Has Atkins stance shifted on fat?

By Sally Squires
Washington Post

Foods high in saturated fats are permitted in the traditional Atkins diet. Gannett News Service

Many proponents of low-carbohydrate diets, especially the late Dr. Robert Atkins, suggest you can. Which is why there was such surprise last week when the New York Times reported that an executive of the Atkins program "is telling health professionals in seminars around the country that only 20 percent of a dieter's fat should come from saturated fat."

The Atkins diet permits followers to eat "liberal" amounts of foods rich in saturated fats — red meat, cheese, butter and eggs — so long as they strictly control carbohydrates. This instruction has been widely interpreted to mean such foods may be eaten in unlimited amounts. Atkins officials disputed The Times story, posting a long message on the Atkins Web site noting that the tenets of the Atkins approach have been consistent since 1972, when the physician first issued the diet.

"Absolutely nothing has changed," said orthopedic surgeon Stuart Trager, chairman of the Atkins Physicians Council, a paid advisory group.

"We're not telling people that they need to limit saturated fat," said Colette Heimowitz, director of education and research at Atkins Nutritionals Inc., who was cited as the source of the information in The Times article. Food records suggest that when people follow Atkins, they eat about 55 percent to 60 percent of total calories as fat, she said, with about a third of those calories (hence the 20 percent figure) coming from saturated fat. "It would be really hard to eat more than 20 percent of calories from saturated fat," Heimowitz said.

But others, including Walter Willett of the Harvard School of Public Health, say the Atkins program "has been shifting" philosophy gradually. "There's a lot of evidence that products high in saturated fat are not healthy," Willett said. "The Atkins group is heading in the direction of reducing those. If you compare the last Atkins book with his earlier books, there was a shift — to his credit. They've been introducing and giving more emphasis to healthier sources of fat and protein."

Outside the Atkins camp, saturated fat is almost universally considered unhealthful. Second only to trans fatty acids in promoting heart disease, it is found mostly in animal products, such as meat, poultry and whole fat dairy products. The American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute urge Americans to limit saturated fat to about 10 percent of daily calories. On 2,000 calories a day, that works out to about 200 calories of saturated fat, or roughly 20 grams.

"If you want to have some red meat now and then, that is fine," Willett said. "But there's a lot of evidence that making it the primary source of protein is not a good idea."

Here are other tips for keeping low-carb programs healthful, offered by experts who have conducted independent studies of the Atkins program:

• Choose foods that help you feel full. Protein and fat are satiating. So are complex carbohydrates — whole grains, vegetables, fruit, beans and high-volume fare, including soup, and whipped and air-filled food.
• Remember that protein and fat still have calories. Just because you cut carbs doesn't mean you can add endless amounts of other food.
• Remember that other fats can satisfy, too. Fish, lean meat, poultry without the skin, and nuts have lower amounts or healthier types of fat, yet can still produce the same sense of fullness.