http://www.pcrm.org/news/health031120_report.html

High-Protein Diets Risky for Bones and Kidneys

Ten healthy participants were asked to follow an Atkins-style, carbohydrate-restricted diet for two weeks and then follow a moderately carbohydrate-restricted diet for four more weeks under close monitoring. It turned out that the meaty diets increased their calcium loss by 55 percent (from 160 to 248 mg/d, P < 0.01). The researchers conclude that a high-protein diet presents a marked acid load to the kidneys, increases the risk for kidney stones, and may increase the risk for bone loss.
Reddy ST, Wang CY, SakhaeeK, Brinkley L, Pak CY. Effect of low-carbohyrdate high-protein diets on acid-base balance, stone-forming propensity, and calcium metabolism. Am J Kidney Dis 2002;2:265-74.
Meat-Heavy Fad Diets Linked to Osteoporosis, Kidney Disease, and Colon Cancer
Washington, D.C.—To counter the current flood of misinformation surrounding high-protein fad weight-loss diets, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is launching a TV ad in Houston, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., this week. The ad, entitled “Safe Diets,” warns that meat-heavy diets put people at risk for osteoporosis, kidney disease, and maybe even colon cancer. In addition, a print ad will appear in USA Today during the week of 24 February.
“For weight loss, studies show that high-protein diets do not work any better than other diets, but they do lead to a quick loss of calcium and, very likely, an increased risk for colon cancer,” says Neal D. Barnard, M.D., president and founder of PCRM. “PCRM is countering the flood of misinformation about fad diets.”

A study recently published in American Journal of Kidney Diseases shows that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets, such as the Atkins Diet, cause a rapid and pronounced loss of calcium in the urine, while studies of vegetarian diets have shown safe, effective weight loss. Groundbreaking studies published in Lancet (1990) and Journal of the American Medical Association (1998) show that a low-fat vegetarian diet can reverse heart disease. Each year, there is additional scientific evidence that a diet rich in fruit and vegetables is best in terms of long-term health. Visit PCRM’s new Web site at www.safediets.org for further information.
New Studies Show High-Protein Diets Fail to Live Up to Their Hype, Say Nutrition Experts Findings Show Minimal Weight Loss and High Drop-Out Rate Group Will Launch Summer Ad Campaign to Warn of Diet's Risk
Washington, D.C.-Two new studies in the May 22 New England Journal of Medicine on the controversial high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets show that the diets fail to live up to their hype, says the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
Both studies, which compared a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet to a more conventional low-fat diet, demonstrated minimal weight loss and a high drop-out rate. Despite these findings and cautions by the researchers that more studies are needed to assess possible long-term health risks, PCRM nutrition experts are concerned that these messages will be lost in the low-carb publicity machine. To counteract the Atkins hype and inform the public about the diets' risks, PCRM is launching a summer ad campaign; a print ad is scheduled to run in U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospitals" issue and a TV ad will run on CNN's AccentHealth network. The ads are viewable at www.safediets.org/ads.html.
"The new studies support what many of us have been saying all along," says Amy Joy Lanou, Ph.D., PCRM's nutrition director. "High-protein, low-carbohydrate diets are extremely hard to stick with and don't work any better over the long run than a conventional 'reduce-the-fat' diet-which doesn't work very well itself." A review of 107 studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in April 2003 showed that reduced carbohydrate intake did not impact weight loss-only longer diet duration and fewer calories did.
"If researchers really want to test the effectiveness of the Atkins Diet, they should compare it with the kind of largely vegetarian, lifestyle-changing approach Dr. Dean Ornish recommends: no animal fat, plenty of complex carbohydrates such as beans and legumes, and lots of fruits and vegetables. That's a diet that not only helps people lose weight, but it can help prevent and reverse heart disease, diabetes, and other illnesses," says Lanou.
"It's scandalous how much money is being spent to promote these risky, high-protein, meaty diets," continues Lanou. "For example, a Harvard study published earlier this year in the Annals of Internal Medicine showed that high-protein diets may cause permanent loss of kidney function in anyone with reduced kidney function. The most frightening thing about that study? As many as one in four Americans may already have renal problems. Other studies have shown that meat-heavy diets significantly increase one's risk of colon cancer and osteoporosis." PCRM's summer ad campaign, "Safe Diets," focuses on the long-term health risks of the Atkins-like diets. PCRM also maintains a registry at www.AtkinsDietAlert.org for dieters who believe they may have sustained health problems due to a high-protein, low-carb diet.
Second Fatality in Atkins-Type Dieter Suspected; Other Dieters Report New Cases of Serious Illness to Family Members, Patients, and Nutrition Experts Present Details at Nov. 20 News Conference Doctors Urge CDC Inquiry; Video of Conference Available
WASHINGTON-New information questioning the safety of the Atkins Diet and other high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets, including data on a previously unreported fatality and numerous serious illnesses, was the focus of a news conference on November 20 at the National Press Club. A panel of nutrition experts, including Paul Robinson, M.D., the author of the first scientifically documented case history of a death linked to a high-protein diet, presented their concerns about the health risks of these diets. Joining the doctors were several people who report being harmed by these diets, as well as family members of the deceased. The physicians called on the Centers for Disease Control to begin an immediate investigation into these incidents and the prevalence of adverse effects and deaths associated with the diets. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) organized the conference. Video of the conference is available.
For example, 42 percent of registrants describe a loss of energy; 22 percent report reduced kidney function, stones, or severe infection; and 20 percent report heart problems or elevated cholesterol. Related Material: Preliminary Report by Neal Barnard, M.D.

