Low Carb Dieters!! Stand up and Be Proud!

[onebigbadwulf]

I've been on a low carb, low fat, high protein diet for a month!

EVERY DAY I get nothing but crap from people. Every day it's the same people offering me the same advice I don't want, offering food I don't need, and giving me opinions I didn't ask for!

Why is it your business if I don't want to consume fat or sugar? Why is it your number one priority to pick apart what I put on my plate?

I'm SICK of it okay. No more.

Fellow low-carb dieters unite!!!

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

1. Here I am!

70 pounds gone and kept off for a year.

Bloodwork is PERFECT.

Energy better than ever.

Happier than I've ever been.

HEALTHIER than I've ever been.

Atkins is the only plan that ever worked for me.

Three cheers for Dr. Atkins! :D :D :D

[onebigbadwulf]

2. Me too!

My body mass index was always on the high end, with a gut and handles that would never leave.

Now after one month, I can almost see a six pack.

Here's to beef, poultry, and green veggies!

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

10. What did you eat today?

I usually eat 4-5 very small meals and 1 medium-sized meal throughout the day, instead of 3 large meals.

I had:

1/2 cup of strawberries

low-carb blueberry yogurt

large green salad with chicken slices and Ranch dressing

two fajitas (lean beef, roasted red and yellow peppers, mushrooms, and onions with sour cream and a little bit of salsa in a low-carb wrap)

2 deviled eggs

steamed veggies with Ranch dressing

96 ounces of water

2 no-carb diet drinks

[onebigbadwulf]

49. What did I have

3 30g protein shakes throughout the day

giant salad (cucumber, lettuce, sprouts, no dressing)

4 big sausages

500 grams of cooked chicken breast

Half plate of ham

Half plate of green beans

And lots and lots of water

Delicious.

[Courtesy Flush]

39. I haven't pooped in a week

I'm not actually on the Atkins diet, but I'm kind of faking it. I am avoiding carbs, and eating lots of protein. I've only been doing it for a week, and for some reason, I haven't been able to take a poop since I started. I don't FEEL constipated, but nothing's happening down there.

The reason? I'm guessing it's because I don't eat cereal anymore. Until now, I've always had a bowl of cereal for breakfast daily. Not necessarily high fiber cereal, but they all have some fiber. I'm accustomed to having BMs daily--as many as five times in a day. To the point of being a nuissance. So when I go a week without one, I really notice. I feel fine, but it makes me wonder.

[Courtesy Flush]

40. Update: The problem has been rectified :) eom

[IronLionZion]

59. eat vegetable fiber

fiber is your friend and it doesn't have to be heavy on carbs

[Dying Eagle]

3. If you have......

the energy to stand up!!

LOL, i kid, i kid!

[Catch22Dem]

4. Mmmmmmmmm

:evilgrin:

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

6. Seeing all those pictures, I feel...

logy, drained, foggy-headed, and tired. :puke:

That and 70 extra pounds are what carbs did for me.

[Speck Tater]

5. Reated long term studies show

That low carb dieters do burn fat fast, but at a sever cost to the health of the metabolism. The perfect diet for the human animal is 10% fat, 10% protien, 80% complex carbohydrates and no refined sugar, white flour or white rice.

So you don'
--- quote from http://www.pritikin.com/newsletter/pdf/2004/junjul04.pdf
---

It’s criminal how few health writers take the time to read – really
read – and dissect newly published scientific articles. Too often, snappy
headlines overrule substance. Recently, that’s what happened with two
new studies comparing low-carb, Atkins-style diets with conventional
low-fat diets.

Both were published in the May 18 issue of the Annals of Internal
Medicine. Both groups of authors warned that the studies had serious flaws.
The first, which followed 132 obese adults at Philadelphia Veterans
Affairs Medical Center, had a very high dropout rate (34% of the dieters)
as well as “suboptimal dietary adherence of the enrolled persons.”

In the second study, funded by the Robert C. Atkins Foundation and
conducted at Duke University, the 120 moderately obese dieters were
followed for only 24 weeks, and the Atkins followers received nutritional
supplements that the low-fat dieters did not receive, which, the authors
feared, might have skewed results because the supplements have favorable
effects on cholesterol and triglyceride levels and weight loss.

But what we, the American public, saw in the media were headlines like
“Low-Carb Is King!” and “Low-Carb Dieters Knew It All Along.”

