Atkins diet found to raise risk of fatal heart disease by a third

‘Many people seem to take the benefits of highprotein diets for granted’

THE high-protein Atkins diet, followed by millions of people, may raise the risk of fatal heart disease, a study has found.

Analysis of more than 2,440 men found that those with a high protein intake faced a 33 per cent increased risk of developing heart failure, where the organ is unable to pump sufficient blood and oxygen around the body.

The Atkins diet is the best known of a range of popular commercial regimes claiming to help people lose weight by embracing low-carbohydrate, high-protein eating. But the scientists behind the study, published in the journal Circulation, said dieters are wrong to assume an abundance of protein is healthy.

In fact the results of the study showed that the only proteins not associated with heart failure were those derived from fish and eggs. Those who ate the most protein from animal sources had a 43 per cent higher risk of heart failure compared to those in the study who ate the least. The increased risk for people consuming a high amount of dairy protein was 49 per cent and 17 per cent for those consuming a lot of plant protein.

More than half a million people in the UK have been diagnosed with heart failure, which is incurable.

Prof Jyrki Virtanen, who worked on the study at the University of Eastern Finland, said: “As many people seem to take the health benefits of high-protein diets for granted, it is important to make clear the possible risks and benefits of these diets.”

For the new research, scientists examined 2,441 men, aged 42 to 60, at the study’s start and followed them for an average of 22 years. Overall, they found 334 cases of heart failure were diagnosed during the study.