My Friend Has Been On The Atkins Diet For Two Years. Is That Healthy?

Dr. Lichtenstein answers the question: 'Is The Atkins Diet Heart-Healthy?'

By
Alice H. Lichtenstein, D.Sc., Director, Cardiovascular Nutrition Laboratory, JM USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University
November 12, 2008, 2:10 PM ET
1 min read

— -- Question: My friend has been on the Atkins diet for two years. Is that healthy?

Answer: Well, there are some concerns with the Atkins diet. It's very high in protein; it's high in fat. And frequently, the way that happens is that people choose a lot of foods of animal origin. So, high-fat dairy products, cheese, those kinds of things, fatty meats, adding a lot of mayonnaise to tuna fish. And that can frequently result in a very high saturated fat intake. And what the data shows is that may not be the best, because LDL can be increased.

So probably for your friend, it might be a good idea to start transitioning to something a bit different. Maybe a diet that has more fruits and vegetables and is more plant based so that the saturated fat intake can be decreased.

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