Atkins, Ornish, Zone? Which Diet Works?

March 6, 2007 -- A new study could re-ignite the popularity of the low-carb Atkins Diet. It pitted the low-carb plan against 3 higher-carb diets, including the Ornish and Zone plans.

The study, conducted at Stanford University, compared the Atkins, Ornish, Zone, and LEARN (Lifestyle, ) diet regimens in about 300 young and middle-aged women who were overweight or obese.

According to the study, published in this week's Journal of the American Medical Association, says the average 12-month weight loss was 10.4 lbs for Atkins, 3.5 lbs. for Zone, 5.7 lbs. for LEARN, and 4.8 lbs. for Ornish.

Christine Dillon was one of the study participants.

"I was on the Agtkins diet for about 9 months, and lost between 10 and 15 pounds, but much more importantly, lost 2 dress sizes, which is huge.

Atkins followers kept most of the weight off for the 12 months.

Dr. Christopher Gardner, a member of the research team, said the focus wasn't just on weight loss.

"One of the concerns that health professionals have had about these very low carbohydrate diets is that possibly the high fat content would be bad for people in terms of their cholesterol levels or their blood pressure."

But Dr. Gardner says blood pressure and cholesterol stayed healthy in women on the Atkins plan.

Dr. Gardner believes the simplicity may be the key to success.

"Cutting out those simple refined carbohydrates, the white bread, the white rice, gthe high-fructose corn syrup, the soda," seemed to be the important measures.

In fact, people on Atkins replaced soda with drinking lots of water, and Dr. Gardner thinks that played a big role in the weight loss.

He says it's important that anyone deciding to go the low-carb route follow the plan, not just substitute high-protein, high-fat foods, for carbohydrates.

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