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Now Harvard study backs up Atkins diet
October 14, 2003
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The dietary establishment has long argued it's impossible, but a new study
offers intriguing evidence for the idea that people on low-carbohydrate diets can actually eat more
than folks on standard low-fat plans and still lose weight.
Perhaps nothing is more controversial in the diet world than the low-carb diet long espoused by the
late Dr. Robert Atkins.
Now, a small but carefully controlled study offers a strong hint that maybe Atkins was right.
The study, directed by Penelope Greene of the Harvard School of Public Health and presented at a
meeting here this week of the American Association for the Study of Obesity, found that people
eating an extra 300 calories a day on a very low-carb regimen lost just as much during a 12-week
study as those on a standard low-fat diet.
Researchers are still arguing over why, and if, the Atkins diet works. ''A lot of our assumptions
about a calorie is a calorie are being challenged,'' said Marlene Schwartz of Yale. ''As scientists,
we need to be open-minded.''
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Surprise: Low-carb dieters eat more calories, still lose weight
By DANIEL Q. HANEY
AP Medical Editor
10/14/2003
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- The dietary establishment has long argued it's impossible, but a new study
offers intriguing evidence for the idea that people on low-carbohydrate diets can actually eat more
than folks on standard lowfat plans and still lose weight.
Perhaps no idea is more controversial in the diet world than the contention -- long espoused by the
late Dr. Robert Atkins -- that people on low-carbohydrate diets can consume more calories without
paying a price on the scales.
Over the past year, several small studies have shown, to many experts' surprise, that the Atkins
approach actually does work better, at least in the short run. Dieters lose more than those on a
standard American Heart Association plan without driving up their cholesterol levels, as many feared
would happen.
Skeptics contend, however, that these dieters simply must be eating less. Maybe the low-carb diets
are more satisfying, so they do not get so hungry. Or perhaps the food choices are just so limited
that low-carb dieters are too bored to eat a lot.
Now, a small but carefully controlled study offers a strong hint that maybe Atkins was right: People
on low-carb, high-fat diets actually can eat more.
The study, directed by Penelope Greene of the Harvard School of Public Health and presented at a
meeting here this week of the American Association for the Study of Obesity, found that people
eating an extra 300 calories a day on a very low-carb regimen lost just as much during a 12-week
study as those on a standard lowfat diet.
Over the course of the study, they consumed an extra 25,000 calories. That should have added up to
about seven pounds.
But for some reason, it did not.
"There does indeed seem to be something about a low-carb diet that says you can eat more calories
and lose a similar amount of weight," Greene said.
That strikes at one of the most revered beliefs in nutrition: A calorie is a calorie is a calorie.
It does not matter whether they come from bacon or mashed potatoes; they all go on the waistline in
just the same way.
Not even Greene says this settles the case, but some at the meeting found her report fascinating.
"A lot of our assumptions about a calorie is a calorie are being challenged," said Marlene Schwartz
of Yale. "As scientists, we need to be open-minded."
Others, though, found the data hard to swallow.
"It doesn't make sense, does it?" said Barbara Rolls of Pennsylvania State University. "It violates
the laws of thermodynamics. No one has ever found any miraculous metabolic effects."
In the study, 21 overweight volunteers were divided into three categories: Two groups were randomly
assigned to either lowfat or low-carb diets with 1,500 calories for women and 1,800 for men; a third
group was also low-carb but got an extra 300 calories a day.
The study was unique because all the food was prepared at an upscale Italian restaurant in
Cambridge, Mass., so researchers knew exactly what they ate. Most earlier studies simply sent people
home with diet plans to follow as best they could.
Each afternoon, the volunteers picked up that evening's dinner, a bedtime snack and the next day's
breakfast and lunch. Instead of lots of red meat and saturated fat, which many find disturbing about
low-carb diets, these people ate mostly fish, chicken, salads, vegetables and unsaturated oils.
"This is not what people think of when they think about an Atkins diet," Greene said. Nevertheless,
the Atkins organization agreed to pay for the research, though it had no input into the study's
design, conduct or analysis.
Everyone's food looked similar but was cooked to different recipes. The low-carb meals were 5
percent carbohydrate, 15 percent protein and 65 percent fat. The rest got 55 percent carbohydrate,
15 percent protein and 30 percent fat.
In the end, everyone lost weight. Those on the lower-cal, low-carb regimen took off 23 pounds, while
people who got the same calories on the lowfat approach lost 17 pounds. The big surprise, though,
was that volunteers getting the extra 300 calories a day of low-carb food lost 20 pounds.
"It's very intriguing, but it raises more questions than it answers," said Gary Foster of the
University of Pennsylvania. "There is lots of data to suggest this shouldn't be true."
Greene said she can only guess why the people getting the extra calories did so well. Maybe they
burned up more calories digesting their food.
Dr. Samuel Klein of Washington University, the obesity organization's president, called the results
"hard to believe" and said perhaps the people eating more calories also got more exercise or
they were less apt to cheat because they were less hungry.
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EDITOR'S NOTE: Medical Editor Daniel Q. Haney is a special correspondent for The Associated Press.
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