Dr. Robert Atkins Dead

[E.G.C.]

Fox News just now reporting.

[sheikdetailfeather]

I understand that caffeine is discouraged on the Atkins diet. Any comments on this?

[CurlyBill]

Yeah, I know about Michelob Ultra... but I like my Guinness, Harp, Sam Adams and many microbrews.

[need_a_screen_name]

I understand that caffeine is discouraged on the Atkins diet. Any comments on this?

It causes weight loss stalls for some people and is said to cause the body to release insulin. Insulin is what puts the fat on.

[ironman]

I'm a triathlete and eat a very high carb diet because I burn a lot of calories and need to replace glycogen. Having said that there is one nutritional expert who's ideas I would like to share:

"There are many problems with the Atkins diet and other similar plans, and these have been discussed on the website and in my newsletter, The Maffetone Report. In review, the biggest problem with such plans is that they are diets and they do not provide balanced nutrition. Diets don't work because they are impossible to follow for extended periods of time. Many who go on diets initially lose weight, then gain more back when they quit following the diet.

Meanwhile, nutritional imbalanced cause by these diets can lead to poor health. By radically reducing carbohydrates, many people lose weight on the Atkins diet and some keep the weight off over the years. But such plans are accompanied by a number of potential health issues such as reduced nutrition, essential-fatty-acid imbalance, and increased consumption of highly processed foods.

As a rule, many people do eat too much from the carbohydrate macronutrient group, especially refined carbohydrates. However, strictly limiting or eliminating carbohydrates can cause other problems. A better approach is to determine just how much carbohydrate food your individual body can tolerate. This is done by taking the Two Week Test as described in my book In Fitness and In Health. This brings up another problem with the JAMA analysis -- it focuses strictly on calories and fails to mention the effect of carbohydrates on metabolism, specifically insulin production. Higher proportions of carbohydrates prompt the body to produce more insulin. This in turn prompts the body to store more fat, in addition to leading to other health problems. This really has very little to do with calories but illustrates that high-carbohydrate diets are not the answer either.
A better plan, one that you can live with and which is not a diet, is to determine the optimal amounts of carbohydrates, protein and fat for your individual needs.
http://www.mafgroup.com/news_pv/pv_041403.shtml

[Future Useless Eater]

I went on Atkins in January due to heart disease in my family.
I didn't care about losing weight, just improving my cholesterol ratios.
I lost 15 lbs anyway which is great.

I get new blood lipid tests in June and I'm positive from
my research that my ratios will go from what was extremely bad
(building plaque) to good or very good (disolving plaque).

I also noticed after 8 weeks on the diet that my eczema of 18 years
cleared up where no medications to date ever affected it. Another
rash I had for two years and was only getting slowly worse is now
healed.

[dandelion]

Whatever he was, he saved my life.

I have a family history of diabetes, and I followed the doctor prescribed "diabetic" exchange diet since I was 18 in an attempt to stave it off. No sugars in drinks, diet drinks only, pastries a no-no, ecetera. I did have up to 5 - 7 high fiber carbs a day, plus three fruits, all of which are required on the 1500 calorie plan. No matter, I still gained weight even though I was active, and I still developed diabetes at a relatively young age.

When I started to develop that "apple shape" - heavy arms, heavy upper body - I knew I was in real trouble. I'd been an "hourglass" all my life, and I wasn't about to give up THAT shape. I went on the Atkins diet six months ago, and immediately lost 30 pounds, all of it the "bad" upper body fat. I lost another 10 just sitting around and not exercising particularly much. At 5'0", that's a lot of weight! My blood sugar is now in the "normal" range.

I have to stay pretty close to the "induction" mode, but it's easy on this diet. NO ONE has made money off me, I just went online and downloaded the info. No special purchases, no special foods. If I had stayed on the doctor prescribed diet, I'd be on insulin by now. My aunts and uncles are dying of diabetes, and somehow I'm going to be spared. I'm grateful to Dr. Atkins for this opportunity to perhaps never again have to give myself a finger-prick five times a day, or have to give myself a shot in the leg twice a day. I think I'd say he saved my life.

[meyer]

And how do you work 'beer' into an Atkin's diet?