Unbelievable. Literally. Here are the real facts, gleaned from an
in-depth, sentence by sentence, graph by graph, analysis of the two articles
by Dr. James Kenney, Nutrition Research Specialist

<snip>
TWO OF THE ATKINS DIETERS DIED.

Though the Philadelphia study was small in number – just 66 men and
women were on the Atkins diet – and their average age was only 53 years
old, two of the Atkins dieters died, one from hyperosmola coma five
months into the study, and the second from severe ischemic cardiomyopathy
ten months into the study. No one had died on the low-fat diet.

THE ATKINS DIETERS SUFFERED FAR MORE
SIDE EFFECTS.

In the Duke University study, two-thirds of the Atkins dieters reported
constipation problems, 60% reported headaches, and 25% complained of a
general feeling of weakness. The Atkins followers were five times more
likely to suffer from muscle cramps compared to the low-fat dieters,
and three times more likely to have diarrhea.

<snip>

And lots more bad news in hte original article.

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

7. Why do you want me to die?

Before Atkins, I was morbidly obese and my cholesterol was frightening.

Now I'm in great shape and my bloodwork is perfect.

What skin is it off your nose if I'm happy and healthy on a diet you disapprove of, huh? Why do you object to my freedom of CHOICE?

I thought DU was a site that supported CHOICE. Sigh.

[Dying Eagle]

8. Walt

I don't think it was a dis. They are just showing the other side of the Atkins debate. Congrats on your success!! :bounce:

[onebigbadwulf]

9. Gotta make something clear

low carb diet does not necessarily = atkins


I'm on a low fat and low carb diet and never felt better! My energy is through the roof

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

32. Oh come on! And PRITIKIN who is Atkin's competition is a valid source?

As regards the two alleged deaths

Here are the risk factors for hyperosmola coma

http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/000304.htm

here are the risk factors for ischemic cardiomyopathy:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000160.htm

One is a person with diabetes..which if left undiagnosed and untreated will kill anyone whether they do Atkins, Pritikin or starve themselves.

The other is a result of a buildup in the arteries and takes YEARS to develop not ten months.

[SarahB]

11. Yes!

I look damn fine, my cholesterol went from through the roof to normal, knock me out of being depressed and tired, and I don't eat bacon, sausage, and sticks of butter all day. I eat lots of veggies, some fruit, soy products, nuts, olive oil, a few whole grains, chicken, fish, and beef. So blah! :P If you don't like it, don't eat it!!!

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

12. You are my hero!

:yourock:


I bought a pair of jeans today in a size I haven't worn since the tenth grade!! My niece (8 years old) said the other day, "Aunt Dawn, you are skinnier than my babysitter!" :D

[pansypoo53219]

13. i live

on carbs. and i am not overweight. but i guess i am lucky.

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

14. You sound like my little brother.

He eats 5,500-7,000 calories a day, much of it in carbs, and can't get any heavier than 145 pounds, no matter what he does.

Some people have all the luck....

[Radio-Active]

15. carbs speed up the metabolism

The AMA, ADA, American Heart Association, and the American Cancer Society all oppose the Atkins Diet... http://www.atkinsfacts.org/

I don't see why people think unrefined carbs make you overweight. Sure, it's great to avoid sugar, but why are whole wheat, beans, and even bananas bad?

Americans eat the most protein and we are among the fattest. Asians eat the most unrefined carbs and they are among the skinniest. Go figure.

[Gryffindor_Bookworm]

16. Yes, EVERYONE is exactly like YOU.

Your body is the baseline standard of normal. Everyone who is different from you in any way is bad and stupid.

Got it. Thanks.

[onebigbadwulf]

17. Why people think carbs make you overweight?

Because adipose tissue (fat) is composed of carbs and lipids.

Cutting either fat or carbs will cause a net adipose tissue loss.
In my case, cutting both will lead to extremely fast loss.

Your body has no way to store protein outside of lean muscle. This phenomenon makes high protein diets ideal for weight loss.

[HuckleB]

19. Are you a nutritionist?

[onebigbadwulf]

21. I'm a med student.

The best way to think about food is this.


sugar (carbs) + fat (lipids) = adipose tissue (fat).


There are such things as essential amino acids (proteins)
There are such things as essential fats

But there are no such things as essential carbohydrates.


