The American Heart Association is warning people away from high-protein diets, something experts at the Iowa Heart Center have been advocating for months. Cindy Conroy, a registered dietician at the Des Moines-based center, says this week’s A-H-A advisory details how the popular Adkins Diet, and others, are bad for your heart.
The A-H-A says the general public should steer clear of “fad” diets like: Adkins, The Zone, Protein Power, Sugar Busters and Stillman. Conroy says the high-protein diets usually don’t restrict calorie intake, but tell you which types of food to eat and which to avoid. She says the diets eliminate many healthy foods from your diet.
The A-H-A says high-protein, and thus, high-fat diets can lead to a hardening of the arteries and eventually heart disease and a stroke. Conroy says there’ll often be a perception of initial success with a short-term weight loss, which is mostly water weight. She says there’s a better way to lose weight.
She says a well-balanced diet and regular exercise are the keys to losing weight and keeping it off — not a fad diet.