Spuds fight back

It is the Hollywood diet that has kept Renée Zellweger and Geri Halliwell super-thin.

But now the Atkins regime, which bans carbohydrates in favour of a protein-rich menu of eggs, meat, fish and cheese, has run into trouble.

Potato farmers are furious that their vegetable has been branded a bad food for slimmers and are launching a £1 million campaign to defend it.

From tomorrow, bags of potatoes in Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda and Safeway will display a "fab not fad" logo, educating consumers to their health benefits. A bus is also being sent around the country to spread the message that potatoes are a low-fat, health nut's dream.

Kathryn Race, marketing manager of the British Potato Council, said: "Diets such as Atkins and Food Combining have left a void of confused consumers across the UK and we want to reassure consumers that potatoes are an integral part of a balanced diet, they are low-fat, low in salt and cholesterol-free. What better food is there when managing your family's weight?

"Our research shows 88 per cent of consumers would like to see more done to show just how healthy potatoes are."

The campaign has won the support of nutritionists who have become increasingly concerned about the fashion for eating high fat, protein-only diets.

Fiona Hunter, an expert in functional foods and women's health, believes the potato has been ostracised.

"People are less happy about eating carbohydrates as more and more celebrities endorse diets like Atkins. Our parents' generation thought carbohydrates were fattening and nutritionists had just got around to getting people to realise they are healthy when the Atkins diet fad appeared.

"The problem with Atkins is that people want a quick-fix cure and do not want to believe they eat too much.

"In the short term, the diet works pretty well and people lose weight but
the problem is that to keep the weight off you have to continue to eat very low levels of carbohydrates forever. Not many people can do that."

More than 10 million copies of the Atkins diet book have sold worldwide since its first publication in 1972. Endorsement by celebrities and the promise of losing weight while gorging on cream, cheese, butter and meat have made it a huge hit.

The diet is based on the premise that carbohydrates such as potatoes, bread, pasta, rice and starchy vegetables overstimulate the production of insulin, leading to hunger and weight gain.

It received a boost in May when scientistsin America declared that Atkins dieters lost more weight than those on conventional low-fat diets and suffered no serious side-effects.

But in a survey of nutritionists about 97 per cent said they would not recommend a patient to go on a protein-rich, low-carb diet in order to lose weight. Most would instead recommend low-fat diets.

Research has also suggested that for the one in three people who may suffer from mild kidney problems, eating large amounts of protein can cause additional health problems and a decline in kidney function.

Health experts point to the fact that potatoes in their natural state are fatfree and contain high levels of vitamin C, vitamin B1 and B6, as well as folic acid, potassium and fibre.