We evolved eating bugs and leaves. We can survive eating bugs and leaves.

[HuckleB]

22. You're not going to tell me that you learned that crap in med school.

I know better than that, my friend.

[onebigbadwulf]

47. What crap?

Please be specific.

[HuckleB]

56. Your oversimiplified explanation.

Virtually from the Atkins book.

Have you not had nutrition yet? Do you not have access to nutrition journals, and the research done at places like Harvard?

Call me crazy, but I would think a future doc would want the latest, most comprehensive look at nutrition, and low-carb is anything but that.

Bye bye.

[onebigbadwulf]

58. I have had nutrition

your body can make energy from fat and protein.

There is no such thing as an essential carb. Sorry.

This isn't from Atkins. I'm not on Atkins. Never read Atkins.

[HuckleB]

64. Yes, your body can make energy from fat and protein.

But carbs are essential to a balanced diet. I hope you learn that before you are unleashed on patients.

[HuckleB]

20. And we've got more liver and kidney problems than most of the world...

largely due to the overabundance of protein in our diets. That's what scares the crap out of me about this "low-carb" fad.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

25. I don't think so

there's more of a direct correlation between alcoholism and liver and kidney problems than there is between DIET and liver and kidney problems...the histories taken in hospitals are lucky enough to GET the info on ethanol abuse...let alone ask people what they eat.

[HuckleB]

26. You really ought to do some research into this.

I have, and you are way off.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

31. The only major diseases that high protein is indicated as the culprit

in are gout and osteoporosis...if you have proof or a study that indicates you are correct from a major medical journal, I will be happy to reconsider. I have access to all of them. You saying "I'm right, you're wrong." is hardly persuasive.

[HuckleB]

51. If you actually have access to them, then you should have seen them before

-- I'm not going off to the library to suit you, as I currently don't have access at home. However, I know that I've read studies on this matter, in medical journals, over the years. This knowledge is what gave me the first inkling that something was amiss, and not quite right, when the low carb marketers hit town. Perhaps you can dismiss this as some dream I had repeatedly leading me to wonder about these diets, or this aspect of them, but I can't.

[Snow]

52. I'd tendto agree with NSMA, but from a slightly different angle...

I'd blame a lot of liver & kidney problems on our OTC meds, especially analgesics, especially tylenol - "Doesn't upset your stomach (but wipes out your liver". Also if you read the british medical literature you find that paracetamol is a well-documented risk factor for asthma. And what have we been giving kids for some years for their fevers in order to avoid (pretty damn rare) Reyes' Syndrome? You got it! Paracetamol (aka tylenol).

[HuckleB]

53. The studies factor these issues in.

Those are problematic as well, but their existence doesn't dismiss the matter of an out of balance protein intake.

[Snow]

57. What you need to consider is something called

population attributable risk. What proportion, for instance, of lung cancer in the US is attributable to smoking? Probably about 90%. What you, I, and NMSA are arguing is about the population attributable risks for liver & kidney disease due to high protein diets, alcohol, and toxic meds. Most kidney disease is the end stage of type 2 diabetes, okay? And most type 2 diabetes is caused by.....a number of factors, genetic, dietary, exercise, but high-protein diets have not been implicated. Alcohol destroys livers in part through the poor nutritional status of the heavy imbiber, not through high protein intake. Tylenol and to a lesser extent ibuprofen and friends are straight-up toxic.

Now then, I won't argue that high-protein, unbalanced diets are not a good thing, that such diets may contribute a bit to risk of liver/kidney disease. But I will argue that the other factors are much more important. I think that's the point NSMA & I were after.

[HuckleB]

63. I am in research, so thanks for the "lesson."

Check out the studies. Do a search via a Health Science U library.

[Snow]

65. Sarcasm doesn't disguise the lack of an answer.......

and I'd recommend PubMed before a health science U library - bit easier to get at. What are your qualifications, bud? I'm skeptical, frankly. I'm in research and have been since the early 70's. I have a masters and doctorate in epidemiology from one of the largest and most respected epidemiology programs in the country, have worked on the ending years of the Minnesota Heart Health Program, at that time the largest federal research grant funded (and which included a major nutritional component), have spent 20 years teaching grad students and medical students, have published scores of papers in peer-reviewed journals and currently am director of research for a major non-profit health-care system. Yourself?

