The lifespan of the Atkins Diet

More than three million copies of Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution sold in the UK in 2004. Sales of eggs rocketed. Sales of bread plummeted. But a year on and Atkins Nutritionals Inc. has gone into receivership and is said to owe an external marketing company £150,000. So what went wrong?

Marjorie Burte, former regional manager for Atkins believes the failure was due to poor marketing: “The scientific studies published were aimed at a very middle class audience and the Atkins food range was expensive. The message was too complicated for people to understand.”

But many nutritional experts believe it was due to health problems which made the diet difficult for people to sustain.

In a study conducted by Which? magazine in 2001, they found there was no scientific evidence to suggest that a low-carbohydrate/high fat diet was healthy for weight loss and that the high levels of ketones produced in the blood had dangerous side effects such as nausea and bad breath.

Criticism unfounded

But Marjorie thinks the criticism is unfounded: “The media and rival health experts got hold of it and portrayed us inaccurately. If you actually read the book it’s not about cutting out carbohydrates entirely, it is just in phase one to kicks start the weight loss.”

Despite a loss of momentum, bad press, and the overshadowing from the GI Diet, Atkins remains a firm favourite with many devout followers.

Brian Potter, policy advisor to the Ministry of Health in Serbia and a fellow of the Royal Collage of General Practitioners, lost 42lbs on the Atkins Diet and is a big fan. He has kept the weight of for four years and is sceptical of critics. To hear his views Click here...

Brian Potter
Whether the Atkins Diet is good or bad for us, it seems as with most fad diets, it has had a short lifespan. As Marjorie puts it: “Last year it was the Atkins, this year it’s GI, who knows what next year will bring.”