High-protein diets, such as the Atkins diet and the Zone, are very popular with dieters, but are they safe? Not likely, reports the American Heart Association.

"They put people at risk for heart disease and we're really concerned about that," says Dr Robert Eckel, chairman of the heart association's Nutrition Committee. "Long-term, the saturated fat and cholesterol content of the diet will raise the bad cholesterol and increase the risk for cardiovascular disease, particularly heart attacks."

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But Colette Heimowitz, director of education and research for Atkins Health and Medical Information Services, says that if people's cholesterol levels shoot up, that's only because they aren't following the diet properly.

What no one seems to argue is that it is possible to lose weight on these diets. But the magic formula these protein diets offer is nothing more than the same message nutritionists have been telling us for years - eat fewer calories.

Researchers examined the Atkins programme and found that during the first phase of the diet, which is the most restrictive, participants were only eating 1 400 calories a day, compared with the 2 500 they were scarfing down before the diet. - (HealthDayNews)

 

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