Atkins Diet proved a fraud ??

**FingerorMoon?** · Posted On: 2/12/2004 5:49pm

I'm not sure how much of this appeared in US newspapers.

Richard Flemming (a cardiologist):

wrote on the off-chance to the New York medical examiner's office requesting a copy of Atkins's death report, even though he will have known that such information is normally kept private and that an autopsy had not been carried out. He was duly sent a copy. "There was a mistake," the examiner's office admits.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...E28737,00.html

It appears Atkins was obese when he died and had a list of heart problems !

Very interesting.

**xoaxos** · Posted On: 2/12/2004 5:56pm

even if it was true, it has absolutely no bearing on the countless amount of people who benefited from the diet.

**Bang!** · Posted On: 2/12/2004 6:16pm

Cannibalized from my own site:

I want to make it official: I am announcing the beginning of a new dietary regiment for myself: High-carb city, here I come.

I am so utterly tired of hearing about how people have reduced or eliminated carbohydrates from their diet that I’m going to eat a huge bowl of rice in protest right now. Hang on . . .

There, I’m back. And I feel terrific.

Of all the types of dietary modifications that one could make, pursuing Dr. Atkins’ meaty, fatty plan seems to be absolute lunacy. Naturally, there are many of his newly-formed minions that will rush to tell me how they’ve lost weight by ditching those pesky carbohydrates. Well, if pastries, bon bons and other assorted crap formed a large part of their diet, then I can’t really be surprised. I don’t know how simple sugars wound up dragging their complex—nay, profound—cousins into the muck, but I suspect that therein lies much of the problem. Aren’t there supposed to be something like 14 teaspoons of sugar in a can of Coke? But you’re blaming the pasta. That’s reasonable.

Carbohydrates are so wonderfully easy to burn for anyone falling short of a completely sedentary lifestyle, that I can only surmise that those unable to do so are either eating far too much or moving far too little. As far as I’m concerned, you can scarf down whatever you like, just as long as you are a) meeting your nutritional requirements and b) active.

Just like in everything else that I lay my meandering opinion on, the issue lying at the strained heart of weight loss is sustainability. Every time you radically change your lifestyle, it taxes your body. The only way to make that added stress worthwhile is to maintain whatever changes you have made. Sure, sure. Atkins’s disciples seek to keep eating fat and protein exclusively forever and ever. I hope it works for them. What I don’t understand, though, is if you’re going to go to so much trouble as to irrevocably change the way you live, then why not do so in the direction of simplicity; i.e. consistent exercise and not eating shite?

Is it really rice that’s making people tubby? I think not. If you doubt my veracity, then I know about 1.3 billion Chinese people that can back me up on this.

**FingerorMoon?** · Posted On: 2/12/2004 6:16pm

Bullshit it doesn't.
The 'countless amount of people' who benefited in the SHORT TERM (ie. by short term I mean say 10+ years) may find it comes back to bite them on the ass HARD in the next 10-20 years.

**The_Ghost** · Posted On: 2/12/2004 6:42pm

But HOW will it come back to bite them in the ass?

**Jenfucius** · Posted On: 2/12/2004 7:10pm

most food is carbs. cutting out carbs means you eat less. eating less makes you lose weight.

and perhaps there is some insulin and lipolysis bullshit as well.

the bottom line: quit your whining and pump some iron, girlie men!

**gojuJKDdude** · Posted On: 2/12/2004 8:35pm

Atkins did have a heart condition which was public knowledge and wasnt kept a secret. It was congenital and preexisting it had nothing to do with his diet. Im not for or against atkins but studies show that the atkins diet does not only not damage the heart, but it can also lower BP and cholesterol.

**shinbushi** · Posted On: 2/12/2004 8:46pm

Atkins corpse dragged into US "diet wars"
Thu Feb 12, 2:07 AM ET Add Top Stories - AFP to My Yahoo!

NEW YORK (AFP) - Even in death, it seems Dr. Robert Atkins has been unable to escape the bitter controversy that continues to rage over the health consequences of his phenomenally popular meat-lovers' diet.

