ATKINS ALERT

THE DAILY RECORD ^ | Aug 13 2003 | Keith Mcleod

[carlo3b]

News
ATKINS ALERT

Aug 13 2003

Diet followers at risk, says expert

Keith Mcleod

SLIMMERS following the controversial Atkins diet are gambling with their health, a nutrition expert has warned.

Dr Susan Jebb said it would be "negligent" to recommend the diet, favoured by stars such as Geri Halliwell and Catherine Zeta-Jones, to anyone overweight.

Millions of people around the world have tried the low-carbohydrate, high-protein regime.

But Dr Jebb, of the Medical Research Council's Human Nutrition Research Centre in Cambridge, said its claimed benefits were based on "pseudo-science".

She argued that, despite a number of studies, no one knew what the long- term effects might be.

Dr Robert Atkins, who developed the diet, believed that carbohydrates such as bread, pasta, rice and starchy vegetables made the body produce too much insulin.

He claimed that led to hunger and weight gain.

His answer was to avoid such foods and eat unlimited amounts of fat and protein, leading the body to burn fat.

But Dr Jebb said such a dramatic change in eating habits was a leap in the dark.

For most people, protein accounts for a mere 15 per cent of their calorie intake. But much higher levels are eaten on the Atkins diet.

Dr Jebb said: "We simply do not know the long-term health implications.

"I certainly think we should be adopting a precautionary principle in terms of public health."

Her warning comes two months after two teams of American scientists declared the Atkins diet was effective and safe.

They found that over six months, 63 Atkins slimmers lost almost twice as much weight, an average of one and a half stone.

After a year, the gap had closed though, with the Atkins dieters down to an average weight loss of a stone compared with half a stone for others.

But Dr Jebb said the studies were too limited to provide meaningful evidence.

Dr Atkins died in April, aged 72, after slipping on ice outside his New York office and hitting his head.

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[carlo3b]

if there are some long term risks, weighed against my family history of early heart attacks, I'll take those risks because I know I've already added 10 years to my life.

That is the type of testimonial that adds true credibility to ATKINS. I believe that we should treat ATKINS with the same healthy skepticism as we should all of the other fad diets. Granted, the Atkins diet has been around for 30 years, with wonderful results.  IF there have been any dire consequences due to this diet, that has caused any permanent health damage, I have yet to see the proof.

All I've been able to find, is threats, and predictions of long termed disasters in the offing.. I have never read or heard any specific evidence that a health problem has been laid directly at the feet of ATKINS!  Until I do, I will sit back and keep my mouth shut, except to reluctantly eat my pasta.. LOL
 

[jacquej]

Here is my experience on Atkins...

Starting weight July 2002, nearly 290 lbs. chol 320, trigylcerides sky high, on the verge of type 2 diabetes

July 2003, 204 lbs, chol 205, trygly normal, bloodsugar below normal for my age...

I now eat vegetables, keep complex carbs under 100 a day, normal amounts of healthy fats (olive oil and butter), and about 6 to 8 ounces of lean meat or healthy fish a day...

I will never go off this "diet"... It isn't a diet, for I am never hungry, have totally lost my incessant cravings for sugar and flour, none of which are found in natural foods.

The food pyramid needs to be changed if we are ever to halt the obesity related health epidemic in this country.

[FITZ]

You could probably find a lot of doctors on the Atkin's diet who would swear by it. The way I see it --- just because a "doctor" says something doesn't convince me either way --- I've noticed people who go to doctors often are sicker than those who never go to them.

[PhilipFreneau]

>> on the Atkins diet your appetite is surpressed, so you really don't eat that much more meat.

True. Before I went on the Atkins diet I typically cooked 1.5" porterhouses, and I ate mine and (usually) part of my wife's. Along with the steak I had potatoes or rice, bread, and veggies. Typically, I followed up with dessert because I was still hungry. Sunday, I had part of a 1" NY strip and some veggies, and I was full. Of course, I am also 35 pounds lighter, my cholesterol is no longer in the danger zone (my Doc wanted to put me on Lipitor, but no longer), and I have more energy than I have had since I was a teenager. For example, I walked 18 holes Monday, and 9 holes Tuesday (I had to get home early to cut the grass).

This so-called "Dr." Jebb is a quack.

[okkev68]

Hang in there 'cuz the next couple of days are going to be rough. The good thing is in a week you will feel better than you have in a long time. And once you have done it once it gets easier.

It has totally changed the way I look at carbs and the foods I let my kids eat. I lost 30 lbs last year and have kept it off while still indulging occasionally. No more 500gms carb days.

[Ditter]

Hi Bob, I haven't seen you in a long time. I am so glad you are doing better. I don't think my husband has discussed diets with the Dr. he has now. All they discuss is taking more medicine. I don't think Drs.want their patients to remain sick so they will have more business & make more money like some here do. There is no shortage of sick & injured people. The top Drs. in their field might take months to get into see.

[ChewedGum]

"She argued that, despite a number of studies, no one knew what the long- term effects might be."

I do. I'll weigh less.