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

60. With all due respect...pony up actual proof or don't waste my time

I appreciate if you do have expertise, but the underpinnings of a debate are not "I'm right, you're wrong."

Even science admits there are different metabolisms..not one single one...certainly no one would expect a 250 lb sedentary person to have the metabolism of an athlete.

Most of your criticisms of Atkins are based on misinterpretations of the actual diet.

[HuckleB]

62. Right back at you.

Where's your proof of your claim?

Seems a bit hypocritical of someone who supposedly has access to the all the journals. Surely you could then do a quick search on CINAHL or MEDLINE or something.

Sheesh.

[Snow]

66. You started the argument with your offering of

"we have more kidney & liver disease than the rest of the world, & it's caused by high-protein intake". Therefore it seems to me incumbent upon you to back up the statement with some references.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

68. Seems to me the one making the charge should be the one to pony up the

facts...:shrug:

BTW...read your input and as usual it was very erudite.

but even a cursory visit to the liver foundation reveals that HuckleB is making this stuff up...if one looks at the MAJOR culprits of liver disease via THEIR site, one sees many references to Hepatitis, alcohol, chemicals and other well known causes of liver disease and FEW references to diet and NO REFERENCES TO PROTEIN CAUSING liver disease although some references to fatty fried foods aggravating it.

http://www.liverfoundation.org/db/articles/1022

Take a look around the site...correct me if I am wrong...back to HuckleB to prove his/her point.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

69. You made the claim that protein caused liver disease

it is handily refuted at this site:
http://www.liverfoundation.org/db/articles/1022

Protein MAY be a factor once LIVER disease actually exists...but diet is RARELY a cause of liver disease and isn't even listed as one here as far as I can tell but for FRIED fats...as I said..alcohol and other chemicals are far more likely to cause liver disease although I did forget one of the greater culprits: hepatitis...all forms.

Now back to you to actually prove your point with something more than a pithy diatribe void of facts.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

23. The problem is they obviously didn't read the damn book

The phase of the diet where one shuns fruit lasts for two weeks...after that one can eat from every food group although bread, rice, sugar and pasta are not recommended...the BEST thing about Atkins is that one is eating little in the way of processed foods.

You can have beans, bananas and grains...you figure out how many carbs works best for your body to maintain your weight and that's what you do. For myself, if I am sticking to it, I can eat between 40 and 60 carbs a day when I am exercizing. If I am staying away from processed foods, that's quite a few carbs...especially greens such as spinach, asparagus, etc.

I don't think there is a one size fits all answer..as one who was vigorously exercising several times a week when I surfed regularly, the heaviest I was (until now) was the four years I was vegetarian..I ate more because I never felt satisfied.

I think there are all types of people and not all diets work for everyone....low fat everything has been being crammed down everyone's throats for over two decades now and Americans are fatter than ever.

BTW...the French eat fat ..loads of it...low instances of heart disease amongst the French.

[HuckleB]

24. The problem is that there shouldn't be any such phase to any diet.

Not to mention the constant reiteration from the Atkins' camp that current science means nothing. We must stick with 30-year-old philosophy.

Sorry, but that's not science. That's baloney.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

27. Sorry..you've got a position on this and are preaching to people

as though anyone that does the diet is wrong. I've been around academia long enough to know that much of science is baloney too. The same scientists telling you to eat low fat are also the same scientists who for decades claimed that women weren't at risk for heart disease and that the likelihood of women suffering fatal heart disease was much lower than men...why? They didn't bother to DO ANY LONG TERM STUDIES ON WOMEN...we now know better..heart disease is much more deadly in a younger woman than a younger man...mostly thanks to science since a younger male has been groomed to view it as a risk factor whereas a younger woman has not.

[HuckleB]

28. And you don't have a position on this?

I have a postion on this based in education and a well-researched reading of the science of diet and nutrition that includes the whole of the body of research, not just that which suits the diet someone wants to push, which is the case with low-carb diet pushers.

I'm not simply pushing the low-fat option. That's a false dichotomy. However, I am pushing true balance, and the low-carb fad which is being marketed today in this country does not offer that. Further, it does not offer a diet based on the whole of the science of diet and nutrition, and it certainly doesn't include much of what we now know about diet and nutrition.

