Warning on Atkins Diet

[CShine]

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/15/1079199143293.html

[supernova]

1. There's nothing new in this article

Are the aussies that far behind? It's long on gossip and short on facts.

[Clyyyde]

2. Atkins diet

I just don't believe the naysaying! I lost 20 lbs on Atkins and had bloodwork done during that time. The results were the best #'s I've recieved in the years I've been having these tests. I think the negative bs about his diet is rooted in professional envy more than facts. Think for just a minute, someone who is obese loses 100 lbs and that is supposed to be detrimental and cause heart problems???? His heart condition was due to a virus he contracted 3 years pryer to death and his weight at death was after being in a coma for a month or so and was retaining fluid.

[Ms. Clio]

3. thanks for the facts Clyyyde about the poor man's demise

I know Atkins has worked for both me and several people that I know, and that most people don't know what the hell they're talking about when they bash it.

[hang a left]

4. On and off Adkins for three years. On it right now, feel great!

Atkins is very very healthy, my husband has high blood pressure and no longer has had to take medication because of Adkins.

"I think the negative bs about his diet is rooted in professional envy more than facts."

Really when you look at our food pyramid approved by the 'government' it is completely upside down. Go to the market walk up and down the lanes what do you see, nothing but carbs. I would suspect that there are alot of giant food conglomerates that are losing marketshare because of the low-carb craze. Think about it, they are the ones to lose out here.

[Ms. Clio]

5. that is exactly true; I read that bread makers have been freaking out

Because Atkins and other low carb dieters "treat it like poison."

[October]

10. Those who suffer from Celiac Sprue benefit

People who have Celiac Disease (CD) cannot tolerate/process gluten (gluten is the protein found in wheat, rye, barley, spelt...).

The Atkins diet has helped more than just its followers. People with CD can now order burgers without buns -- and order eggs without the toast -- and no one bats an eye!

[Malva Zebrina]

14. Not to mention the sugar lobby

[central scrutinizer]

19. potato growers too

See, it is Atkins fault, not W's that so many jobs are being lost:

http://www.registerguard.com/news/2004/03/10/d13.bz.potatos.0310.html

The J.R. Simplot Co., one of the world's biggest french fry manufacturers, announced that it would close its only Oregon plant by the end of the year. The company will let go of 125 employees by June, with 500 to follow in November,

But in addition to leaving hundreds jobless, the move will leave millions of pounds of potatoes with nowhere to go after this growing season, producers say.

While sales in Asia are the primary reason for the closure, the trendy Atkins diet, which has turned carbohydrates into Enemy No. 1, has hurt sales domestically.

[CheshireCat]

17. I've had the same experience with Atkinsm Clyyyde!

I have lost weight on Atkins, but it is not the diet for me. I don't eat much meat.

However, my husband lost 40 pounds on Atkins. During that time period his cholesteral fell by more than 200 points and his blood sugar(which had been borderline) dropped.

[bearfan454]

20. Welcome to DU

Now you can get the real news.

[shanti]

6. it would be nice if you posted a few paragraphs

so we could see....

[lams712]

7. Sorry, but the Atkins diet is KICKING ASS for me

since I started in January. Lost about 30 lbs. so far.

[emulatorloo]

8. Atkins works for a lot of people; check out also The Zone

at http://www.drsears.com/drsearspages/

which I have found made more sense to me.

[Paganini]

9. Why not just eat sensible and exercise a bit more

If you look at France and Italy you will find very few obese or even overweight people. The diets in both of these countries are very carb heavy. They just live a bit more sensibly. The problem is that we have become too sedentary and eat far too much junk food. We have gone to the wrong extreme with our eating habits and I think the Atkins diet is an extreme way to diet. The Atkins diet cures a symptom but it does not correct our country's dietary problems.

That said, it does work. I've seen people loose a great deal of weight. However, the moment they get off the diet, the weight comes right back. I've been told by dieters that it is hard to sustain over a long period of time. A lot of people have switched over to a more traditional diet like weight watchers.

[The Stranger]

11. It is interesting that most commonly eaten foods belong to the carbohydrat

family, and by cutting back on carbohydrates you may indirectly cut back on your intake of food overall by limiting what you will eat.

There may be no magic at all to Atkins after all.

