Report: Diet Doctor Atkins Was Obese

Yahoo/AP ^ | 2/10/2004 | AP

[ClintonBeGone]

NEW YORK - Dr. Robert Atkins, whose popular diet stresses protein-rich meat and cheese over carbohydrates, weighed 258 pounds at his death and had a history of heart disease, a newspaper reported Tuesday.

Atkins died last April at age 72 after being injured in a fall on an icy street.

Before his death, he had suffered a heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a report by the city medical examiner.

At 258 pounds, the 6-foot-tall Atkins would have qualified as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites)'s body-mass index calculator.

Diet is one potential factor in heart disease, but infections also can contribute to it.

Stuart Trager, chairman of the Atkins Physicians Council in New York, told the Journal that Atkins' heart disease stemmed from cardiomyopathy, a condition thought to result from a viral infection.

Atkins' weight was due to bloating associated with his condition, and he had been much slimmer during most of his life, Trager said.

The medical examiner's report was given to the Journal by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that advocates vegetarianism. The medical examiner's office told the Journal that the report had been sent to the group in error.

There was no immediate response Tuesday to a call seeking additional comment from the medical examiner's office.

The diet guru's widow, Veronica Atkins, was outraged that the report had been made public.

"I have been assured by my husband's physicians that my husband's health problems late in life were completely unrelated to his diet or any diet," she told the Journal.

Last month, Veronica Atkins demanded an apology from Mayor Michael Bloomberg after Bloomberg called her late husband "fat."

In April 2002, Atkins issued a statement saying he was recovering from cardiac arrest related to a heart infection he had suffered from "for a few years." He said it was "in no way related to diet."

[Trident/Delta]

Hmmm.. lets try a little logic here. It may be new to you.

This regimen has been around since the late 60's. It is a regimen that most professional body builders use. It has undergone a 20 year medical study in Sweden. Mutiple resturants have altered their menus to accomodate the massive numbers of people that are now on the Atkins regimen.

on the other hand....

vegans don't like it...

Ok thats it, it is bad....

When it comes to outrage, did it EVER occur to you that it has nothing to do with a medical condition and EVERYTHING to do with PRIVACY!!!

Semper Disgusted

[ClintonBeGone]

and by avoiding bread and pasta you don't get that "I'm hungry" feeling twenty minutes after eating.

And isn't it amazing that you can drive home from work at night and NOT obsess about what you're going to have for dinner when you get home? It's almost annoying to live with non-Atkins practitioners because they're always like "what do you want for dinner tonight".

[bvw]

drink water

That's arguable.

[Agnes Heep]

Congestive heart failure can cause massive water retention, even to the point where water oozes out of the skin when it's pressed. You can get really heavy very quickly if you've got a heart condition.

[kevkrom]

Even if eating red meat and minimal veggies is "bad" for you

I dunno about this "minimal veggies" stuff. I eat more veggies, and eat them more consistently, on Atkins than on any other diet I've ever been on. You just have to be careful about the quantity of the starchier veggies (most root veggies like carrots and onions) and stick with more of the green leafy types if you want to have significant volume.

[chilepepper]

You are extremely naive if you think the "libs" are the ones behind this hit piece on Atkins. Not everything is political, although in this case there is a very liberal overtone to things since there are so many leftist vegetarians, and the "food triangle" which canonized grains and devilized fats was instigated by George McGovern to help out his cronies at Archer Daniel Midlands. I have no doubt that Dashole follows in this tradition.

That said, there are a whole bunch of OTHER folks gunning after Atkins now: the BREAD makers, ADM of course, the DIETICIANS who (rightfully!) appear as fools and buffoons since they have bought into the institutionalized food triangle, and a whole slew of others who have bought the "fat is evil" hype...

[ClintonBeGone]

If the Atkins diet is indeed the "right" way for a human to eat, then all those vegan and no-fat evangalists MUST be wrong.

It's even worse than that. These people believe we can't touch an animal or keep one as a pet, never mind eat even a egg from one of them. Very weird. The Lord gave us dominion over all the animals. These Godless hedonistic types often forget that.

[fml]

...you don't get that "I'm hungry" feeling twenty minutes after eating.

Isn't that the line they used to use for Chinese Food?

[babyface00]

Sometimes its easier to just skip the veggies if (like me) you can't always remember which ones are OK and which ones aren't. Especially as I can only tend to stay on it for a couple weeks at a time - I can't afford to make a mistake during those couple of weeks.

That said, you can eat far more veggies and far less meat on Atkins then most of its critics realize. They just don't read the book all the way through and think the first week is the same as the entire diet.

[fish hawk]

Does it matter if the Dr. was obese or not? If his diet helped thousands to lose weight and help themselves, what does it matter that maybe he, himself did not have the will power to stick to his own diet. I don't see where it would make a difference in the scheme of things. IMHO

[ClintonBeGone]

Obviously his wife would not want this out, but she is also milking profits from things related to his diet. Why would she ever reveal medical conditions that could be related to his diet?

But most of us who follow Atkins know of his heart disease, which was caused by a viral infection, not a piece of steak. She's, I'm sure, a very wealthy woman. What I think she's doing is defending his honor, not his foundation. Most anyone who has read his book knows the type of scorn he's generated over the years. He's just not here to do battle anymore.

[BibChr]

?The medical examiner's report was given to the Journal by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that advocates vegetarianism. The medical examiner's office told the Journal that the report had been sent to the group in error.

Ri-i-i-i-i-i-i-ight.

Dan

ME's Office: "Oopsie!"

[ClintonBeGone]

Would you be up to possibly considering that the reason the Doctor Atkins was so greviously affected by the viral infection is because of his diet and its weakening of the renal systems, the lymphatics and the many other bits and pieces of the whole system that make up a healthy person?

No, because the objective data of those on the diet - blood glocose, liver enzymes, cholesteral levels, move to more favorable levels. There is no thread to connect these things. Besides, he never promised that people on the diet would not eventually die.

[ClintonBeGone]

Does it matter if the Dr. was obese or not? If his diet helped thousands to lose weight and help themselves, what does it matter that maybe he, himself did not have the will power to stick to his own diet. I don't see where it would make a difference in the scheme of things. IMHO

He always looked sharp when I saw his appearances. But as has been stated here before, congential heart disease often causes weight gain through water retention.

[tiki]

I think if he's eaten a lot of carbs he might not have slipped on the ice:-}

[ClintonBeGone]

Good point. Atkins has caused the uber veggans to join hands with agrabusiness in an effort to stop his plan.

[kevkrom]

Sometimes its easier to just skip the veggies if (like me) you can't always remember which ones are OK and which ones aren't.

Almost all veggies are OK in moderation. When in doubt, have things like salad (lettuces range from 0.4 to 0.7 carbs per cup), celery (0.8 carbs per stalk), mushrooms (1 carb per half cup), or watercress (no net carbs).

[ClintonBeGone]

I'm glad it's working for you but it is NOT for everyone.

Thats fine. Some are bound for a wheel chair or recliner. I feel bless that I can see that that isn't my fate.

[Paulus Invictus]

Just curious here: how's your cholesterol, your HDL, your LDL and VLLDL? Triglycerides? Eating all that fat and few carbs are supposed to increase heart disease, they are now saying. Is that just a recent rumor in the media?

[ClintonBeGone]

I think we should be suspicious of why someone named "cupcakes" would be trying to sow the seeds of dissent among low carb dieters. What are you, a shill for Hostess?

I was thinking the same thing. And she's clearly not shilling for homemake cupcakes. Only store bought ones with the sugary icing come in pairs, ergo, cupcake(s).