Doctors' group urges Atkins diet ban

Washinton Times ^ | August 22, 2003 | UPI

[Cincinatus' Wife]

WASHINGTON, Aug. 22 (UPI) -- Nutritionists are urging the top 10 U.S. hospitals to ban the Atkins diet, reports said Friday.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine announced Friday in Washington it hopes the hospitals will emulate England's Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, which is eliminating the controversial diet from its menus, fearing a link to kidney damage.

[Coleus]

They sound like those liberal doctors who interrogate their patients to see if they have guns in their homes. Let's face it, low fat=high carb with insulin spikes which makes people FAT. Put syndrome x or hyperinsulinism in a search engine and see what comes up. The low fat/high carb diet has made America FAT with NO decrease in heart disease. We weren't made to eat grains all year long. When I was on Atkins, eating 3 dozen eggs a week, my cholesterol dropped 100 points and my triglycerides dropped 600 points! The diet works well and most of us need to be on it.

[rwfromkansas]

Vitamins are good to make sure you get your nutrients in case you don't eat a balanced diet. The Atkins attracts me. I only need to lose 20 pounds to be a normal weight thanks to my jaw surgery this summer giving me a boost by dropping me 20 pounds after surgery. I might give it a try after school starts.

[Coleus]

there is a HUGE windfall of money for the person who starts distributing Atkins/locarb frozen meals.>>>

Show me the money, How do you do it?

I was a pt. of atkins.

[rwfromkansas]

From a column at the Poynter Institute website on another claim recently by these folks:

"But an organization representing restaurant and tavern owners claims the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine is really a front for animal rights issues. In a news release, the group said:
The nonprofit Center for Consumer Freedom today called on the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and its leader Neal Barnard to come clean about their ties to radical animal rights activists. PCRM recently threatened legal action against doctors who prescribe high-protein, meat-oriented "Atkins" diets, and ran advertisements calling school lunches that include meat and milk "weapons of mass destruction." As with PCRM's many other pronouncements, these were animal-rights judgments masquerading as legitimate medical advice. The American Medical Association calls PCRM's recommendations "irresponsible" and "dangerous to the health and welfare of Americans."
"Yet the group's news releases have fooled television producers, newspaper editors, and even industry insiders," said Center for Consumer Freedom research director David Martosko, "because they cloak their animal rights agenda in medical terms."

Less than 5 percent of PCRM's members are doctors, and PCRM has never made a list of physician-members available to the public. Neal Barnard, the group's leader, is not a nutritionist, but a non-practicing psychiatrist.


I also got this note from Erik Peterson Director of Public Awareness and Media Relations
American School Food Service Association who said:
Please note the link below to a press release regarding the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine's report card on school lunches. In fact, PCRM is an activist group that advocates against animal testing and for vegan diets. The American Medical Association has called PCRM "irresponsible and potentially dangerous to the health and welfare of Americans," based on their animal rights agenda. While vegan diets may be appropriate for some children, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, central to maintaining a healthy weight for children and adults is variety, balance, and moderation in food choices, coupled with daily physical activity. Vegan diets can be healthful, but they require careful attention to meal planning to ensure that children receive the right balance of nutrients, especially protein, vitamin B12, iron and calcium. The PCRM's "grading" of school meals must be viewed in light of their pro-vegan agenda. Page two of their report states that "if these school districts were graded solely on meeting the USDA requirements, all would receive an 'A'." In fact, the USDA nutrition guidelines for fat and saturated fat, based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, were met by all 18 school districts that were graded, confirming that school meals are a healthy option for students." http://www.asfsa.org/newsroom/pressreleases/pcrm03.asp

[Savage Beast]

You shouldn't wast your time and energy on slobs like that. Ignore them. And above all, don't let them affect you.

[It's me]

Yeah, but those guys aren't alive anymore, now are they?

[RJayneJ]

Take one day and eat only meat, eggs, and cheese and you will drop. Your logic doesn't work with Atkins and depriving yourself of meat and fat makes you body refuse to turn loose of the fat. You scare the hell out of it because it thinks it's famine time. Atkins addresses this very clearly in his book and proved that high fat and meat eater actiually lost more weight than fasters. Don't sabotage yourself.

[RJayneJ]

I was watching Emeril Live yesterday and he put Parmesans cheese in a Teflon skellet and fried it crispy. He only rubbed a little oil on the bottom with a paper towel. I tried it and it's really good. It is real crunchy and tastes like cheese crackers. That is one thing I miss the most--something to munch on.

[proud American in Canada]

Wow, based on your testimonials, I really would love to give this a shot. My husband has a terrible family history of heart disease and I drink way too much coffee.

:)

[brewcrew]

but *where* can I get the cuban stoogies?

Sorry, I can't help you there. You gots to have connections. In other words, I could tell ya, but then I'd have to kill ya! LOL!

[brewcrew]

Thank you for the wonderful advice (((((Carlo)))))) - a question though - does it *hurt* coming back out? (I'm serious about this!)

I once heard a cook on PBS say that the best Hungarian paprika always burns twice. You can fill in the blanks! LOL!

[dansangel]

I once heard a cook on PBS say that the best Hungarian paprika always burns twice. You can fill in the blanks! LOL!

*Exactly* what I was afraid of - LOL!!

[speekinout]

Skipping meals to the point of euphoria is a problem - textbook definition:

While most people feel uncomfortable when their calorie intake is low or restricted, people with anorexia aren't sensitive to this discomfort or to normal hunger cues. As they begin to starve, they actually experience a feeling of euphoria, very similar to how a runner or jogger gets the well-known "runner's high."

Look it up yourself. Almost any cite on anorexia will flag the feeling of euphoria as a trouble sign.

[Taffini]

If you decide to develop/share recipes, will you clue me in, please?? I'm an unmotivated, unimaginative cook. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

ADD ME TO THE RECIPE LIST ANYONE who has done Atkins.
I would appreciate any tried and true recipes. I need to lose a chunk and would like the help.....helppppppppppp

[Taffini]

After my heart attack last year I went on the American Heart Association "heart healthy" diet. Went from 190 to 230 pounds! Now I am on a modified Atkins/South Beach diet and I am slowly dropping the pounds



What the hell does that diet have you eat?

I bet your doctor thought you were cheating eventhough you weren't. HEART HEALTHY !!! It MUST be good!

So good you gained 40 pounds doing what you were told. I bet that was frustrating.

The doctors should test these diets on themselves before they put US on them.

[Taffini]

Question to anyone out there:

Does drinking coffee keep the Atkins diet from working at its best level?

I have been on Atkins about one week and did NOT give up coffee (because I would be a bitc$ for 3 days) and noticed a small weight loss rather than a large one.

If it makes a difference it is gone tomorrow.

[Taffini]

We weren't made to eat grains all year long


Pigs are fat.

What do pigs eat?

[whd23]

Cincinatus' doctor was so impressed with his health and weight loss he asked him to give him a rundown of what he was eating on a typical day - and he took notes. The doctor needs to drop about 40 pounds.

I hope Cincinatus charged the doctor appropriately for the house call! :D

[mike_9958]

Coffee didn't make a difference with me... although I drank less of it and greatly increased my water intake - about 8 -8oz servings a day.

The most important thing was cutting out the carbs at the beginning to get my body burning fat instead of the carbs I was feeding it. It seems after the body starts burning fat then I could bring in a few carbs again (like beer). Also after I lost some weight I could do more rigorous exercise. (that helped alot)

I still don't do cookies or candy, or white bread.