Rob Lowe Is New Atkins Diet Brand Ambassador

Atkins may have peaked in the early 2000s, but Rob Lowe is just getting started. The diet company, whose sales have struggled to compare to the glory days of decades past, hopes that the age-defying actor will help improve their marketing success. Rob Lowe has recently signed on as their newest celebrity spokesperson advocating for their low-carb and active lifestyle regime.

Lowe is known for his performance in many roles, including Sam Seaborn on The West Wing and Dr. Ethan Willis on Code Black. But perhaps his most celebrated appearance is in the hit television sitcom Parks and Recreation, where he plays the kale-crazed and relentlessly positive Chris Traeger. For many viewers of the show, Rob Lowe personifies all things health and wellness, making him an apt candidate for any diet or exercise platform.

Lowe, who (believe it or not) is 53 years old, has been alive much longer than the Atkins diet has. The company was born and the diet rose to prominence after Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution was published in 2002, detailing Dr. Robert Atkins's controversial argument that a low-carb diet produces a metabolic advantage to help burn fat. The Atkins fad diet is the source of the common argument that a high-protein, high-fiber, low-carb diet is the best way to stave off hunger and lose weight.

However, the diet's popularity waned when controversy was stirred over the diet's efficacy. The evidence that Atkins' diet delivered long-term weight loss was weak, and studies began to suggest that it actually increased dieters' risk of heart disease. Atkins himself had a history of heart problems, complicating things even further.

Atkins's new campaign hopes to reframe low-carb dieting as a healthy lifestyle change rather than a restrictive diet. The company's recent ads feature Rob Lowe discussing the flexibility of the plan, noting that "this is Atkins today."

A representative from Atkins told The Daily Meal that Lowe has lived by a low-carb lifestyle for most of his life and saw it as only natural that he would agree to endorse the diet program when asked.

"It all starts with how you feel on the inside, and when you feel good, you look good," said Lowe in a press release. "Eating low carb has helped me feel and look my best." It's hard to deny that the 53-year-old looks great. But even still, we're skeptical that Atkins won't end up being just another fad diet bound to fade in the next couple of years.