The controversial high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet made famous by the late Dr Robert C. Atkins could see a revival in 2010 if Monty Sharma has anything to do with it. Sharma, the CEO of Atkins Nutritionals, lost 10 pounds on the diet two years ago and has since been singing the doomed weight-loss program’s praises.

A few years ago celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Geri Halliwell were big supporters of popular diet. But when Atkins died in 2003 at the age of 72, him, his diet and his company had their reputation tarnished when rumors that the good doctor suffered from heart problems as a result of the Atkins diet. The company filed for bankruptcy in 2005, emerged from it in 2006 and was acquired by Sharma and private-equity firm North Castle Partners in 2008.

Sharma says the company’s downfall was because there were too many products like nutritional bars and slimming shakes on the market, and has now cut back from 100 to 64. The recipes have also been made sweeter, but still only contained 1g of sugar, while the packaging has been made smaller.

Pumping new life into its marketing strategy, Sharma believes the Atkins Diet will see a resurrection with the release of a new book New Atkins for a New You: The Ultimate Diet for Shedding Weight Fast and Feeling Great Forever. On shelves in March, the book was by three doctors from Stanford, Duke and the University of Connecticut and reminds dieters to eat balanced meals, including vegetables.

“No more of the ‘meat all the time’,” Sharma told Forbes.com. “People have to eat vegetables too.”

Celeb Diet Doc
The original Atkins is too high in animal protein and too low in veggies and fruit. In fact Atkins recommended that users take a fiber supplement, no doubt because many people are seriously constipated on his diet. You can check out a lively debate on the Atkins diet, in the comment section of my post Atkins Kills. In any event this “new and improved” Atkins sounds like a big step in the right direction.

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British actress and model Elizabeth Hurley has recently launched her own line of organic meats and foods. She and husband Arun Nayar have a 400-acre organic farm and she has gone to great efforts to support her new company and the campaign for sustainable foods. Recently, it was revealed in the UK OK! Magazine that the actress keeps her svelte figure by practicing what she preaches and snacks on beef jerky and other dried cured meats to keep her sleek physique. She said,

“It’s an excellent thing for anyone on the Atkins diet. I did a movie in South Africa with Ice Cube and it’s all I ate. I was very thin – 121lbs.”

Hurley’s product line of health snacks are all less than 100 calories and are made from ingredients grown and raised on her farm. She is partnering with the Prince of Wales’ company, Duchy Originals, to sell her healthy snacks.

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As you may have guessed, I’m not a fan of Atkins. There’s a lot of misinformation about this diet that a recent study helped clarify… and frankly validates my own beliefs about this controversial diet. First let me first say you will lose weight on Atkins and your cholesterol levels will go down. Sounds good right? Well don’t be fooled.

Consider this. Cholesterol levels will go down as a result of any weight loss period. You could be drinking motor oil to lose weight and your cholesterol will go down so don’t think for a second Atkins is healthy.

A recent study presented at the American Heart Association, corrected for this cholesterol “weight loss” lowering effect. This study involved 18 people, each of whom were put on three different diets for month, and they were carefully monitored so they had no weight loss. The three diets were: Atkins with 50% of calories as fat, South Beach with 30% calories as fat and the Ornish diet with 10% fat.

Atkins was decidedly the worst diet. LDL or bad cholesterol went up by 7% on Atkins, while it decreased by 7% on the Ornish diet and by 10% on the South Beach diet. Not only that, but markers for inflammation went up by 30-45% on the Atkins diet whereas on the South Beach and Ornish diets they were either unchanged or decrease by 15-20%. Inflammation is a marker for accelerated aging and high levels of inflammation are associated with an increased risk of cancer, stroke, heart disease, dementia to name just a few chronic diseases that plague Western society.

Atkins has so many devotees because it’s easy to follow in our overly processed food world. It will result in weight loss because by cutting out refined carbs such as white flour products (cakes, cookies, breads etc) you’re essentially cutting calories. However by consuming a diet high in animal protein that’s low in fruits and veggies you’re putting your health at risk. The cholesterol lowering effect of Atkins is an illusion. It’s due to weight loss, not the diet. When you factor the weight loss out, Atkins causes your cholesterol and inflammatory markers to go up.

Rocco Dispirito lost weight on Atkins!? Total heresy I say. This guy grew up on pasta! Rocco jump started his weight loss on Atkins for 1 1/2 months, losing 30 lbs. Now back to a more normal diet, Rocco limits sugar and eats lots of salads. He’s also started competing in triathlons.

For those of you who may not remember, Rocco got his “break” with the reality TV series “The Restaurant.” The series didn’t last too long, and the food didn’t frankly look that good, but Rocco still makes the rounds on QVC, the Food Network and various morning shows.

As many of you know, much of the initial weight loss on Atkins is water loss because as you go into ketosis you deplete glycogen stores which hold on to water. After that, Atkins does result in “real” weight loss. Personally I believe Atkins is easier to follow than most diets, because in our overly processed world it’s easy to “throw out the bun and eat the burger.” Or in Rocco’s case throw out the pasta. Finding veggie and fruit options at fast food restaurants for instance, is a lot harder proposition. By cutting out the carbs (refined carbs) you are essentially cutting out some of the most calorie dense foods (cakes, breads, cookies etc) in the American diet. So what a lot of people don’t realize is that on an Atkins diet you are essentially cutting back on calories. The problem with Atkins is that although it may be easier to follow, it’s too high in animal protein which causes cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis. Interestingly, although many people report some initial success with the diet, only 1% of people who have on average lost 70 lbs and kept it off for 6 years report using an Atkins style diet.

As for Rocco, never trust a skinny chef:)

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A new Stanford study pitted popular diet plans in a weight loss challenge and the Atkins diet came out on top, with participants losing about 10 lbs at 12 months. The other diets weighed in with more modest results: LEARN diet (5.7 lbs), Ornish (4.8 lbs) and the Zone (3.5 lbs). Btw, the study characterized the LEARN diet (Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitudes, Relationships, and Nutrition) as a low fat, high carbohydrate diet, based on national guidelines.

The Atkins diet also raised HDL (good cholesterol) and lowered triglycerides more than the other diets. The Ornish and Learn diets were the best at lowering LDL (bad cholesterol). Although the Atkins diet raised LDL initially, this effect was not statistically significant at 12 months. It’s not surprising participants were able to lose more weight with Atkins given that it is easier to follow than the others. Think about trying to adhere to the Ornish diet with the lack of vegetarian options on restaurant menus, our fast food culture and the overwhelming presence of processed foods found at your local supermarket.

While Atkins came out on top in this study, it did not measure any long term health consequences. Before you consider loading up on steak and heavy cream consider the findings of the China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project, a 20 year study on health and nutrition in China. Higher animal protein consumption was directly correlated with increasing rates of heart disease, osteoporosis and cancer.