Atkins and other low-carb diets 'damage arteries'

Researchers at Harvard Medical School's Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in the United States have found that the Atkins diet and other high-meat, low-carb diets can lead to atherosclerosis, which increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

Atkins appears to provide superficial, short term benefits of weight loss without an increase in cholesterol. A visit to the doctor may lead you to believe your health is improving. But Harvard researchers have shown that the longer-term effect seriously degrades cardiovascular health.

After reporting their good science, the researchers then gave bad advice (which is usually the case for reasons we will detail in our upcoming book). They told the BBC: "For long-term health at least one-third of what we eat should be bread, rice, potatoes, pasta or other starchy food."

This is terrible advice, as they do not specify the healthy versions of these foods. White bread, rice, potatoes and pasta aren't going to benefit health.

The Spartan Diet calls for getting the majority of dietary protein from plant sources (easy to do on the Spartan Diet), the total elimination of domesticated animal meat, and the elimination of processed everything, including "bread, rice, potatoes, pasta." Instead eat only sprouted (flourless) whole grain bread, brown rice and other whole grains, limited quantities of potatoes (as it's a low-nutrition food) and only sprouted, whole-grain pasta.