the Atkins diet, the people who have been sponsoring this diet for quite some time.

Certainly, when you think of the Atkins diet, you think of meat, meat and a lot more meat. I mean, that's sort of what the diet staked its reputation on.

A couple of changes perhaps, although the Atkins diet will say it wasn't always all about the meat. They are being very specific now in terms of the numbers.

How much of your overall calories should come from saturated fat? And here are the numbers that people are paying attention to: 20 percent of the calories should come from saturated fat. If you do the math, which so many people do do on these diets, 20 percent of the calories come from saturated fat, and certainly more of an emphasis on chicken and fish, which is not as fun as steaks and cheeseburgers. But still, that's what they're saying.

Overall, they're saying the diet should have 60 percent of your calories coming from fat. That doesn't sound very balanced to a lot of doctors out there, but that's the numbers. A third of those fats can come from saturated -- the rest of those coming from poly or mono- unsaturated fats. Those are things like vegetable oils, fish oils and what people typically think of as the better fats.

So, perhaps a little bit of a change certainly in the mindset of people regarding the Atkins diet. But again, the Atkins people have said all along we weren't always all about the meat. This is not a huge change as far as they are concerned -- Heidi.

COLLINS: People may look at it that way, though. Why the new recommendations? I mean, it seems maybe it would be appropriate to talk about some of the side effects of people who are strictly on the Atkins. GUPTA: Yes, I think people are pretty smart, and I think they fundamentally know that eating cheeseburgers and steak all the time is probably not a good idea. And I think the Atkins people are starting to get that message out there as well.

Certainly the South Beach diet, the popularity of that -- again, a low-carbohydrate diet, but also not a diet focusing so much on the fats -- has been so popular as well. I think the Atkins people noted that as well.

There are side effects. There are concerns about things like heart disease. There are concerns about people having heart attacks or strokes because of too high cholesterol, too much saturated fats in their diet. There are good fats out there, and that's what a lot of the folks are focusing on. Olive oils, nuts, fish, high fruits and vegetables are going to be what you see a lot more in terms of the recommendations now by the Atkins people as well -- Heidi.

GUPTA: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank so much for that.

GUPTA: Thank you.

COLLINS: We'll talk with you again a little bit later on.

GUPTA: All right.

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 19, 2004 - 07:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: So, are you on the Atkins diet? Well, then you'd better actually put down that bacon. Many Atkins adherents probably think they can eat all of the high-fat meats they want. But now, it looks like promoters of the popular diet are changing their tune.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is live at CNN Center now with more on this.

What's the deal here? Things are changing.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, they could be changing a little bit, Heidi. And, you know, we've talked to the makers of the Atkins diet, the people who have been sponsoring this diet for quite some time.

Certainly, when you think of the Atkins diet, you think of meat, meat and a lot more meat. I mean, that's sort of what the diet staked its reputation on.

A couple of changes perhaps, although the Atkins diet will say it wasn't always all about the meat. They are being very specific now in terms of the numbers.

How much of your overall calories should come from saturated fat? And here are the numbers that people are paying attention to: 20 percent of the calories should come from saturated fat. If you do the math, which so many people do do on these diets, 20 percent of the calories come from saturated fat, and certainly more of an emphasis on chicken and fish, which is not as fun as steaks and cheeseburgers. But still, that's what they're saying.

Overall, they're saying the diet should have 60 percent of your calories coming from fat. That doesn't sound very balanced to a lot of doctors out there, but that's the numbers. A third of those fats can come from saturated -- the rest of those coming from poly or mono- unsaturated fats. Those are things like vegetable oils, fish oils and what people typically think of as the better fats.

So, perhaps a little bit of a change certainly in the mindset of people regarding the Atkins diet. But again, the Atkins people have said all along we weren't always all about the meat. This is not a huge change as far as they are concerned -- Heidi.

COLLINS: People may look at it that way, though. Why the new recommendations? I mean, it seems maybe it would be appropriate to talk about some of the side effects of people who are strictly on the Atkins. GUPTA: Yes, I think people are pretty smart, and I think they fundamentally know that eating cheeseburgers and steak all the time is probably not a good idea. And I think the Atkins people are starting to get that message out there as well.

Certainly the South Beach diet, the popularity of that -- again, a low-carbohydrate diet, but also not a diet focusing so much on the fats -- has been so popular as well. I think the Atkins people noted that as well.

There are side effects. There are concerns about things like heart disease. There are concerns about people having heart attacks or strokes because of too high cholesterol, too much saturated fats in their diet. There are good fats out there, and that's what a lot of the folks are focusing on. Olive oils, nuts, fish, high fruits and vegetables are going to be what you see a lot more in terms of the recommendations now by the Atkins people as well -- Heidi.

GUPTA: All right, Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank so much for that.

GUPTA: Thank you.

COLLINS: We'll talk with you again a little bit later on.

GUPTA: All right.

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