Facts behind this less than weighty research

The dangers of small samples leading to big headlines have been shown once again. A study of just 15 men dieting for just 50 days has been trumpeted as proof that the Atkin's diet is great for blokes. The research was partly funded by, you guessed it, the Atkins Foundation.

The Men's Health Forum's president Ian Banks has warned that the US research suggesting that low carbohydrate diets are more effective for men than women should not be taken as carte-blanche for men to get stuck into Atkins and similar regimes.

Dr Ian Banks said he would not recommend Atkins as it was "too severe".

He said: 'Men tend to put weight on around the stomach which is relatively easy to lose so some of the other low carbohydrate diets are effective. But if men want to lose weight, they should live balanced lifestyles and that means doing exercise, eating healthily and not just dieting.' Critics of the low-cholesterol, high protein Atkins diet have previosuly said that it can lead to kidney damage, thin bones and high cholesterol.

In the University of Connecticut study, a third of the 15 men on the diet lost more than 10lbs. The weight loss among the 13 women was not as dramatic. A low carbohydrate diet also appeared up to three times more effective at losing weight from the trunk area than a low fat one.

The report's co-author Jeff Volek, assistant professor of kinesiology at the University of Connecticut, told the BBC: 'The results of this study demonstrate that short-term carbohydrate diets outperform low fat diets in terms of weight loss and fat loss.' However, previous research has suggested that in the long-term there is little difference between the two types of diet.

How was it for you? Have you tried Atkins or similar diets?