First off, Terry - if you happen to be reading this you may want to make a quick exit and immediately hit the back button on your Browser.

Here's the news from Yahoo's News Service wire:

Report: Diet Doctor Atkins Was Obese
54 minutes ago Yahoo News!

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 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."


Hmmmmmmm?? Seems like somebody let the cat out of the bag, no? And although I don't agree in a strict Vegetarianism diet either -(they said the medical report got into the "wrong" hands by mistake didn't they? ) I'm glad for the sake of the truth that the report was published nonetheless. And even though the 'Atkins' people say his health problems and obesity were not related to his Atkins diet eating habits, it still makes a person wonder. If they didn't want the report published at all - "it got into the "wrong" hands and was not suppose to be made public from what I gather" then would it seem unreasonable that their spiel about it having no relation to his diet (Atkins diet) could also be maligned and untrue also? You know, for the sake of M-O-N-E-Y perhaps? They've built an empire and their getting filthy rich from it. Do you think they want their empire to evaporate? Not on your life! PS: These are my thoughts about the whole thing and are my opinions, okay? I can hear the 'flames' starting to spew forth already...

So anyway, this confirms my suspicion to an even greater degree about the Atkins diet and all it entails. Sorry if I offend any of the Atkinites on the Forum and any Vegans but it's better to be cautious and on the safe side and look at things from an objective opinion instead of falling in line (Yes Sir!, Sir!!) and taking something hook line and sinker and supporting something to the 'death' if need be all because of some pre-conceived notion that because "I'm on the diet and I'm losing weight therefore it must be okay for me" type mentality.

As it has been said: The Truth Will Set You Free. And my response to that is: "Long live the Truth!" Instead of:




Best regards,
Mike

[This message has been edited by keybplayer (edited 02-10-2004).]

Once again, second and third-hand information. He said, she said.
It's like knocking a keyboard you've never tried because you heard somebody say he didn't like it.
Now for the "back" button.
DonM

I have candidiasis (an over abundance of yeast in my intestines). The doctor put me on an extreme Atkins/Cave man diet. I'm not allowed to eat any starchy foods (no grains, no potatoes, no cooked carrots,etc.), just meat and low carb vegetables. No sugar, nothing with vinegar, no junk food, no fruits, but all you can eat. Phew! I lost 5 pounds last week.
Can't even have an Atkins wrap at Subway, because the wrap is made with wheat. Sigh.
I have never eaten so much vegetables per day in all my life. Vegetables are good for you right? Fortunately, it's only for two weeks, and then I can add some grains for the next 6 weeks.
The point I want to make, which has been made by others here, is that the Atkins diet works.
Starkeeper

keybplayer ... Perhaps they (whomever "they" are) didn't want the report made public because even if his condition positively had nothing to do with diet, it would raise questions in some people's minds (as it obviously has), and the pundits would have a field day with it ... I can hear Leno saying ".. but OF COURSE Dr. Atkins obesity had NOTHING to do with his diet WINK WINK..."
Pre knee replacement surgery I went on Atkins and lost about 15 - 20 lbs in a month... haven't been on it post surgery and regained about 5-6 lbs in 3 months ... As an Italian I KNOW I could never be on Atkins as a lifestyle, and I personally am not convinced that they diet is perfectly healthy for you forever ... but I feel that way about any regimen that eliminates certain food groups ...
I am now looking into the South Beach diet as it is not so restrictive of carbs...
t.

The doctor (naturopathic dr.) told me about a product called stevia. This is the first time I've ever heard of it. It is a natural, safe sweetener, with no calories, safe for diabetics and people with candida. http://www.stevia.net/
I started using it this week and find that it has no horrible aftertaste, like Aspartame. What a cool product.
Starkeeper

Stevia is good, but can be hard to find. Splenda is my sweetner of choice and recommended by Atkins also. Diet Rite cola uses Splenda, and now there are ice cream and other treats available that use it.

Dang, I said I wasn't going to get into any more of these "my opinion is better that yours" strings! . . . even if it is.

DonM

DonM,
I appreciate your opinion. I thought all diet soda pop where sweetened with Aspartame. Ucchh.
Aspartame is the most widely used, and is not good for you.
Splenda is a better product and is used less widely.
Stevia is all natural, tastes good, absolutely safe, and the U.S. and Canadian governments do not allow it to be advertised as a sweetener. It must be labeled as a supplement.
What's with that?
Starkeeper

Starkeeper,

Everything is natural--even doggy doo--just don't taste real good!

Keybdplayer,

As for the way Atkins passed away, he died of congestive heart failure and other complications related to severe myocarditus, for which, he was likely placed on a heavy regiment of steroids--nasty drugs that cause lots of nasty problems--especially with weight gain.

Don't put a lot of stock in what was in the press, especially when you consider most reporters do not have sufficient medical knowledge to safely clip their own toenails.

For an extremely large, and seemingly growing number of individuals, the Atkins diet works, and works quite well. Their are a huge number of success stories out there and those successes can be directly attributed to the diet itself.

I tried Atkins for a few weeks, lost a lot of weight quite rapidly, but had to go off of it because of other medical conditions (unresponsive Lyme Disease) which triggered a severel drop in blood pressure. I've modified the diet to some degree, kept off some of the weight, and I'm now able to retain a reasonable blood pressure of 110/55-60 with a resting pulse of 70.

Damned, I sure wish I was rich instead of so good looking!

Cheers,

Gary

Diets high in meat and saturated fat are correlated to increase risk of many types of cancer such as stomach cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer.

You might lose weight with the Atkins diet. You would also lose weight with a diet that includes complex carbohydrates (such as whole grains and legumes), unsaturated fat (olive oil, fish oil, nuts), and fruits (not fruit juices) and vegetables. There are many nutrients and micronutrients available in whole grains, legumes, fruits and vegetables that Atkin people are missing.

There are dozens of carotenes in a carrot and in a sweet potato. You can only get one carotene from a vitamin - beta carotene. These carotenes fight cancer. There have been studies that show no correlation between taking beta carotene and lowering cancer risk, but there are correlations between eating lots of vegetables and lowering cancer risk.

My dad is on the Atkins diet. I just visited him in Florida. He has gained back all of the weight he lost, and he is sluggish and tired looking. I am concerned about him.

Beakybird

Hey everybody, let's not knock the Atkins or any low carb diet. These have been the best things to come along in years for us Diabetics! More companies are now making a wider variety of low carb products. The products fit nicely into our diabetic diets giving us more variety. Finally!!! Of course, our diets are set up by certified dieticians and nutritionists and we have to count carbs and stick to these diets. All I can say is "Thanks for the low carb craze, healthy or not!!!!"

Peter