[hobbes1]

Before all the Wing Nuts start picking on the guy, It is fair to point out he is well over 70 years old.

And, for an awful lot of people, It works. Before the crass mass market commercialization of his program, over 25,000 morbidly obese people were helped at his clinic.

Further, if you are a Gym Rat, it's the one diet you can go on, and Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, and increase stregnth, simultaneously.

[MagnusMat]

I agree, it would be wrong to draw any conclusions until we get some more information.

[mewzilla]

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?

[HELLRAISER II]

Your right about the diet working, I have used it & it does work. But they are right about all that Cholesterol & fat being detrimental to your health, it can't be good for you for a continuous amount of time. I also had a hard time keeping my strength up during the diets use when I worked out, but a little Creatine seemed to help the strength issue.

[RaceBannon]

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

[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.

[11th Earl of Mar]

if you are a Gym Rat, it's the one diet you can go on, and Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, and increase stregnth, simultaneously.

I would be interested to know if this is true. I am a gym rat, a competitive body builder. In the off season I weigh 190 pounds and for contests I get under 176 pounds.

But even when I am cutting weight, I do not eliminate carbs entirely. I simply reduce them. Muscles need carbs, or they lose size. During this cutting phase I will lose 1-2 pounds per week over 12-16 weeks. But my carb intake at its lowest point during this period does not go below 125-175 grams per day. Simple carbs are shunned, breads, rice, pastsa, etc., as well as fruits. I rely on complex carbs like oatmeal or red skin potatoes and veggies, mainly broccli and cauliflower.

I have had to diet too hard at the last minute to shed fat, where my carb intake has been as low as 40-50 grams per day for a week. But I lost a tremendous amount of muscle in the process.

[galt-jw]

Further, if you are a Gym Rat, it's the one diet you can go on, and Lose Fat, Gain Muscle, and increase stregnth, simultaneously

balls. i do it all the time by shifting to low glycemic index carbs, shifting to essential fats only, and eating clean proteins. this vs. atkins is a matter of degree. carbs and fats are both energy sources. if you take in more than you need of either it is stored as fat. as of yesterday, offseason, i weigh 228 at 5'11 and ~10% bodyfat (the budweiser, you know.) when i was in maui a couple months ago it was 222lbs and around 8.5%.

[Revelation 911]

re your #8 - what concerns me with the diet though is the protein overdosing that occurs. Its my understanding as a lay bacon lover and kidney stone sufferer that high levels of protein are hard on kidneys. Can anyone verify that? - I worry, as with any diet, if the causal behavior for the obesity is rectified or will they revert when the diet stops.

Now, as for bacon - canadian, hickory or maple?

[gohabsgo]

OK thanks, I'll take the double double with extra cheese, oops forgot, throw in the three, no make that four, pieces of slab bacon, and some pork rinds. The Adkins diet is a prescription for a coronary bypass, where did you get your information. Oh, that's right, Adkins!