Free Republic

  Breadmakers feel pain from Atkins diet By DAVID SHARPThe Associated Press11/8/2003, 1:18 p.m. ETPORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Some bakers around the country are seeing a similar drop in business: With millions of people trying the diet created by the late low-carb guru Dr. Robert Atkins, overall bread sales are flat or down slightly, while bread-bashing seems to be at an all-time high. A sign in Stephen Lanzalotta's bakery reads, "Senza il pane tutto diventa orfano." In Italian, that means, "Without bread everyone's an orphan." But fewer customers are buying his European-style breads and pastries these days — thanks to...

Embarrassment, Health Issues Prompted Dieting Many people have struggled to drop a few pounds, but what happens when you need to lose several hundred pounds? Several years ago, Steve and Melissa Horstman of Boone County, Ky., decided that they didn't want to live with their weight problems anymore, and they used the emotional pain over being overweight to reach their goals. Melissa and Steve met on the Internet several years ago and soon learned of their common bond: obesity. "When you weigh 150 pounds over, you don't go out and socialize," Melissa said. The couple met, dated and married, but...

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida - The dietary establishment has long argued it's impossible, but a new study offers intriguing evidence for the idea that people on low-carbohydrate diets can actually eat more than those on standard lowfat plans and still lose weight. Perhaps no idea is more controversial in the diet world than the contention — long espoused by the late Dr. Robert Atkins — that people on low-carbohydrate diets can consume more calories without paying a price on the scales. Over the past year, several small studies have shown, to many experts' surprise, that the Atkins approach actually does work...

Jeff Endervelt's interest in low-carbohydrate foods began as a personal quest when he experimented with the Atkins diet and spin-offs that helped him shed 20 pounds. As chief executive of Atlanta-based Blimpie International Inc., Endervelt saw a market worth pursuing when his customers started asking for submarine sandwiches on something other than white bread. A sandwich shop called Blimpie's might seem an unlikely destination for dieters. It is now also the only national restaurant operator testing a separate menu targeted at the low-carb, high-protein eating craze. The Blimpie Carb Counter Menu, launched this month in parts of New York's Long...

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

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (Reuters) - It has been months since Tina Moore last bit into a bagel or a slice of toast. "Protein is good. Carbs are bad," says 41-year-old Moore, who altered her diet five years ago in a bid to lose weight. Moore, the owner of a hair salon, is one of the estimated 15 million-plus Americans seen as devoted followers of dieting guru, Dr. Robert Atkins, who recommends eating protein for those who want to rid themselves of unwanted weight and keep the pounds off. "Carbs and sugar ... they give you a quick high, then you...

Arthritis cause 'identified'Scientists claim to have discovered a cause for the debilitating condition rheumatoid arthritis. US researchers suggest it could be because the body stops being able to deal with naturally occurring carbohydrates properly. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) affects around 387,000 people in the UK, is characterised by inflamed joints and can lead to severe damage. There have been advances in the treatment of RA, but less is known about potential causes. " It is difficult to distinguish what is cause and effect when it comes to looking at the autoimmune responses in patients with rheumatoid arthritis " Arthritis Research Campaign...

f the members of the American medical establishment were to have a collective find-yourself-standing-naked-in-Times-Square-type nightmare, this might be it. They spend 30 years ridiculing Robert Atkins, author of the phenomenally-best-selling ''Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution'' and ''Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution,'' accusing the Manhattan doctor of quackery and fraud, only to discover that the unrepentant Atkins was right all along. Or maybe it's this: they find that their very own dietary recommendations -- eat less fat and more carbohydrates -- are the cause of the rampaging epidemic of obesity in America. Or, just possibly this: they find out both of the...