Atkins Had a heart attack

local radio ^ | April 25, 2001 | Magnus Mat

[MagnusMat]

Just heard that Atkins had aheart attack this morning

[Lazamataz]

Heart attack does not necessarily mean dead. How is he?

[MagnusMat]

He has given a press release staing that it wasn't becasue of his diet

[MagnusMat]

He is alive, he is not dead; however, it was close.

[Constitution Day]

Oh dear, has he met up with Jim Fixx?

You are SO bad!

[RaceBannon]

I just lost 15 pounds in the last 4 weeks, and it is staying off, too!

[mewzilla]

Was he getting most of his protein from vegetable sources? Of course, all of the people I knew who were on it never stuck to proper portion sizes of anything, which was part of the problem in the first place. I also heard that the diet can put a real strain on the kidneys which are trying to excrete all that excess protein (someone please correct me if I got that wrong).

[SamAdams76]

Well I hope he has a recovery but lets face it, his fad diet is very unhealthy and I've been saying that for years. I am an overweight person who tried it and I never felt so crappy in my life as when I was on that diet and to boot, it was a serious crimp on my lifestyle. I mean, you walk into a restaurant and you have to make all these special requests like ordering a cheeseburger without the bun and crap like that. In fact, in the long term, the diet might have done me good only because I got so sick of cheeseburgers and bacon and other red meats that I stopped eating them for a while.

A couple of years ago, I simply started eating better and basically stick to a Mediterannean-style diet which is heavy on fish, veggies, rice, pasta, olive oil (instead of butter), garlic, breads, beer and wine. Basically all the stuff that Atkins tells you not to eat. Since then, I feel great and my weight has been under control ever since. As well, my blood cholesterol dropped from 240 to 186 and all my blood sugars are normal and my blood pressure and stress is greatly reduced. I am no longer a heart attack risk as I was when I was on the Atkins diet.

I still have a steak or cheeseburger every now and then. Even eggs and bacon. The point is, any diet that restricts you to a single food group (like the Atkins diet) is a fad diet and should be avoided.

[Lazamataz]

I told someone I lost 30 pounds. He said, "Turn around, you'll find it."

[mewzilla]

Well, here's to his speedy recovery. Best wishes, doc.

[MagnusMat]

While i dont advocate his diet, he is on to something and he has support by many doctors

[pgkdan]

Everyone I knew on the Atkins diet had their bad cholesterol and triglycerides skyrocket while on it. And none of them managed to stay on it for very long. Jeez, why not eat a healthy diet and exercise?

I've lost 120 lbs and kept it off for over a year. I'm a diabetic with perfectly normal blood sugar now and NO medication. I had high blood pressure that was barely controlled by medication and now have normal BP and cholestrol of 192. My triglycerides were astronomically high...well over 1600 and 6 months ago after my last lipid panel they came in at 212. Still high but MUCH better. I also work out every day. But telling a morbidly obese diabetic with extreme hyper tension to just 'eat better and exercise' is nonsense. If you need to lose 10-15 lbs that approach makes sense. If you need to drop 100 lbs it's virtually impossible to lose weight that way.

The Atkins diet works....refined sugar and flours do not belong in our diet.

[Jean Chauvin]

The diet he/we did, was to eat no carbs until dinner -which was called the 'reward meal' where anything went -within reason. The reward meal was where we had our breads and pasta's and such.

other meals would be meats (cheesburgers with out toppings or buns...) or other no carb foods.

It's an expensive diet with all the meat you must buy.

I actually enjoyed it, as I said, I felt fabulous. (I personally didn't have a check up so I cannot answer about my own levels)

I will also admit that I lost more pounds 10 years ago by jogging. I didn't change anything in my eating habbits. I have an NFL lineman size and to get up to 3 miles x 3 times per week is quite a feat. I dropped in the neighborhood of 30 pounds. I felt fabulous during this time as well (that joggers 'high' is fabulous). But again, it was a lifestyle change that I didn't want to keep up with. Lord willing, I will start Jogging seriously again next week as it finally seems to have warmed up for good.

Jean

[MagnusMat]

People forget he is a doctor

[OldFriend]

People, mostly men, have heart attacks...fat, thin, active, inactive, diet conscious, junk food lovers......it's a major health problem in our society.

[wita]

Great profile, dare I ask for a translation, GMTA is a new one for me.

[mewzilla]

Actually the few morbidly obese people I've know who've managed to lost a lot of weight, did lose it the old-fasioned way, with a complete change of lifestyle, eating a healthy, balanced diet and exercising. And, interestingly enough, they're the only ones who've mnaged to keep off what they've lost.

As for whether or not the Atkins diet works, I don't know anyone who's been on it for twenty years. And as far as I know, no long term studies of it have been done. If those take place and the results stand up with no ill effects, then I'll believe it.

In any case, we've had flour and sugar (of smoe sort) in our diets for a long time. Rampant obesity is a new phenomenon that has more to do with our behavior than just what we eat.

[Phantom Lord]

My favorite "health guru heart attack" was that jogger guy. Not sure of his name. But he was the guy that was promoting jogging as the cure all to weight and health problems. He was all the rage at the time.

Dropped dead of a heart attack in his 30's or early 40's.

[AppyPappy]

If you want to lose weight, watch what fat people eat and avoid those foods. Fat people tend to eat a lot of bread, potatoes, beer, snack foods and restaurant meals. Go and do not these things.

[conserve-it]

I lost 80 lbs. on the Atkins diet, and have kept it off. The only variation I used was a large salad for lunch, then a salad and chicken or steak for dinner. I eschewed all the fat he allowed, as I knew I could not stay on it forever. I quit craving all the junk I once lived on, but I have a "cheat day" once a week.

[AppyPappy]

Jogging while overweight is Hell on your joints. I learned that the hard way. Now I use a bike