Low carb Atkins-type diets deadly

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-01-2003
Low carb Atkins-type diets deadly
70
Fri, 11-21-2003 - 10:24pm
"Second Fatality in Atkins-Type Dieter Suspected; Other Dieters Report New Cases of Serious Illness"

http://www.pcrm.org/news/health031120.html

The story has also been picked up by NBC News: http://www.nbc4.com/healtharchives/2653565/detail.html

Many doctors and the American Heart Association (news - web sites) have warned that the diet could be dangerous. Here's a little more information on the PCRM report:

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story2&u=/nm/20031121/hl_nm/health_diet_dc&e=5&ncid=751

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A nutrition advocacy group warned on Thursday that the popular Atkins diet may cause heart disease and could have killed a teen-age dieter.

It urged the U.S. government to monitor the high-fat weight loss approach to see if it indeed causes heart disease.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine stressed it could not prove the diet had hurt or killed anyone. But one dieter said he believed the approach clogged his arteries and the parents of a teen-ager who died while on the diet also blamed her meat-heavy regimen.

The PCRM called on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (news - web sites) to monitor diets and check for signs that the Atkins and other high-fat, high-protein diets may be harming people's health.

"You can never say this diet caused this death," PCRM director Dr. Neal Barnard cautioned. He said the CDC should monitor large groups over time to see if there was an association.

The CDC had no immediate comment. Two federal health officials who asked not to be named said it might be possible to incorporate the information into existing surveys on diet, lifestyle and health.

Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. said its diet was safe.

"There is no logic and no science to support any association between these individuals and the ANA (Atkins Nutritional Approach)," said Colette Heimowitz, vice president of education and research for the company.

The Atkins diet has made headlines around the world with an approach that flies in the face of most medical advice. It is based on a theory developed by Dr. Robert Atkins, who died in April after a fall, that carbohydrates make people fat.

It encourages dieters to shun bread, pasta, fruit and many vegetables in favor of meat, butter and other fatty food.

"What I contend is that the Atkins diet gave me heart disease," Jody Gorran, a 53-year-old Florida businessman, said at a news conference organized by PCRM. He said his arteries clogged and cholesterol shot up while on the diet.

Paul and Lisa Huskey of Columbia, Missouri, say their 16-year-old daughter, Rachel, died of a heart arrhythmia in 2000 while on the diet. Dr. Paul Robinson, a pediatrician at the hospital where Rachel died, said the diet could have caused her death by leaching calcium and potassium from her body.

Many doctors and the American Heart Association (news - web sites) have warned that the diet could be dangerous. The Heart Association advocates a diet based on whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

It warned that over time the Atkins diet and similar approaches could raise cholesterol. Other experts have said the diet might also increase the risk of kidney disease and the PCRM adds osteoporosis and colon cancer to the list of risks.

The PCRM, which advocates a strict vegetarian diet, has set up an online registry at www.atkinsdietalert.org for people to offer complaints about the diet.

Doctors say anyone who loses weight will lower cholesterol in the short term.

More than 60 percent of American adults ore overweight or obese so the need for effective diets is clear.

"The skinniest people on the planet are vegetarians and Asians," Barnard said.




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Surprise, surprise! Not.

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iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-21-2003 - 10:32pm

It is a shame when people don't actually read the book and think that it is an all you can eat bacon fest, and try to follow what the press has made of it.


 

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-21-2003 - 10:40pm

*shakes head*

  Shawna-- Proud Cl for 100 Pounds or More to Go 

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2003
Fri, 11-21-2003 - 10:44pm

Pleaase.

 
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-21-2003 - 10:52pm

There was a teenager who had died recently after having followed an all-protein diet.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-20-2003
Fri, 11-21-2003 - 10:57pm
I don't think that's the doctor's problem though. The problem is, the diet is killing people and the federal government is getting involved. Doctors have been complaining about this diet, and ones like it, for a long long time. Diets high in fat, especially saturated fat, are associated with increased risk of cancer,diabetes, and heart disease. Diets high in animal protein have been shown to increase the risk of kidney problems, osteoporosis, and some types of cancer, and now there's documentation that Atkins-type diets are responsible for several deaths of otherwise healthy people. The final death knell to Atkins, and his type, and at long last the government will intervene. High time, too. ;)

http://www.pcrm.org/news/health031120_report.html

Here's a very long medical report, by doctors on the "Analysis of Health Problems Associated with High-Protein, High-Fat, Carbohydrate-Restricted Diets Reported via an Online Registry"

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-20-2003
Fri, 11-21-2003 - 11:01pm
High time, too! Can't you just see those lawsuits, by people foolish enough to have ever hitched their diet wagon to that star!!! It will make the lawyers rich, though.

Criola

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2003
Fri, 11-21-2003 - 11:02pm
Honestly, I highly doubt the government will "investigate" this very thoroughly.
 
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-20-2003
Fri, 11-21-2003 - 11:07pm
Please, don't even go there! A diet shouldn't be so "complex" as to kill people following it. And doctors and the AMA have warned about Atkins diet, and it's imitators, forever now. You can't eat high fat, high protein, and follow a diet fad like that without risking health problems at best, and death at worst. And now the feds will investigate, there will be lawsuits (by people who didn't know any better, just like smoking)and some lawyers will get very very rich. At least the diet will be off the market, and the Atkins machine will finally get dismantled. One wonders how many people have died all this time, though, thanks to that ridiculous diet fad! When will people ever learn? Count calories, eat balanced meals according to food pyramid, and take off weight safely. But no, some people are always looking for the quick fix. How to have one's fatback and eat it too, and Atkins in his time fooled some people into thinking they could pig out on high fat and live to tell about it. Well duh, most people should have learned in elementary school health that it's just not the case.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-20-2003
Fri, 11-21-2003 - 11:09pm
That's the Atkins line, but the facts don't bear it out. You can expect massive damage control by the Atkins voiceboxes. But a government investigation will shut that diet fad down! Oh happy day!
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-26-2003
Fri, 11-21-2003 - 11:11pm

I do believe that organization has a very tight link to some right wing animal rights organiztions, as well as being funded by another vegetarianism organization.


If you would actually read the book and not the articles ABOUT it, you would know that there are very strict limits on the amount of fat and protein in the real Atkins plan.

 

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