Eco-Atkins from Prof. David Jenkins
There's a new version of the high meat protein Atkins diet called Eco-Atkins. This diet, unlike traditional Atkins provides it's protein through nuts, gluten (wheat protein), beans and soy products. Let's hope more people do this version vs the latter. The article says:
What happened, according to his new study, is that after 28 weeks a group of overweight men and women following a vegan diet had lost 10 per cent of their starting weight.
Skinnier waists weren't the only reward. Their insulin sensitivity had improved, lowering their risk of diabetes, and their cholesterol levels were healthier. This drop in both "bad" LDL cholesterol and kilos might give the Eco-Atkins diet an edge over its meaty counterparts. No one doubts that high (meat) protein diets can shift weight but some studies suggest they also increase LDL cholesterol - which raises questions about their effects on health in the long term...
The amount of protein in Jenkins's diet was a high 150g daily and came from a mix of soy food, gluten (protein from wheat) and nuts. But if you don't fancy gluten (used in Asian cooking and available canned or chilled from Asian food stores) or lots of soy foods, Radd suggests other legumes such as chickpeas, lentils and beans, and more nuts and seeds. Nuts, incidentally, are gaining a healthy reputation for helping take weight off - studies suggest nut eaters tend to be leaner, she says.
The Eco-Atkins diet isn't the first research to suggest that a pledge to veg can make you lighter - results of a new US study have found that vegetarian Seventh Day Adventists have a Body Mass Index that's five points lower than that of the general population.
Along with healthy fat from avocado and nuts, other fats used in the Eco-Atkins diet came from mono-unsaturated olive or canola oil - getting the heart-healthy benefits of a plant-based diet also means weeding out hidden saturated fats.
Posted by: The String Bean
