Dangers Of The Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet's advice is the opposite of diets that the U.S. government and health-related organizations have recommended since the 1970s. Its recommendation that you should eat more fats and proteins and fewer carbohydrates can be dangerous, according to many doctors and health-related organizations and publications, but "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" devotes one chapter to trying to refute these claims.

High-Fat Dangers

The late Dr. Robert Atkins believed that body fat is caused by foods that raise your blood sugar. Carbohydrates raise your blood sugar by varying amounts, but fat doesn't raise your blood sugar at all. Other medical experts disagree that high blood sugar is the No. 1 cause of body fat. "Eating fat makes you fat," according to "Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease."

If Atkins' body fat theory is wrong, the Atkins Diet is dangerous because obese people are at greater risk of arthritis, diabetes, heart disease, gallbladder disease, high blood pressure and stroke, according to "Essentials for Health and Wellness." Even if Atkins' theory is correct, his diet could be still be dangerous because saturated fats "can trigger a heart attack" wrote "The South Beach Diet" author Dr. Arthur Agatston, who accepts Atkins' body fat theory, but opposes eating saturated fats. Atkins defended saturated fats, but opposed trans fats such as margarine and vegetable shortening.

High-Protein Dangers

The Atkins Diet urges you to eat lots of protein because it barely raises your blood sugar. However, high-protein diets can make people's bad kidneys worse, according to the American Diabetes Association and the University of California-Berkeley's Wellness Letter. "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" argues that the medical data on this pertains only to people with "far-advanced kidney disease."

High-protein diets also increase your risk of kidney stones and osteoporosis, according to a University of Maryland Medical Center report. The evidence on the Atkins Diet's effect on cholesterol is mixed. The Wellness Letter reported that high protein consumption caused bad cholesterol levels to rise 10 percent or more in about one-third of Atkins' dieters, but the Aug. 2, 2010, issue of Annals of Internal Medicine reported that a diet "modeled" on the Atkins Diet improved patients' good cholesterol levels and didn't harm their bad cholesterol.

Low-Carbohydrate Dangers

"The Atkins Diet restricts complex carbohydrates in vegetables and fruits that are known to protect against heart disease," according to the University of Maryland Medical Center report. However, "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" lists numerous fruits and vegetables that don't raise blood sugar and are recommended. The danger is eating no fruits and vegetables or, according to Atkins, the wrong ones.

Eating too few carbohydrates, however, can cause you to lose energy and muscle, according to "Swim, Bike, Run." A lack of energy and muscle impairs your ability to exercise enough to improve your fitness and health and increases your risk of illness and injury, "Swim, Bike, Run" reports. "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution" contends, though, that low amounts of carbs only cause fatigue for a few days because carb restriction converts your body "from a sugar metabolism to a primarily fat metabolism."