I can remember when the Atkins diet came out years ago. Hell, I think I was a little kid.
Most of the public in general and the vast majority of the medical community either laughed, scoffed, or freaked out and warned about how horrendous to your health this “ridiculous” diet was.
Now look at 'em.
Just last week I heard on the radio that TGIF is offering an Atkins-friendly low carb menu! What?! Offer a menu that incorporates the ideas and concepts of a “fad diet” (in the old way of thinking)?
And the medical community has finally conceded that there are definitely merits to the program.
I personally have tried it, and was amazed at how fast the weight dropped, but that was long before I knew about the importance of measuring body comp along the way, so who knows how much LBM was lost at the same time. My guess is probably not much.
I prefer a modified lower carb plan like T-Dawg 2, because I know that I definitely put the weight (fat) back on way faster than I thought I would once I resumed my regular diet. And that’s even with making sure that the carbs were kept lower than what I used to consume pre-Atkins. But it sure did feel good for awhile!
That being said, all I can say is props to the late Dr. Atkins. The generally fat American public finally found something to help them shed a few pounds.
what i’m wondering is, if the atkins diet is totally proven (as far as the media goes), then what kind of liability issues could there be?
think of all the people that died from diabetes, heart disease, etc, from following a high carb diet! i mean, if it’s ever shown that high carb diets truely aren’t healthy, all the possible lawsuits would be scary.
Good call morg. Im 31 and recently type 2 diagnosed. I’ve been active, lean, and watched my diet since my teens and followed the ‘recomended’ low fat approach. Man, I ate a lot of carbs to make calories.
Yeah…I saw real and sustained results for the first time thanks to Dr. Atkins. I managed to lose a big baby’s weight in Body Fat, grow stronger and get this: my kidneys still work!
Of course, I peaked sometime in August/September after 9 months on the Atkins approach, so I started JB’s Massive Eating (lower-carb version) and I’ll be sticking with that…thanks to solid gains in the gym and on the tape.
Ahh! Vindication.
As far as the FDA getting sued: I hope not. Guess who’d be paying out the settlements?
My only complaint isn’t really with the diet itself or Dr. Atkins, it’s all the people I know who are “doing Atkins” who either have never read the book at all or somehow didn’t comprehend any of it. I know one guy who lived on hot dogs and cheeze whiz for two weeks cause he was “doing Atkins”. First thing he did after those two weeks was to eat a dozen Krispy Kremes. Yeah, that’ll make you skinny.
Those people seem to be outnumbered, though, by others who haven’t read the book and don’t understand the concept but are more than willing warn others of its inherent danger on internet forums.
When I visited my parents last summer, my longtime-obese mom informed me she was “on Atkins” while slugging down a huge bottle of Snapple lemonade. 50 grams of sugar or something like that.
Nitrox: You on Lantus yet? Take it from me. Don’t let your doc slap 3 or 4 oral meds on you as you slowly slip into worse shape. If you can take the needle, and it’s a VERY SMALL NEEDLE, get on insulin ASAP and enjoy the feeling of health and liberation from the disease.
Most people I know who claim that the Atkins diet didn’t work for them…well, let’s just say that I politely listen to their excuses and say something like “I guess it’s not for everyone!”
Of course, what I’d like to say is that the Atkins diet (or any other diet that demands discipline, for that matter) isn’t for quitters and excuse makers. But that would be too harsh, methinks!
As for the non-dieting Atkins-trashers, I think they fall into 3 groups:
Assholes
Failed-Atkins dieters
Ignorant half-twits (at least they read)
Most of them, as you probably know, are just assholes. Especially some vegans, who seem to think that Dr. Atkins was Lucifer.
No, just Metformin. Between higher cal version of T-dawg and my activity level I can keep blood glucose in range rather well during the day. It gets into the 6’s overnight however.
The doc figures I fried my receptors on the 400-600g CHO/day massive eating I was doing in the summer and I might get some more sensitivity back by being diligent.
But I agree that its better to pin oneself with the real juice instead of going the pharmeceutical cocktail route; I would like to keep my liver.
I watched a recent local news spot on this topic. They were in a local TGIF and interviewed a few of the patrons there about the new menu additions.
A woman who clearly had quite the pudgy double chin said, “I always look for healthy options since I eat out alot. The Atkins diet has really helped me and this is just great to have it on the menu…”
Several other pudgy people said the same thing when interviewed. How come I only saw pudgy people say great things about the Atkins diet?
Maybe it’s possible that they have already lost weight and are still in the process of losing weight.
ABC had a good show the other night about the role of the government and how they promote corn & soybean products. Dr. Atkins has also stated for years that the governmet was to blame. He was defintely on to a lot of things. Yes, his diet is more focused for middle age overweight females but we’ve seen it modified with the T-Dawg diet to fit our lifestyles.
“How come I only saw pudgy people say great things about the Atkins diet?”
Could be because they used to be even pudgier, see the benefits of the diet, and are happy that their progress can be made even easier, or…
Could be because they can eat all the fat they want and cheat on their carb count, yet impress all their friends with the fact that they’re finally on some sort of diet.
That IS interesting Patricia. I’ve noticed the same thing. Like the other day I went to the gym and, get this, there were people there NOT in great shape!!! I knew that exercise stuff didn’t work!!!
To those than can’t detect humor, yes, I’m kidding.
I think it’s an attempt of the media to suggest that it doesn’t work.
it doesn’t mean that, but i bet a lot of people who have antkins doubts would look at the people and say “yup…see, it doesn’t work. just look at those people on it.”
[quote]That being said, all I can say is props to the late Dr. Atkins. The generally fat American public finally found something to help them shed a few pounds[/quote]Atkins diet will not help the public to lose weight. Most people still think his diet is an excuse to overcomsume any amount of protien+fat foods.
[quote]what i’m wondering is, if the atkins diet is totally proven (as far as the media goes), then what kind of liability issues could there be? [/quote]You cant, becuase what happens when somebody suffers a medical condition due to the atkins diet? [quote]And wouldn’t those liability issues lie with the FDA, who proposed and recommended such asinine dietary guidelines? [/quote]since when did the FDA produce dietary recommendations. Try the USDA and IOM
[quote]As for the non-dieting Atkins-trashers, I think they fall into 3 groups: [/quote]Show me peer reviewed, caloric controlled (isocaloric) research that shows the atkins style of diet (keto or low carb in general) provides any advantage over any other diet (and not just that pathetic atkins advert that was ‘released’ a few months back
