Researchers have found that low carb diets, such as the popular Atkins Diet, raise the risk of heart disease by clogging up the arteries with fatty plaque deposits.

The study carried out at Harvard University observed the impact of three diets on mice over 12 weeks.

One group of mice where feed a diet that included 65 percent carbohydrates, 15 percent fat and 20 percent protein. Another group of mice ate a diet of 43 percent carbs, 42 percent fat and 15 percent protein, said to be like a traditional diet eaten by Westerners. The final study group ate a low carb diet, as popularised by doctor Robert Atkins, which included 12 percent carbs, 43 percent fat and 45 percent protein.

During the 12 week study mice fed on the low carb diet showed increases of plaque deposits in their arteries, which can be a pre cursor to heart disease and coronary heart disease (CHD).