Atkins and Heart Attack???

[bilowi]

Has anybody read the article on CNN.com about Atkins and Heart Attack???
The first line of the article says it all. It's a special report under the Health Section.

[matawguro]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

Link pls.

[changing]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

I'm wondering if the OP was referring to this:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/11/08....ap/index.html

???

[bilowi]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/11/08....ap/index.html

Sorry ya'll I wasn't really sure about posting a link (whether it was allowed).

[2big4mysize]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

yep isn't it great medical science has finally caught up with Dr Atkins knowledge?

[SugarFreeSheila]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

Very encouraging.

[sallyseachange]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

Thanks for posting this interesting article Bilowi! Definitely one for the nay-sayers!!

[G-Mom]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

The study of thousands of women over two decades found that those who got lots of their carbohydrates from refined sugars and highly processed foods nearly doubled their risk of heart disease.

This made me snicker a bit!

[sadie147]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

I was happy to see this was also reported on our local news tonight

[cathyjobob]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

Thanks! I need to show this to a coworker

[Kent]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

I love how if you just read the headlines or see the tease on evening news you could really believe the opposite. I saw this story highlighted on the news as "Low carb and Heart Trouble?" when the whole point is it is heart healthy to reduce one's carbohydrate levels.

[ValidRouge]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

That's true, Kent! Also in the news reports they interview and quote people from the low-fat camp...and they have to still bash the fat. In the CNN article there is the one little sentence that G-mom pointed out about how the study shows that the high carb/low fat INCREASES the heart disease risk, yet two whole paragraphs dedicated to the former AHA president still touting the low-fat lifestyle!!!!!!!

Grrr.

[matawguro]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

Something about the way media reports on these studies. They tend to put spin to mitigate the benefits of low-carb, or exagerate the downsides of low-carb. Reading the news items, you get the following either stated or implied:

• While low-carb is not worse than low-fat, but it's not better.
• If you're on a low-carb diet, it's better to avoid animal fat/protein in favor of plant and vegetable fat/protein

So while the study says that low-carb diets are not worse than low-fat, low-carb diets, especially those similar to Atkins are still flawed. Anyone reading the news article would be led to believe that a low-carb vegetarian diet is the best.

When studies like this come up, I always go to Regina Wilshire's Weight of the Evidence blog. She has access to the actual studies and picks them apart to show you what media doesn't tell you. You can read the entry Spinning Low-Carbohydrate Data.

Regina Wilshire's writing tends to be technical so it's a hard read for the average reader. I'll give you the cliff notes:

• Those on the study classified as eating low-carb were consuming around 139g of carbs a day. Not exactly low carb.
• The group that had reduced heart disease risk were not eating more vegetables. They were eating more nuts. They also had a higher intake of saturated fat which media conveniently chose to ignore.

You can read more on her blog.

[sallyseachange]

Re: Atkins and Heart Attack???

Awesome blog Robbie... thanks for the links!