Exactly! We don't know the long term side effects of the diet BUT we do know that if you weigh less over the long term, it drastically improves the health of your heart and your pulmonary system. I know there are benefits to other body systems as well.

Life is a series (I mean that word) of decisions weighing risks. Given the choice of a speculated and unknown risk of long-term side effects which includes several well known and measurable benefits, I would choose the diet. We already know the measurable risks of being overweight.

Gum

[theophilusscribe]

I think everyone's body is different this way. I couldn't do Atkins. I applaud those who have lost weight on it, but it messed up my digestion something awful.

I lost 35 lbs. on Weight Watchers (lots 'o carbs) very easily, and have kept it off successfully. Went from size 14 to size 2! Yeah! :o)

Everyone is different—which is why there are many, many successful diet plans.

[sd-joe]

The point is that these articles that attack the Atkins diet by comparing it to other diets say things that are just not true.

Anyway you look at it, the facts in the reports show that people, on average lose and keep the lose more on Atkins than on the other diets.

The attackers take this basic fact and try to spin it to say something entirely different.

[BibChr]

Woo hoo, what a great story! Glad you shared that.

Just in the first weeks, I either totally said good-bye or started to say good-bye to joint pains, lower back pains, little real energy, frequent headaches (sometimes debilitating), tachycardia, acid reflux, apnea... to say nothing of not fitting into restaurant booths, movie theater seats, etc.

So yeah, tell me again the part about how BAD this diet is for me.

Dan

[BibChr]

No restaurant yet has ever given me a problem about this substitution.

I know you're not exactly on Atkins, but that's been one of the cool things about it to me. I've been in restaurants in three states since starting, now, and when I have to do some substituting, the waitress either asks whether I'm on low-carb, or says "Sure" when I ask whether she knows about Atkins. They always have worked with me, it's always been no-prob.

Dan

[BibChr]

Great going! You hang in there. If your experience is ANYTHING like mine, you (1) may have some choppy waters at the first, but (2) will be surprised how quickly that passes, and how much better-than-expected (and SOONER-than-expected) the benefits are.

For one thing, if you go as I did, you'll feel like you're running on high-octane gas, rather than low. It is SO worth it.

Hang in there!

Dan

[Trust but Verify]

Well, there is no shortage of 'attacks' by pro-Atkins dieters on other diet plans. And I know people who lost on Atkins, but once they wandered away from it, they piled the weight right back on, so there are successes and failures all around.

[Trust but Verify]

Can a person realistically stay on Atkins for life? I don't know of anyone who has.

[lysie]

These anti Atkins studies annoy me for I fear they are not so much worried about our health as they are about their agenda to eliminate our meat eating.

When Duke did their study, all the news reports stated that the study was bring funded by the Atkins Foundation, but never admitted that it was Dr. Westerman of Duke who approached Dr. Atkins.

Prior to that they were complaining that there was no scientific study.

SO now there is a study...they don't like the results...they whine.

My question..exactly WHO funds Dr Jebb, of the Medical Research Council's Human Nutrition Research Centre in Cambridge study?? PETA??

[carlo3b]

I've noticed people who go to doctors often are sicker than those who never go to them.

As it should be!! LOL

[Trust but Verify]

Sam, you have really hit on something here. Low-carb diets are good, but that doesn't mean you HAVE to eat high fat! And exercise is the real key. All the walking you (and I) do is beneficial in so many ways. Burn calories, get your heart rate up, and for me, clears my mind.

As I stated to another poster, I have to eat carbs because I have to eat a high-fiber diet. Complex carbs are high in fiber and you can subtract one gram of carbs for every gram of fiber. That really works for me, and I find foods that are high in complex carbs far more satifying than processed ones.

Keep up the good work!!

[ChynaMdsn]

I too went on the Atkins program and dropped 27 lbs. It has been the only diet plan wherein I have been able to maintain the loss without the vacillation. For me it isn't considered a diet, just a change in eating habits.

[lysie]

The induction stage of 20 carbs does not last forever.

I have been on Atkins for almost one year. I'm on for 2 months...off for one weekend...planned for around the holidays. By the time the weekend is over I'm begging to get back on Atkins.

Atkins is no longer a diet for me...it's like having a glass of water....I need it.

[Mamzelle]

She argued that, despite a number of studies, no one knew what the long- term effects might be.)))

I have known several dieticians. None of them could cook a meal worth eating, and all of these were either significantly overweight or morbidly obese.

Our rate of adult-onset (Type 2) diabetes is burgeoning. Half of black people over 50 already have it or are on the brink--they have the highest rate. Type 2 was unheard-of in children until recently--now it's an epidemic that too much television-watching cannot explain. The incidence of this in children is all the proof that this silly (probably fat) dietician needs.

Atkins used to try to get the dieticians to test his theories. But the dieticians were too busy with their "food pyramids"--turning the American table into a feedlot of grains and sugar, fattening us up for the kill.

And these same dieticians, I believe, are stuffing those with both kinds of diabetes with too much sugar. I can't use stuff marketed to diabetics, because there's too much sugar in it.