Oh yeah, the PCRM are so credible, trying to lend a scientific/medical patina to PETA. Go to the low carb/media forum and do a search on PCRM and find out what a shady organization they are. Basically they're connected with PETA, have a lot of support from doctors who have written vegetarian, high carb diet books in the 90's doing everything they can to discredit low carb diets and Dr. Atkins in particular.

Gee it's a good thing I follow a high fat diet then not a high protien one.



Hmm, maybe that is why in the Atkins book and othe rLc plans it states that people with kidney problems should not follow the plan?



Can we say book plug?

Nothing the PCRM/PETA puts out is "worth a read". They are the most unscientific, unethical, agenda-driven bunch of carbage (rhymes with "garbage") that I've ever come across.

I KNOW that being overweight is a big health issue for me. I have studied Dr. Ornish's diet plan to reverse heart disease, and and I think it is credible. Could I comply with that very limited "diet"? No way. Atkins WOL works for me because it is doable.

Are you truely concerned about this, M. Howard?

oops! sorry. I don't know how I got into the war zone. I am a pacifist low carber ~grin~

you all carry on. I am too happy with my WOE to argue.

Actually, Carole...even the AHA agrees with you on this. Even as pro-low fat as they are, they have stated that it would be a rare patient indeed who could stick with such a low fat program for an extended period of time.
As for PCRM and Dean Ornish, they're hardly objective scientific sources.
If you do a search through the Research/Media Watch forum, you will most likely find every study mentioned above discussed and systematically debunked.

I really don't even need to read the whole thing. First red flag is the url is www.pcrm.org.

Second red flag, which concludes the study as fraudulent and unscientific, is the fact they only followed the dieters for 2 weeks. Everyone knows the first two weeks of any diet is diuretic, and beginning a LC diet after coming off a HC one will = extreme temporary water loss. It is the temporary induction related water loss that is causing the loss of minerals (including calcium), NOT the meat.

Of course, PCRM are vegan lunatics and would like you to think otherwise. Notice the diets are characteristically described as "meat heavy"? Yea, that wasn't for convenience. They purposely are trying to get people to associate meat with poor health. Ironically, the exact opposite is true. Vegan diets are nutritionally anemic for human needs.

I do agree that for many people it is all about just eating less, and for these types a LC diet offers no advantages over a higher carb one. However, there are some people who have metabolic insulin related disorders and do not fare well on HC diets. I am one of them. Some IR people are so bad off metabolically, that they will gain on even very low calories levels of a high carbohydrate diet. People like us benefit greatly from a reduction in percentage of calories taken from carbohydrate. Please educate yourself.

This is just another attempt to discredit the truth with pure lies! Many times I have seen Atkins "discredited" by studies on "high protein" or "pure protein" diets. Almost any lc book out there warns about "rabbit starvation," (technically called protein toxicity) a condition caused by eating too much protein and too little fat. Once again, the low-fat pundits can only attempt to prove their point with smokescreens and untruths.

anyone else notice that "mr. M" - has in his profile that he is 140 pounds, does not intend to lose weight and has no intention of lc'ing? Am I the only one who sees "instigator"....

That's why I didn't respond.

Sort of kills credibility eh?

hey atkins works for me and im going to tell as many people as i can about it, so you can lie all ya want.

I suspect M. Howard is either a troll or a vegan (possibly both!). Either way this person is probably in the wrong place

My mother is a prime example of the results you get with Ornish. She has eaten "his" way since the 80's, and by age 70 was in assisted living (now full care) due to type 2 diabetic complications...NO FEELING (neuropathy) from the knees down - this came on for 10 years before disabling her. She cannot walk, even with a walker now. Her vision is poor. She is in her 70s and by far the youngest person in her facility. But she still says Atkins is going to ruin my health.