10:03 PM PST on Thursday, February 19, 2004

By JEAN ENERSEN / KING 5 News

SEATTLE - Never has a diet gotten more press and more controversy than the Atkins diet. Is it safe or unsafe? And who's at risk?

What other diet works so fast? It’s easy to lose 10 pounds in just two weeks. There are so many forbidden foods and yet it seems to be working. Even restaurants are jumping on the bandwagon.

KING Many nutritionist agree that it's just a trend.

The great thing about the low-carb menu with Atkins is that proteins rule. And so does the controversy - whether it's Atkins, the man, or his diet. Everybody has an opinion.

“I know if I ate bacon or eggs all day long, I'd have high cholesterol,” said one dieter.

“All my friends do it and that's how they lose all their weight, but not for me, not for me,” said another.

Many nutritionist would agree that it’s just a trend. Still, how do you argue with results? And there are pitfalls.

"It's a harmless thing to be on a diet, but if you have kidney failure, it can be detrimental, can be very damaging,” said Dr. Stuart Shankland of NorthWest Kidney Centers.

The Atkins book is very clear: Don't go on the diet if you have kidney disease.

But not everyone does the research, and one thing about kidney disease is that there are no symptoms. Most of the time, patients feel healthy.

Syrenka wants to go on Atkins after gaining more than 10 pounds. She has a family history of health problems so she decided to have three simple tests: blood pressure, urine and a blood test to see if Atkins is a safe choice for her.

It's the right move.

"If the kidney function is normal, then from a kidney standpoint, there's no harm in being on a high-protein diet,” said Shankland.

But what about heart disease? Critics say Atkins raises your risk. Proponents argue it doesn’t because weight loss cancels that out. So far, there's no conclusive research either way.

But here's something else to think about: the cost.

"One important thing about the Atkins diet and by extension the South Beach diet is this: These diets cost,” said Adam Drewnowski, of the University of Washington Nutritional Sciences. “The Atkins diet can be very expensive.”

So even if you're healthy enough to be on Atkins, you might not be able to afford it.

Want to know more? On Friday night at 8 p.m. on KING 5, NBC Dateline devotes an entire hour to the Atkins diet and all the controversy it has generated.