The American Heart Association (AHA), which has fought fad diets for many years, has taken aim at five popular high-protein diets:
- The Atkins diet
- The Zone
- Protein Power
- Sugar Busters
- The Stillman Diet
Best-selling books promoting these diets claim that they help people lose weight while eating unlimited amounts of red meat and high-fat dairy products. They urge cutting out carbohydrates from breads, potatoes, corn, and other starchy vegetables.
You will lose weight on these diets, often fast. But there's a catch. Going heavy on meat also means going heavy on saturated fats. When you lose weight, your total cholesterol may even drop temporarily, but the saturated fats soon raise the level of LDL ("bad") cholesterol.
Worse, people on high-protein diets tend not to eat foods high in fiber like whole-grain breads, fruits, and vegetables. They keep calories down but lower their levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol, which helps to clean out your arteries.
The AHA says that staying on these high-protein, low-carb diets for long periods of time increases your risk for heart disease, stroke, diabetes, kidney disease, and even some forms of cancer.
The AHA urges that you eat a balanced diet that includes complex carbohydrates-fruits, vegetables, and whole-grain breads and cereals. Non-fat dairy products are fine, too, and eggs, while high in cholesterol, pack in lots of nutrition. You need to balance foods for long-term health.