After decades of ridicule by the American medical establishment, it's fittingly ironic that Dr. Robert Atkins had his epitaph published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Atkins, who died on April 17 at age 72, spent most of his life advocating a diet low in carbohydrates and high in fat and protein. The May 22 issue of the journal contained two studies that examined the effects of such low-carbohydrate diets.
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©Gina Triplett
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Cutting out the carbs
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Both studies were led by Penn faculty and both offered a qualified vindication of the Atkins approach, concluding that it is an effective weight-loss regimen and - to the authors' surprise - a safe way to reduce cardiac-risk factors.