Can you lose weight on it? Sure. Is it the responsible diet that nutritionists and health care professinals should be pushing for their patients to lose weight? No.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

29. I think you are misstating the Atkins diet

He advocates two weeks of extremely restricted carbs...approximately 8 weeks of moderately restricted carbs and after that a balanced diet that includes all food group including grains just NOT at the level recommended by SOME.

You can lose weight for the time being eating snickers for breakfast, lunch and dinner...you can also lose weight the way drug companies and medicine recommend with diet pills...there are risk factors to everything.

My "position" which is not ill informed having work with academics for two decades is that there is not a one size fits all diet for all of humanity and that SOME people DO benefit from the diet.,..not all. It is THEIR responsibility to discuss it with their physician and to do the diet in the manner recommended in the book (which also suggest a physical and blood work)

[HuckleB]

50. I didn't misstate a thing.

I said those first phases don't belong in any diet. How is that misstating the Atkins diet?

[Susang]

55. I lost weight with the help of a drug

I'm not embarrassed to admit it either. :P

I have an endocrine disorder and I gained weight no matter what I ate. I was eating less than 1000 calories a day and yet I still was putting on about a pound or two a month. I maxed out at 175 and with my family's history of heart disease and stroke, not to mention high blood pressure and osteoarthritis, my doctor severely upped my thyroid meds and added a low dose of an epilepsy drug called Topamax to my daily regimen.

It isn't the right treatment for everyone, but since I physically wasn't able to exercise and cutting calories did nothing, my doctor felt that it was the best way to go. High protein would have killed me, as I also suffer from severe IBS and one of my triggers is meat and fat. I might have ended up losing weight, but it would have been from trips to the bathroom, not from ketosis. ;-)

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. People's physiologies are different

Whenever I go back to eating carbs freely, even if I stick to whole grains, I gain weight. I have to limit them to one meal a day to maintain my weight and go on Atkins induction to start losing.

Every time I have gone back to eating carbs at every meal, even complex ones, I have gained weight. Every time.

If I went on Pritikin or any other high carb diet, I'd be over 200 lbs. in no time. I know that, because what started me on low carb eating was the fact that I was headed full speed toward 200 pounds on oatmeal with 1% millk, whole-grain bread, whole wheat pasta, baked potatoes, stir fries with hardly any meat, and other recommended foods. When I told my doctor that I was still gaining weight, she told me to use less oil in making my stir fries!

It wasn't until three different people told me about first cutting out sugar (which stopped the weight gain) and then low carb eating (which allowed me to lose weight) that I had any success.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

34. All this diet flaming and people getting on others pisses me off

I'm now sitting here eating ice cream :hi:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

35. Asians do not live on massive amounts of carbs

I don't know where this myth came from, probably from people who've never been to Asia.

They eat mostly vegetables and small amounts of meat, seafood, or tofu, with perhaps an ice cream scoop's equivalent of rice or noodles. They have a lot of deep-fried and other oily foods.

By the way, most Asian cultures eat refined rice and noodles, and the Japanese, at least, considered it a true hardship when they had to eat brown rice during WWII. I've never seen brown rice in a Japanese restaurant in Japan except in Western-influenced "healthy foods" restaurants.

Oh, and the Italians? Yes, they eat pasta, but not the massive plates full that you get at family restaurants here.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

36. Japanese get lots of Omega 3's too

it's in the herring, salmon and other fish that they eat

[MallRat]

67. Simple carbs increase hunger by creating sugar highs & lows.

And it doesn't stop at refined sugar foods, like candy and cake.

Simple starches, like bananas, potatoes, white rice, pasta, and white bread go zipping into your bloodstream because they're so easy to digest. When your blood sugar crashes an hour later, your body responds by making you hungry: in some cases, hungrier than you really need to be.

I've been on a low-carb diet for about a year, and the first thing I noticed was how even my energy level was. No highs, no lows... my stamina to get through the day was astonishing.

And, because your blood sugar isn't crashing, you don't respond by overeating. After the first couple of days (I did South Beach), I wasn't that hungry.

South Beach, I think, is better than Atkins because they allow you to introduce more carbs later on in the program. It also gives strategies on when to eat a sugary dessert. If you're going to have ice cream, don't have it in the afternoon; eat it at night so that you sleep through the sugar crash.

