This was among the news on Yahoo yesterday:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20071106/...heart_diets_dc
First of all, the article states the study was based on 18 people that did each of the 3 diets (Atkins, SB & Ornish) for 1 month. It perviously stated "When you lose weight everything looks good but after a while you plateau and you hit a maintenance stage," said Miller, who presented his findings to a meeting of the American Heart Association in Orlando, Florida.
Correct me if I am wrong, 1 month on ANY diet plan does NOT constitute a maintenance stage!! Perhaps if they had based their study on say, 100 people who have been on Atkins for 1 year or more...it most definitely would have produced extremely different results!
The article went on to mention "Most studies have shown that diets that stress vegetables, low-fat sources of protein such as beans and legumes, and whole grains provide the best long-term weight loss." Well...DUH!!!!! This statement causes me to wonder just exactly what these 18 people that were "doing Atkins" for 1 month ate! Contrary to popular belief...Atkins is NOT all about sitting & consuming lbs of bacon, butter & red meat all day long!! From day 1 on the Atkins lifestyle, vegetables are strongly encouraged. If you look at the Acceptable Foods List: http://www.atkins.com/articles/atkin...eptable-foods/
you will see 59 vegetables listed. The Pre-Maintenance phase of Atkins includes legumes: lentils, kidney beans, black beans, navy beans, lima beans, great northern beans, chick peas, fava beans, pinto beans. And much to the average "Atkins doubter's" surprise FRUIT is encouraged on Pre-Maintenance! Apples, cherries, peaches, grapes, strawberries, grapefruit, cantaloupe, kiwi, watermelon, fruit cocktail (packed in water), plums, small banana, guava, mango. Grains such as long grain brown rice, old fashioned oatmeal, corn kernels, whole wheat cereal (Wheatena), barley, semolina pasta are also permitted.
There was 1 statement in this article that they managed to get correct "Many low-fat diets allow processed carbohydrates such as white flour, which have also been shown to be unhealthy, experts agree." How many more years do you think it will be before they realize fat is not what makes you fat??
And last, but..certainly not least, their ending comment..."We don't recommend the Atkins diet," "Why not start out with a diet that will be healthier for you in the long run after weight loss?" Perhaps their next study should be on those of us "Atkineers" that have been maintaining on this plan longer than 1 month!!!