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American Morning

Independent Word on Atkins Diet

Aired May 22, 2003 - 06:52   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's one of the most popular diets out there and now hopefully definitive independent word on if it really works. You know I'm talking about the Atkins diet. Eat all the bacon and cheese you want and still lose weight.
So does it work better than the other diets?

Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here.

OK, two new studies in the "New England Journal of Medicine."

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

COSTELLO: What are they saying?

FRYHOFER: Oh, I know you can't wait. Well, believe it or not, 10 million copies of this book have been sold, but the question is always asked, do you lose more weight on the Atkins diet and is it safe? But -- and until this year, believe it or not, there was not one single randomized trial looking at its effectiveness, and now we've got two in the "New England Journal of Medicine."

The first study looked at 63 obese men and women. They were assigned to either the Atkins diet or a conventional low fat diet and followed it for a year. The initial results were both surprising and exciting. People on the Atkins diet lost more weight initially, four percent more weight at three and six months, but by the end of one year, the difference between the two groups was not significant.

The other study lasted six months. It looked at a sicker group of 132 severely obese people, many of whom already had diabetes. The findings were similar. At six months, people on the Atkins diet had lost more weight, on average, 12 pounds versus four pounds on the low fat diet.

Also unexpected was that people on the Atkins diet had greater improvement in several cardiac risk factors. At three months, people on the Atkins diet had greater decreases in triglycerides and a greater increase in HDL, which is the good cholesterol. Levels of LDL, the bad cholesterol, initially increased on the Atkins diet, which is not good, but over time this increase ended up not being significant.

Again, this study only lasted a year, so we don't know what would happen after a longer period of time.

And this is no surprise, people had trouble staying on their diets. Forty-one percent of people dropped out of the study.

COSTELLO: Yes, I know so many people who have been on the Atkins diet and then they stop doing it and they gain back more weight than they were trying to take off.

FRYHOFER: You're not supposed to do that.

COSTELLO: No. Not at all.

Well, what happens now? I mean will doctors change their tune about the Atkins diet and say go ahead and do it, it's safe?

FRYHOFER: No, not with these studies. These are just preliminary studies and they did not look at other long-term effects, for instance, on the bones and the kidneys. But they do suggest that perhaps the Atkins diet deserves further evaluation. And, of course, before any diet is recommended, we want to make sure it's safe, and the long-term safety of the Atkins diet is still a concern.

A five year study is now in progress that hopefully will help answer some of these questions.

COSTELLO: OK, just to make things very clear, who paid for these studies that were in the "New England Journal of Medicine?"

FRYHOFER: I know what you're asking. Unlike previous studies, most of which were funded by the Atkins Foundation, this one, in fact, was funded by the National Institutes of Health. So it gives it a little more unbiased approach, certainly.

COSTELLO: Definitely so.

Well, we'll keep our ear on things because there's going to be yet another study, as you said.

Thank you very much.

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 May 22, 2003 - 06:52   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's one of the most popular diets out there and now hopefully definitive independent word on if it really works. You know I'm talking about the Atkins diet. Eat all the bacon and cheese you want and still lose weight.
So does it work better than the other diets?

Dr. Sandra Fryhofer is here.

OK, two new studies in the "New England Journal of Medicine."

DR. SANDRA FRYHOFER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right.

COSTELLO: What are they saying?

FRYHOFER: Oh, I know you can't wait. Well, believe it or not, 10 million copies of this book have been sold, but the question is always asked, do you lose more weight on the Atkins diet and is it safe? But -- and until this year, believe it or not, there was not one single randomized trial looking at its effectiveness, and now we've got two in the "New England Journal of Medicine."

The first study looked at 63 obese men and women. They were assigned to either the Atkins diet or a conventional low fat diet and followed it for a year. The initial results were both surprising and exciting. People on the Atkins diet lost more weight initially, four percent more weight at three and six months, but by the end of one year, the difference between the two groups was not significant.

The other study lasted six months. It looked at a sicker group of 132 severely obese people, many of whom already had diabetes. The findings were similar. At six months, people on the Atkins diet had lost more weight, on average, 12 pounds versus four pounds on the low fat diet.

Also unexpected was that people on the Atkins diet had greater improvement in several cardiac risk factors. At three months, people on the Atkins diet had greater decreases in triglycerides and a greater increase in HDL, which is the good cholesterol. Levels of LDL, the bad cholesterol, initially increased on the Atkins diet, which is not good, but over time this increase ended up not being significant.

Again, this study only lasted a year, so we don't know what would happen after a longer period of time.

And this is no surprise, people had trouble staying on their diets. Forty-one percent of people dropped out of the study.

COSTELLO: Yes, I know so many people who have been on the Atkins diet and then they stop doing it and they gain back more weight than they were trying to take off.

FRYHOFER: You're not supposed to do that.

COSTELLO: No. Not at all.

Well, what happens now? I mean will doctors change their tune about the Atkins diet and say go ahead and do it, it's safe?

FRYHOFER: No, not with these studies. These are just preliminary studies and they did not look at other long-term effects, for instance, on the bones and the kidneys. But they do suggest that perhaps the Atkins diet deserves further evaluation. And, of course, before any diet is recommended, we want to make sure it's safe, and the long-term safety of the Atkins diet is still a concern.

A five year study is now in progress that hopefully will help answer some of these questions.

COSTELLO: OK, just to make things very clear, who paid for these studies that were in the "New England Journal of Medicine?"

FRYHOFER: I know what you're asking. Unlike previous studies, most of which were funded by the Atkins Foundation, this one, in fact, was funded by the National Institutes of Health. So it gives it a little more unbiased approach, certainly.

COSTELLO: Definitely so.

Well, we'll keep our ear on things because there's going to be yet another study, as you said.

Thank you very much.

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