-MR

[HuckleB]

18. God forbid that people might care about your long-term health.

Please read Walter Willett's "Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy," and find some science-based balance. I really don't care if you're sick of hearing it, I wouldn't be a responsible fellow human, if I didn't say anything.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0743223225/102-8632684-5695320?v=glance

[Snow]

54. I know Walt Willett. Walt Willett is a friend of mine....

and you're to be commended for reading his book...but last I heard, he was taking a serious look at the use of South Beach diet for people with insulin resistance. The book might be a bit behind his current thinking.

[VolcanoJen]

30. I'm a low-fat kinda gal, but I've seen the low-carb diet work...

... on the least likely cases, so I really don't have anything against it.

Wouldn't work for me, though, since I never met a carbohydrate I didn't love. :D

Best of luck, and congratulations, low-carbers!

[cally]

37. Low carb works for me

I've lost a lot of weight and it was relatively easy. I'm eating better than I have for years. I eat more vegetables and fruit just no refined carbs or sweets.

I do sometimes snicker when folks criticize low carb. Most, if not all, doctors recommend low carb for diabetics. My husband has type 1 diabetes and is so much healthier when he reduces his carbs. He uses less insulin and his blood sugar is much more stable.

[wickerwoman]

38. I've been on South Beach for about 2 months

and I just fit into my 1992 jeans again for the first time.

I have diabetics on both sides of my family (including my father) and was about a hundred pounds overweight. I could never figure out why I was gaining so much weight when I never seemed to eat anything. I would skip breakfast, have vending maching fare for lunch and then eat Chinese food or subs for dinner every night. But if I counted calories, I was still in the right range. And I was eating veggies and not very much saturated fat. What was killing me was soda (I'd drink a 2 liter bottle of Sprite in a day)and chocolate. And low fat didn't work because I was always miserably hungry by 4 o'clock and carrot sticks weren't cutting it. My job requires a lot of mental focus and energy and if it got to be a few minutes before class time and I didn't have that focus or energy, I'd got for a quick sugar rush.

The best thing about South Beach is that I don't have the same kind of mad cravings. I'm reasonably active since I've never owned a car and I haven't felt noticably weaker since I started.

I lapsed for a week- started eating sugar and french fries again- and I was in so much pain in my abdomen from the insulin surges I considered going to the hospital. I cut out the sugar, and the pain went away. You can throw all the studies-du-jour at me you want but my experience with South Beach has been great.

[tigerbeat]

41. lo-carb vegetarian checking in.....

....living proof it's not all meat and eggs.

[Liberal Classic]

42. I was low carb before low carb was cool

Thanks to an allergy to wheat gluten, I have had to eliminate wheat flour from my diet. This was long before I had ever heard of low carbohydrate diets or Dr. Atkins.

I went out and bought his book and read it, and I am suprised at the things people say about Dr. Atkins. The long and the short of it is to eat right and excercise, stay away from highly-processed flours and sugars, instead eat more fresh veggies, and take one multi-vitamin a day. Not particularly controversial in my opinion.

There's more to the book than this, of course, he talks a lot about diabetes and pre-diabetics, and why a lot of people have problems with low-fat diets and the plateau effect.

The really hard part for me is avoiding monosodium glutimate. MSG seems to be in everything under a never-ending list of names.

[Speck Tater]

43. Atkins "Nightmare" Diet

When Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution was first published, the President of the American College of Nutrition said, "Of all the bizarre diets that have been proposed in the last 50 years, this is the most dangerous to the public if followed for any length of time."

<snip>

The problem for Atkins (and his sheepdog), though, is that the National Academy of Sciences, the most prestigious scientific body in the United States, agrees with the AMA and the ADA in opposing the Atkins Diet. So does the American Cancer Society; and the American Heart Association; and the Cleveland Clinic; and Johns Hopkins; and the American Kidney Fund; and the American College of Sports Medicine; and the National Institutes of Health.

In fact there does not seem to be a single major governmental or nonprofit medical, nutrition, or science-based organization in the world that supports the Atkins Diet. As a 2004 medical journal review concluded, the Atkins Diet "runs counter to all the current evidence-based dietary recommendations."

complete article at http://www.atkinsfacts.org/


Bad is bad, even for those in denial about what is bad.
Yes, it burns fat fast, but at what long-term cost?

[Liberal Classic]

45. Dangerous?

Of all the bizarre diets that have been proposed in the last 50 years, this is the most dangerous to the public if followed for any length of time.

There's no emotionally laden language in there, nah.

