From The August 2000 Issue of Nutrition Science News

Fad Diets Weigh In

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Considering that roughly 55 percent of Americans are now considered clinically obese, the federal government has decided to conduct a clinical study to determine whether a low-carbohydrate or a low-fat diet is safer and more effective. The study will be designed and directed by the United States Department of Agriculture's nutrition research center at the University of California-Davis, and will be based on prototype diets similar to those popularized by Robert Atkins, M.D., (high-protein, low-carbohydrate) and Dean Ornish, M.D., (ultra-lowfat and virtually vegetarian). By examining the amount of weight loss and long-term effects of each of these diets, researchers hope to discover the key to a thinner America.