Diet Study Tips Scale In Favor Of Atkins Plan: "The case for low-carbohydrate diets is gaining weight. Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have completed the largest and longest-ever comparison of four popular diets, and the lowest-carbohydrate Atkins diet came out on top.

'Many health professionals, including us, have either dismissed the value of very-low-carbohydrate diets for weight loss or been very skeptical of them,' said lead researcher Christopher Gardner, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. 'But it seems to be a viable alternative for dieters.'

Of the more than 300 women in the study, those randomly assigned to follow the Atkins diet for a year not only lost more weight than the other participants, but also experienced the most benefits in terms of cholesterol and blood pressure.

'Many health professionals, including us, have either dismissed the value of very-low-carbohydrate diets for weight loss or been very skeptical of them,' said lead researcher Christopher Gardner, PhD, assistant professor of medicine at the Stanford Prevention Research Center. 'But it seems to be a viable alternative for dieters"