Medical Research



Christopher Gardner, Ph.D., and colleagues at Stanford University conducted an NCCAM-funded study of 311 overweight or obese pre-menopausal women. Four different diets including Atkins were used for the test and the women were randomly allocated to a diet. The Atkins group came out on top with an average weight loss of just over 10 pounds in the 12 month period.This group also had the most favourable metabolic effects.

Duke University Medical School

Duke University Medical School conducted a study of 120 overweight volunteers The patients followed either the Atkins diet (with multivitamins and fish oil) or an American Heart Association low-fat plan. The results after six months of the study were Atkins Diet Weight loss 31 pounds, a 49% drop in triglycerides and an 11% increase in HDL. Low-fat dieters Weight loss 20 pounds, a 22% drop in blood fats known as triglycerides and no increase in HDL HDL is the good cholestoral. The Atkins dieters were also more likely to adhere to the diet.

Health Risks

Many health professionals are concerned about the long term health impact of eating red meat Atkins critics - among them the Washington D.C. based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) charges the protein heavy diet places those who follow it at risk. "High protein diets may cause permanent loss of kidney function;" the group notes, adding that "meat-heavy diets significantly increase one's risk of colon cancer and osteoporosis."

Many people also like like to burn their meat and eat it well done. Carcinogens can be caused by burnt meat.

The Solution.

The Atkins diet is often mislabelled as consisting mainly of red meat. Red meat is one of the options but lean protein is available from many other sources.

The University of Toronto has developed a version of the Atkins diet called the Low Carbohydrate Portfolio or "Eco-Atkins" Diet. It is a high vegetable protein and vegetable fat version of Atkins.

Soy protein foods, other vegetable proteins including gluten and vegetable fats, nuts, avocado, olive and canola oil were exchanged for the butter, eggs, cheese and meat in the Atkins diet. The belief was that this will result in dramatic rather than modest reductions in blood lipids with weight loss. Healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats and vegetable proteins are exchanged for saturated fat and animal protein for with significant effects on blood lipids while still encouraging weight loss.

Other Benefits

Impact on Environment

By consuming two serves of red meat per day will cause theproduction of almost 6 tonnes of methane emissions annually.

Cheap fattening snacks, fast foods and processed meals are typically processed using massive amounts of energy. In an average Western diet, it takes 10 calories of fossil-fuel energy to dispense just one calorie of food energy on to your plate. That's a whopping 3000 calories worth of fossil-fuel energy for an average sized chocolate bar

By adding an additional 50kgs of weight to your car causes a 2% decrease in its fuel economy.

The Eco-Atkins is a great way to save the world whilst you save yourself