Calories produced by Annheiser-Busch products do not count. Its on page 541 of the Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution. :^)

[Maven]

I'm stuck driving most of the time, so I'm usually a one-drink-Charlie anyway. Early in the evening, so it's dissipated well before I get behind the wheel. If someone else is driving, that's a different story altogether.

I almost always the designated driver! For some reason, I just never got into drinking - never liked the taste, I guess.

Maven

[meyer]

I have a couple of friends that are on low-carb and they were both drinking Michelob Ultra. I didn't read the label, but they claimed very low carb. I can't vouch for its effectiveness as an alcoholic beverage.

[kevao]

Michelob Ultra...I can't vouch for its effectiveness as an alcoholic beverage.

It's not an alcoholic beverage.

[Maven]

I understand that caffeine is discouraged on the Atkins diet. Any comments on this?

Atkins did discourage caffeine consumption - there's been some research that caffeine can raise blood sugar levels.

Some low carbers just can't give it up, and I have no preference one way or the other.

I gave up caffeine (for the most part) myself years before I became a low carber. Occasionally, I'll have some regular coffee, and I do like real teas.

Here's what a lot of people don't know about teas and coffees - there's about 1 carb per 12 ounces. So, if you drink pots and pots of coffee/tea every day, you're getting in a lot of what we call "hidden" carbs.

Remember: All vegetation has carbs of one kind or another.

Maven

[chilepepper]

In my opinion he was to modern nutrition what Galileo was to Astronomy

Fantastic and perfect analogy...I wish just wish I had believed in him years ago... I am thinner than I've been in 17 years thanks to his insights. May God bless him...

[meyer]

It's not an alcoholic beverage.

Is it a non-alcoholic beer or is it a very light beer?

[Zon]

His great contribution was to have ordinary folks question the "experts" who decide what is best for the rest of us. The No-Fat, High-Fiber, High-Carb punditry may be the cause of a national obesity and heart disease epidemic. And the food nazis over at the center for science in the public interest are just a bunch of socialist, antiwar, radical/religious vegetarian, soviets who graduated from nuclear freeze marches and now act like they are a branch of government.

That's putting it a little mildly, don't you think? </sarcasm>

Aside from questing the validity of authorities, on net accounting, DR. Atkins' diet assisted more people in achieving better health than the FDA.

[meyer]

From Annhueser-Busch's web site:

"Michelob ULTRA - Michelob ULTRA is a smooth, refreshing lager with 95 calories, 4.2 percent alcohol by volume and 2.6 grams of carbohydrates per 12-oz. serving. Michelob ULTRA is brewed using the finest pale two-row and Munich six-row barley, select grains, all-imported hops and a pure cultured yeast strain. The special choice of grains, combined with the extended mash process, produces a smooth, refreshing beer with fewer carbohydrates."

So I guess it is an alcoholic beverage.

[chilepepper]

The famous USFDA "food pyramid" appeared as a result of dishonest politicians. In particular, George McGovern pushed this as Senator to help out Archer-Daniels-Midland and the other grain super-conglomerates, General Mills, Nabisco, etc.

[kevao]

Is it a non-alcoholic beer or is it a very light beer?

It's a very, very, very light beer, somewhat akin to water.

[onyx]

My husband, (also a medical doctor) was acquainted with Dr. Atkins and we're both saddened and a bit distressed over his unfortunate death. My husband fully endorses the Atkins diet to his patients.

Personally, I abide by Atkins and eat essentially the same daily menu as you described in an earlier post Maven. My weight is perfect and my health and vitals are excellent!

[sheikdetailfeather]

Wow! That is tremendously helpful information. A lot of people don't know what you just said and I appreciate your input here.

[Praxeologue]

"It's the metabolism, stupid!"

Our metabolisms steadily slow down following our teens. That's why teens can get away with eating burgers, while middle-agers earn big guts (men) and saddle bags (women) from the same diet. Further, the teens are enlarging their fat cells from poor nutrition, a fact to which they are oblivious until around age thirty.

On the other side of the ledger is exercise and lots of it. Make it fun. It's the only permanent way and best way to stay in fighting trim. Hear that Freepers?