Who's to blame
Atkins advocates are fond of blaming low-fat diets for the astronomical rise in obesity among Americans in the last 20 years. They say that as people spurned fats they turned to carbohydrates instead and started gaining weight. But three facts must be noted:
-- Americans are not eating less fat; rather, per capita consumption of fat has risen by 5kg a year since 1973. All things being equal (which they are not), this alone would result in an average of five more kilos than people weighed 30 years ago.
-- Americans are also eating more carbohydrates, but not the whole grains, fruits and vegetables that weight-control experts and health promoters recommend. They are eating far more sugars (9kg more per capita since 1975, another 5kg of body weight) and more refined starches as they overindulge in fat-free or low-fat cakes, crackers and so on.
-- Americans are eating more calories, which is the real cause of weight gain. That is why the percentage of calories from fat has fallen while total fat intake has not.
Inactivity
These dietary changes have been accompanied by an overall decline in physical activity. In other words, we are consuming more calories and burning fewer. That is why we have an obesity epidemic.
A final -- and critically important -- unknown remains the long-term safety of a diet rich in saturated fats and limited in the whole grains, fruits and vegetables that countless studies have linked to reduced rates of heart disease, stroke and cancer, the nation's leading killers.
Recent studies have strongly suggested that carbohydrate-rich, low-fat diets with only modest amounts of protein may be less effective in achieving and maintaining weight loss. Fat and protein are digested more slowly than carbohydrates and may delay the return of hunger.
Also, while it may be easy to overeat or binge on cake or cookies, few people can consume large quantities of burgers without buns and unsweetened whipped cream. That is why, as the new studies show, Atkins adherents eat fewer calories than they did before starting the diet, and it is this calorie reduction that accounts for their weight loss.
If you want to try a diet that many experts concerned about both weight and health now recommend, it should contain about 25 percent of calories from fats primarily from vegetable sources like olive, canola and nut oils, avocados, beans, nut butters, nuts and seeds, along with fish and lean red meats and poultry adding up to about 20 percent to 25 percent of calories from protein.
Rounding out this diet are whole grains and ample amounts of vegetables and fruits. On this less restrictive diet, the weight loss may be slower than with Atkins, but it is more likely to stick.
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