When Jody Gorran heard Atkins Nutritionals had filed for bankruptcy last month, the Delray Beach, Fla., businessman was practically giddy.
For 2 1/2 years, he had followed the Atkins diet religiously, shedding the 10 pounds he set out to lose and keeping it off, without any of the cravings or fatigue or headaches others had reported. “I felt fine. I thought it was a wonderful diet–all the way up until I realized that it had given me heart disease and almost killed me,” Gorran says.
Last year, Gorran sued the company to put warning labels on its products. Doctors and other critics say the once wildly popular low-carbohydrate diet can produce dangerous cholesterol levels in those who are “fat-sensitive”–and that, for everyone, high levels of saturated fat and protein can increase the risk of gout, kidney and liver disease, osteoporosis, and breast and colon cancer.
So it’s no surprise that when Atkins filed for Chapter 11–blaming $300 million in debt, dwindling demand and a glut of low-carb competition–doctors and dietitians were quick to pronounce the fad dead.
Certainly the mighty had fallen.
As recently as 2003, low-carb products were being introduced at a head-spinning rate–more than 3,000 that year. Major food manufacturers and restaurants were predicting that low-carb fare would soon mushroom into a $15-billion- to $25-billion-a-year industry. Suddenly there were low-carb cookies, low-carb candy, even low-carb bread and low-carb beer.
Although studies showed the diet helped followers lose weight–and quickly–the Atkins dropout rate was high. Few managed to stay on the diet for an entire year. Dieters suffered unpleasant side effects, from bad breath to constipation to dizziness and irregular heartbeats. Others simply craved carbohydrates.
“Frankly, I would have expected the bankruptcy sooner,” says Dr. Boyd Lyles, an internal-medicine specialist and director of the HeartHealth and Wellness Center in Dallas, where he has long criticized the Atkins diet. “In the long run, people are not going to give up carbohydrates.”
The low-carb trend is down, but it’s not out. Atkins officials, who have yet to settle the lawsuit over warning labels, say they hope the company will emerge from bankruptcy later this year, and Atkins derivatives–such as the South Beach Diet–remain strong. In fact, given an updated image and a new name, low-carb may regroup as the “smart-carb”.
At this point there’s no reliable measure of how many low-carb devotees still exist. One survey this year found that low-carb plans remain the most popular diet option–and that among low-carb plans, Atkins is the top choice.
Even critics say the upside of the former Atkins fervor may be a greater understanding of good carbohydrates and bad.
“One positive thing that came out of this trend is that some people realized they might be sugar-addicted,” says Tara Gidus, the national spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. “I’m all for people reducing carbohydrates. But I also want people to look at the quality of carbohydrates, so that they’re getting the fruits, the vegetables, the whole grains, the beans that are good for us.”
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Edited by Curt Wagner (cwwagner@tribune.com) and Victoria Rodriguez (vrodriguez@tribune.com)