AFP/Getty Images/File Photo

The "diet wars," as they have been dubbed in the US media, struck a new low this week as the low-carb guru's corpse was unceremoniously dragged into the debate.

On Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal published a medical examiner's report on Atkins' death last April, indicating that he was obese and had a history of congestive heart failure and hypertension.

The report, obtained and disseminated to the media by a pro-vegetarian lobby group, was jumped on by anti-Atkins nutrionists as ultimate proof of his diet's unhealthy, long-term side effects.

Atkins' widow Veronica threatened to sue over the unauthorised release of the report, and the Atkins Physicians Council in New York argued that the late doctor may have appeared obese due to the bloating side-effects of his comatose condition.

The following day, USA Today published a separate hospital record showing Atkins' weight at the time of his hospital admission at 195 pounds, 60 pounds lighter than the figure cited in the medical examiner's report.

Atkins was hospitalised in New York after a fall on April 8, 2003. He went into a coma and died April 17 at the age of 72.

The fact that the two confidential medical documents were published prominently by the mainstream press is a reflection of the importance the Atkins diet has assumed in the United States.

According to Atkins Nutritionals, about 25 million Americans are on the diet and nearly 100 million are adhering to some sort of "controlled carbohydrate" regimen.

Critics say those figures are inflated, but acknowledge that the popularity of the low-carb diet has resulted in a significant shift in American eating habits.

The Atkins program advocates a counter-intuitive approach to dieting that stresses consumption of high-protein, fatty products, at the expense of carbohydrates.

According to Atkins's theories, eating virtually no carbohydrates causes the body to enter a state known as ketosis, in which it uses stored body fat as fuel.

The unique selling point is that if dieters stick to certain types of foods, principally meat, fish, eggs and dairy products, they can theoretically eat as much as they want and yet still shed weight.

The economic impact has been significant, with the meat industry reporting a surge in sales, while bread, pasta and sweets manufacturers have struggled to counter the idea that their traditional staples are "bad" foods.

Lisa Sasson, a professor at New York University's department of nutrition and public health and a vocal Atkins critic, said she laughed when she read the reports of Atkins' alleged obesity.

"But I'll tell you, in all honesty, if it makes people a bit more sceptical then I welcome it," said Sasson, who believes the Atkins fad is peaking. "I'm waiting for the pendulum to swing. I know it's going to. Is this the impetus? I don't know, but I hope so."

Sasson and many others say the Atkins diet is dangerous because it paints all carbohydrates with the same "weight-gaining" brush, even those which are known to contain nutrients that can help prevent cancer and heart disease.

"I've seen people ask for bacon and cheese but hold the whole-grain bread. That's not just unhealthy, it's crazy," she said.

Atkins supporters counter by pointing to several studies that show the diet encouraging weight loss with no short-term increase in heart disease risk factors.

Studies on the long-term effects are only just getting underway.

The latest row over Atkins' weight is not the first pot shot to be taken at the seemingly unstoppable dietary bandwagon he set in motion.

Last month, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg was overheard telling a group of firefighters that Atkins was "fat" and his food inedible. The mayor also said he didn't believe that Atkins "dropped dead slipping on the sidewalk."

After Veronica Atkins expressed outrage at his comments, Bloomberg eventually apologised.

**Southpaw** · Posted On: 2/12/2004 8:59pm

Originally posted by The_Ghost
But HOW will it come back to bite them in the ass?

Heart disease.

Increased hormones from meat.

Less years to live.

many more.

**FingerorMoon?** · Posted On: 2/12/2004 9:02pm

Atkins did have a heart condition which was public knowledge and wasnt kept a secret. It was congenital and preexisting it had nothing to do with his diet. Im not for or against atkins but studies show that the atkins diet does not only not damage the heart, but it can also lower BP and cholesterol.

What studies ?
It was kept a secret he was obese.
How do we actually know his heart conditions were pre existing, or weren't made worse by the diet ?