The Truth About 10 Trendy New Year's Diets
ABCNews.com Takes a Look at the Best and the Worst New Year's Diet Searches
3) Low-Carb (Atkins) Diet
What It Is: The Atkins Diet was first popularized in 1972, with the release of the book "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution." Controversial from the start, the diet is built around the idea that consuming too many carbohydrates is the main factor behind overweight and obesity. Therefore, by drastically reducing the intake of carbohydrates and shifting over to a diet high in protein in fat, a person can force his or her body to burn stored fat more efficiently.
The Atkins diet gained momentum at the beginning of the decade, and diet authors have published a host of new books aimed at further delving into the benefits of a low-carb approach to weight loss.
Expert Verdict:
Ikeda: "Is this old thing still around? If it worked, obesity would no longer be a problem in this country, since a good percentage of the population has tried it."
Katz: "I think this is a silly diet at odds with health. It restricts choice very severely, which in turn restricts calories severely -- so it of course produces short term weight loss. But cutting out 'carbs' long term makes no sense; everything from lollipops to lentils is a 'carb,' so this diet throws out the baby with the bathwater."
Ayoob: "This is the original 'Full-Fat Diet.' Isn't America over this one yet? For people who plan to ditch their resolutions, this diet is for them -- people don't tend to stay with it very long. Just understand that when you finally let go of this diet, you'll have to go for something more realistic and not so limiting. Why not do that right from the start?"
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