Atkins Diet & Kidney Health: A Concerned Patient's Question

Question
I have a chronic reflux problem since they extract my gull bladder 10 years ago. I had been using Artkins diet for 3 weeks and my reflux have decreased in 75%. I guess because I'm not eating bread, rice, cakes, etc...
My question is: How true is that this diet can harm your kidney's?  Is there an artkins lite and would I have the same results with it?

thanks in advance.

Answer
Dear George,

One of Atkins diet pitfalls is that it leaves uncertain daily  protein intake. For healthy people it's more or less OK but if there's a problem, you just don't know what exactly caused it -- fat or protein. More strict ketogenic diet can be harmful your kidneys because it limits liquid intake but clinical studies showed as soon as this limitation is lifted the diet is also OK.

If under "Atkins lite" you mean lower in fat, the answer is no. Lower-fat diets are always higher in carbohydrates and people on them should be counting calories since they don't regulate hunger and appetite as successfully as true low carb diets.

Read more:

Carbs, Fats, Proteins, and Kidneys
http://dietandbody.com/article1048.html

Calorie Intake On Atkins and Low Carb Diets
http://dietandbody.com/articles/article1100.html

Atkins recipes with high and low Fat Burning Index
http://dietandbody.com/fat_burning_recipes.html

Hope it helps,

Tanya zilberter, PhD