[Ms. Clio]

13. Any "diet" will stop working once you stop doing it

Sorry, but this is what I mean by people bashing it who don't know anything about it--the diet only seems "extreme" for the first two weeks. But the maintenance plan basically limits only junk food and sugar, not healthy food like salad or vegetables or even some frutis. Once you've reached your goal you can even have very moderate amounts of things like potatoes and pasta and rice. But it seems that most people never get past the first few chapters of the book. Atkins or any other low carb plan or any other diet, I think, requires a lifelong commitment. You just have to recognize that you can't eat they way you used to ever again if you want to stay trim.

That said, adding serious exercise (hard cardio and resistance training) to the mix will just kick up the weight loss DRAMATICALLY--it has for me!

(edited for typo)

[hang a left]

16. Really the very moment they go off the diet?

"However, the moment they get off the diet, the weight comes right back."


The science behind Adkins is that the production of insulin caused by eating carbohydrates is what causes the body to store fat. You switch the way your body uses itself for energy. Instead of burning carbs for energy you burn body fat for energy. You feel great, you are not hungry, your skin color is great, your eyes are clear, your energy level increases. You cannot tell me that this diet is not healthy, you know it is by the way you feel.

However, the problem for me has always been sugar, cakes, pastry, twinkies, beans, tortillas, breads, ect... I love carbohydrate rich foods, I am an addict. When I go off Adkins and eat the foods I love like a banshee, my body switches back to burning the carbs I eat for energy and storing the rest as body fat. So I gain it back. I think that is true with all diets, you stay on them diligently, you lose weight. You go off you gain it back. One thing about Adkins is that it is not just a diet, but a way of life in terms of the foods you eat. According to Adkins philosophy, you are not supposed to ever go off, you are retraining yourself to eat properly. After you have the lost the desired amount of weight you go onto the stage of the diet called "maintenance" where your carbs are less restricted, but, you still are not supposed to have breads and sugars.

By the way weight watchers is now going low carb, why, because it works.

[CheshireCat]

18. Not everyone can exercise

My husband is diabled and can do no exercise. In 47 years, Atkins is the only diet that has worked for him over an extended period of time.

I prefer the "eat sensible and exercise a bit more" routine, but there are many disable people who cannot exercise.

[colonel odis]

12. went on atkins last winter and lost 20 lbs.....

in about three months. unfortunately, as soon as i slipped and started eating sugar again (with a vengeance), i put on all my lost weight plus about 10 lbs.

went vegetarian (still eating fish, though) 2 months ago and cut out sugar. lost 20 lbs in a shorter period of time and don't have all that red meat clogging up my gut.

atkins is great and has probably saved a lot of people's lives. all i know is what's worked a little better for me.

[info being]

15. Nothing new...

The powerful processed foods industry has been trying to undermine the low-carb diet since the 1970's. There's a lot of profit to be made in selling high-margin cookies and crackers...very little margin in meat and eggs.

Also, the healthcare industry likes sick Americans. We are a sort of cash-crop for them.

My point is that attacks on low-carb diets are boring and predictable. Nothing is more effective or healthy.

[supernova]

21. Atkins, if used properly, is a healthy and safe way

to lose and maintain a realistic weight.

1 )He died last winter due to complications of the head injury he got from his fall on the ice.

2) He had cardiomyopathy as a result of a viral infection several years ago. Cardiomyopathy = enlargening and gradual weakening of the heart.

Neither 1) nor 2) had anything to do with the way he ate. Atkins is not a pure red meat diet. If that's what you think Atkins is, you haven't learned enough. It is not necessary to eat red meat on Atkins if you don't want to. You can stick to chicken, eggs, tofu, fish, and nuts. There are plenty of sources of protein if you look.

If you see the interview that NBC's Dateline did with him shortly before his accident, he WAS NOT overweight. He was very much up and about, working and playing tennis... at 72.

God, I can't believe how many people want to slander this highly intelligent man even after his death. It's so incredibly sad and mean-spirited.

I started Atkins almost 2 years ago now. I'm down a good 23 lbs and am keeping it off with what I've learned about how my body uses carbohydrates. :D

BTW, I have congential heart defects. I can do some aerobic exercise, but I cannot lift weights. Atkins is the only system that has worked for me in my adult life.