In fact there does not seem to be a single major governmental or nonprofit medical, nutrition, or science-based organization in the world that supports the Atkins Diet. As a 2004 medical journal review concluded, the Atkins Diet "runs counter to all the current evidence-based dietary recommendations."

Appeal to authority, no?


I should note that I have nothing against Dr. Michael Greger, owner of atkinsfacts.org. In his website he claims that following the Atkins diet causes everything from bone loss to cancer. However, he does mention a number of times that people aren't really following what Dr. Atkins wrote in his book. The low-carb craze, with it's low-carb diet soda and low-carb chocolate candies, is not what Dr. Atkins was talking about.


Atkins was right in going "against the grain" in the case of refined carbohydrates like white flour and sugar. But he was wrong to restrict good carbs--the carbs found in whole unrefined foods--like those recommended in the WHO's report: "fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains and nuts." A bunless burger is not the answer to a fat-free doughnut.

Now having actually read Dr. Atkin's book, he does not say that "A bunless burger is not the answer to a fat-free doughnut." Where does junk like this come from? Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and the like are encouraged in his book as being part of a healthy diet, whereas highly processed flours and sugars aren't. It is stuff like this that leaves me wondering if Dr. Greger or you fiziwig have read Atkin's book at all.

Also from Dr Greger's website:

There seem to be two Atkins Diets: one that he describes in his books (particularly in later editions), and the one the public thinks he describes in his books. How many Atkins Dieters, for example, only eat free-range organic bacon? This may be one of the reasons why we haven't seen even higher rates of serious side effects--so few people may be actually following the diet.

I would have to agree that exists a disparity between what Dr. Atkins wrote, and what people claim he said. This would include Dr. Greger, who in my opinion makes a hypocrite out of himself with this paragraph.

There seem to be two main criticisms, one that people who follow Dr. Atkins will become sick, and two that people who jump on the low-carb bandwagon without really understanding it will become sick. Is the problem that people aren't really understanding what Dr. Atkins wrote, and then eating their weight in cold cuts?

In conclusion, anyone making the claim that Atkins kills is over-stating the issue by a great degree, in my opinion. It is possible to have poor nutrition on a traditional low fat diet, or a low carb diet, or any diet for that matter. At the beginning of his book Atkins says that anyone going on any kind of weight loss diet plan should be consult with their doctor.

[supernova]

44. I love eating low carb

It's a great way for me to maintain my weight. I eat mostly proteins , and low glycemic fresh veggies and fruits.

Like lydia leftcoast, I was tired, irritable, and gaining weight on high carb eating plans. Yes, I was exercising too.

Through Atkins, I've learned that I can only eat about a scoop full of grains or have a slice of bread 2-3 times a week total if I want to maintain my weight. If I want to lose weight, I cut them out all together.

I eat mostly chicken, fish, some tofu. I have red meat about 2-3 times a month.

Grocery shopping is so much easier because I've learned what foods work in my body, and which foods I don't process well. I stay away from those.

I'm of the mind that whatever works for an individual has a great deal to do with what your hunter/gatherer ancestors were eating and what was available to them in their environment. If they were eating grains and such that they found, you probably do well eathing that. It seems my ancesters were more hunters and less so with the grains.

[Arger68]

46. Down 80 lbs.

And kept it off for over a year so far. It's working great for me!!!!

[jonnyblitz]

48. right here

i have been on it for a month also with good results but all i have/had was a bit of extra weight around the belly and waist that needed tweaking. I have cheated (ate pizza once and drank a few beers at Boston convention DU gathering)also and still have decent results in just one month.

[Nikia]

61. It has helped my dad but I've seen athletes burn up on it

My dad was a bit overweight and has successfully lost 30 pounds on low carb diet to be a healthy weight and has better cholesteral and lipid numbers. He does eat most vegtables except potatoes. He doesn't eat bread, noddles, rice, or sugar.
On the otherhand, a couple of my fellow college athletes crashed and burned on low carbohydrate diets. Perhaps, the problem was that they were already lean and people really need carbs to burn when they do things like distance running. Protein is actually a bad fuel to burn, in efficiency (which is why people lose weight on high protein diets) and as far as weight products. To burn more of it than fat or carbohydrates is very damaging to one's health. I think that most Adkin's dieters usually have body fat to burn and don't do enough physical activity for their bodies to be completely out of carbs.