Atkins Diet - Scientific Studies

Scientific Studies

Further information: Medical research related to low-carbohydrate diets

Because of substantial controversy regarding the Atkins Diet and even disagreements in interpreting the results of specific studies it is difficult to objectively summarize the research in a way that reflects scientific consensus. Although there has been some research done throughout the twentieth century, most directly relevant scientific studies, both those that directly analyze the Atkins Diet and those that analyze similar diets, have occurred in the 1990s and early 2000s and, as such, are relatively new. Researchers and other experts have published articles and studies that run the gamut from promoting the safety and efficacy of the diet to questioning its long-term validity to outright condemning it as dangerous. Until recently a significant criticism of the Atkins Diet was that there were no studies that evaluated the effects of Atkins beyond a few months. However, studies are emerging which evaluate low-carbohydrate diets over much longer periods, controlled studies as long as two years and survey studies as long as two decades.

In addition to research on the efficacy of Atkins and other low-carbohydrate diets, some research has directly addressed other areas of health affected by low-carbohydrate diets. For example, contrary to popular belief that low-carbohydrate diets damage the heart, one study found that women eating low-carbohydrate, high-fat/protein diets had the same or slightly less risk of coronary heart disease, compared to women eating high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets. Other studies have found possible benefits to individuals with diabetes, cancer, and epilepsy. One study comparing two levels of low-carbohydrate diets (ketogenic--the lowest carbohydrate level--and non-ketogenic) found that both had positive effects in terms of insulin sensitivity, weight loss, and fat loss while the ketogenic diet showed slightly higher risks of inflammation and somewhat lower perceived levels of vigor, described as "potentially harmful metabolic and emotional side-effects" (although it should be noted that one of the researchers of this study, Barry Sears, markets The Zone as a competing low-carbohydrate diet).

A 2007 study done at Stanford University Medical School, The A to Z Weight Loss Study, compared the Atkins diet with the Zone, Ornish, and LEARN diets in a randomized group of 311 obese premenopausal women over a period of 12 months. The study found that weight loss was significantly higher for the Atkins diet compared to the other three diets. Secondary factors such as HDL-C, triglyceride levels, and systolic blood pressure were also found to have improved to greater levels compared to the other diets.

A 2012 study done at Boston Children's Hospital compared a very low carbohydrate diet (the Atkins diet) with a low fat, high carbohydrate diet, and a low glycemic index diet. Reduction of the resting metabolic rate as a result of dieting, a key factor in the failures of dieting, was the least in the very low carbohydrate diet. In addition, measured total energy expenditure in the patients was the highest in the very low carbohydrate diet, suggesting that a very low carbohydrate diet would be the most likely to produce a sustained weight loss. A possible negative side effect was that C-Reactive Protein levels, a marker for possible future cardiovascular disease, trended somewhat higher in the very low carbohydrate diet.