Atkins Diet Could Increase Risk Of Bowel Cancer

19-06-2007 14:07

While the famous Atkins diet might help you shift some weight it may lead to increase risk in developing bowel cancer a new study has shown.

Researchers from Aberdeen's Rowett Research Institute have discovered a link between eating less carbohydrates and a lower count of a cancer fighting bacteria that is present in the gut.

Butyrate, and acid which helps kill off cancerous cells, suffers a four-fold reduction when on a low carbohydrate health regime.

The study put 19 obese men on three different diets of carbohydrates: high, medium and low. Those placed on a high diet were given 400 grams of carbohydrates a day - this is the level of an average diet.

Those on the diet only consumed 24 grams of carbs a day. This second group showed a four-fold reduction of butyrate the cancer fighting acid.

Professor Harry Flint, who led the research said: "In the long run, it is possible that such diets could contribute to bowel cancer. It is a preventable disease, and there is evidence taht poor diet can increase your risk.

"The changes in butyrate production that we observed in this study are the largest ever reported in a human dietary trial."

The idea behind the Atkins diet is to switch the body's chemistry turning it from burning carbohyrdates to buning fat instead.

Stars such as Jennifer Aniston and Catherine Zeta Jones have all claimed that they have lost weight with the regieme. However the diet has also been blamed for increasing the risk of heart disease, bone disease and osteoporosis in women.