So does it lead to heart attacks, bad breath and kidney damage or is the Atkins diet a miraculous way to get slim?

The row about this controversial diet has rumbled on for months but has gathered pace in the last few weeks.

Hoards of celebrities have come out of the woodwork to support the diet which allows you to scoff meat, cheese and cream but puts vegetables and fruit on the black list.

The diet is based on the idea that carbohydrates are a skinny person's worse nightmare and should be avoided at all costs.

So the diet starts with a total elimination of carbs - hence no bread, pasta and beers and surprisingly no more of the usually healthy options of fruit and veg.

Once your body has got used to not having the staple of a modern diet you can start reintroducing carbs but only a bit at the time until you have found your body's natural tolerance level to pizza - in my case 12-inch deep pan washed down by a pint of beer.

On paper this diet seems like a dream to true and a great alternative to the grapefruit, F-plan or cabbage soup plans.

So many of us have turned out backs on other diets that face us with rabbit food and centre on deprivation that the Atkins sounds like utopia.

It's little wonder it has been such a commercial success - well who wouldn't love the chance to tuck into a fry-up three times a day without feeling guilty?

But it's not as easy as that - of course there is still a list of things you can't eat on the Atkins - it's just different to the list of have-nots we are used to reading on diet sheets.

Infact when it comes down to it the Atkins is a very complicated eating plan that is persuading all sorts of people to adopt faddy habits at meal times.

It may work for a quick fix to lose a few pounds before an important occasion but you need carbs in your diet as much as you need salt and fat - the problem is keeping everything in moderation.

And it isn't just the dieters who are losing pounds - the bread industry is heading for crisis and crowds of teenagers convince themselves that a doorstop sandwich is worse for you than a splif.

Will someone tell me what is wrong with eating sensibly and exercising regularly?

By making it acceptable to eliminate major food groups from our diet we are simply encouraging the already spiralling culture of eating disorders in our teenagers.

The Atkins diet is a business making money out of our insecurities but failing to give us any guarantees.

Infact the only person who have gained pounds and are still smiling are the Atkins family - who have made millions from this scary food fashion.

Published: 15/08/2003