Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Atkins Weight Loss Diet

Question:
INDIVIDUALS following the trendy Atkins diet could be more susceptible to depression this winter, according to a leading nutritionist. Could be??? No evidence, just could be?

Answer:
The dieters’ lack of carbohydrate intake will lead to lower levels of seratonin, the happy chemical in their brains, according to Lorraine Perretta, a senior nutrition consultant. Carbohydrates don’t make seratonin but encourage the making if it, she said. If people are cutting out carbohydrates they are more likely to suffer from depression. In a study of 50,000 people, those who ate a variety of foods were healthier and happier. Monitoring people on the Atkins diet is a good experiment - if they all feel particularly bad this winter there must be some connection. The Atkins diet encourages followers to eat high protein foods and cut out carbohydrates, such as potatoes, bread and pasta. It has soared in popularity with endorsements from celebrities such as Renee Zellweger, Jennifer Aniston and Geri Halliwell. However, some health experts are concerned about the diet’s long-term effects. In August, Dr Susan Jebb, from the Medical Research Council’s Human Nutrition Research Centre in Cambridge, said it would be negligent to recommend the diet to anyone who was overweight. Dr Jebb added that the claims made for the Atkins diet were based on pseudo-science. Dr Robert Atkins, who developed the diet in 1972, believed carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, rice and starchy vegetables, over-stimulated the production of insulin, resulting in hunger and weight gain. But Dr Jebb said the diet was a leap in the dark because it meant such a dramatic change in eating habits. Three million Britons are now on the controversial diet with, 7 per cent of British men and 10 per cent of women having tried it. In the past five years, four million Britons have tried it. According to a recent poll, 85 per cent of those who have tried the Atkins diet believe it is effective, and almost 70 per cent would recommend it