Asymmetrical Information

I'm fat and diabetic, so Atkins is just about perfect for me. Lost 20 pounds so far, and the low sugar diet is helping my blood sugar level (and if I lose enough, I won't be diabetic anymore!) My cholestorol and blood pressure are already down, after two months.

Sure, the Atkins diet has problems. But being obese for you whole life has even more.
I've been on it, and I like it a lot. And once I get down to a reasonable weight, I can bring the carbs back up to a decent amount.
I probably will have to avoid soda, Olive Garden, and sweets for the rest of my life--- but that's not so bad, is it?

Nah.

You seem to be taking this diet analysis from the POV of someone who doesn't need to lose weight so badly. Which is fine, but remember that a whole lot of morbidly obese people need some drastic help. On the other hand, you just need to be reasonable.

And anyway--- of course I would gain back the weight eventually if I went off Atkins. Diet is a big part of why I'm fat in the first place--- so going back on a high-carb diet would eventually put me back where I am today. No big suprise there.

Once the weight loss is accomplished all you have to do is keep away from stuff with amazingly high carbs, eat reasonably, and excercise. Which is pretty much what you said in the first place.

The good Dr believed entirely in his product and his message. I was thinking of starting it and spoke with a friend who did the first phase and he definitely lost weight. He'll probably gradually put it back on but Atkins seems to get you focused on the principles of dieting and exerise. I bought the book and follow a modified plan, mainly because I agree with Yogi Bear. I'm not really a nuts and berries kind of person. As you say, the nutritionists are probably right. A balanced diet, bread, fruti and veg, some dairy products, small portions and regular exericse is the way to go. Condolences to the good Doctor's family.

It is rather amusing that he died in his 70s of a head injury rather than in his 50s due to massive coronary/liver/kidney failure, isn't it?

His detractors were, not to put too fine a point on it, hysterics.

Personally, I think that Atkins works great for people with the temperament for it. I miss the pizza, a lot, and that can be too much for many people. When I went on Atkins - the weight loss was easy. What was even better was that I wasn't tired in the afternoon, my skin cleared up, and I needed less sleep. And I was much, much less pissy. That pleased everyone around me.

Most of the proof (well, anecdote) that I need is from the few French people I know - they consume nearly only meat, eggs, and cheese, and look spectacular. Atkins often cites the typical French diet and corresponding French obesity rates as evidence of the correctness of his ideas.

Oh, lord, this doesn't mean that I'm on a Freedom Diet, does it? Sorry, had to say it!

In Anna Karenina, one of the calvary officers (forget his name) needed to lose weight--- so he cut out the bread.

Ancient Russian Cossack wisdom (via Tolstoy) concurs with Atkins. Who can doubt? :-)

Toxic - I'd recommend being careful and seeing an endocrinologist occaisionally. While the Atkins diet may be helping you with weight loss, it is not perfect for diabetics. All that Ketone spillage can be hell on your kidneys, and I believe cause other vascular damage.

(Note: I'm not a doctor, or an Atkins detractor. I've seen it work amazingly well for some people.)

And drink lots of water. It really helps.

MUST... NOT... RHAPSODIZE... ABOUT... OWN... DIET...

There's never been a documented case of kidney damage from the Atkins Diet. NEVER. On the other hand, diabetes and pre-diabetic conditions -- many cases of which go undiagnosed for years -- are hell on the kidneys, not infrequently leading to dialysis or transplant. So for someone to tell a diabetic to worry about Atkins damaging his kidneys is, um, misguided.

I am old enough to remember when one Euell Gibbons was being interviewed by Johnny Carson. Gibbons wrote many health-food books advocating eating bark, roots and stems also did TV ads for a popular cereal. Johnny wanted to know his favorite food. Answer?: Chili-Dogs.

I'm the 'good' diabetic. My pancreas is half-dead, I guess, and if I maintain my weight it will wear out sooner or later, at which point I will be a insulin-injecting, completly screwed diabetic.
At this point if I get down to a decent weight by pancreas will be able to cope, and I won't be diabetic anymore. As long as I take care of myself from that point, I'll be quite fine for the rest of my life. Or at least until the point they can clone a fresh pancreas for me. This is best time in history to have a fatal degenerative disease.

Or so I understand. I got diagnosed earlier this week, by an doctor of internal medicine (who also put me on Atkins prior to the diagnosis).

I drink lots of water now. I can't drink anything else really. Except coffee and tea.

One thing I've noticed: I used to drink milk all the time. I loved milk. But now when I drink it, it almost tastes like some sort of fruit punch--- I never realized milk was so sweet before I started Atkins.

BTW, My blood sugar is already hovering just above the maximum healthy levels. With any luck I won't be officially diabetic by the end of the year.

THough I have to say I'm already sick of making myself bleed.

It's interesting,but your experience with Atkins shows the same lack of understanding that I see in many other people. The first two weeks (the most restrictive) are a CORRECTIVE diet! It forces your body into ketosis. After those two weeks, you add more carbs & more variety to your diet. And yes, you do feel terrible the first week, until your body starts to adjust. And why is it that folks don't understand that fish is also meat? You don't have to eat beef on Atkins. In fact, if you can stand it, you can be a vegetarian on Atkins. (Tofu instead of meat--many low carbers use canned soy beans as a replacement for beans).

The best place to go for information on doing a low carb diet is www.lowcarbeating.com. Take the time to really read the book and get one more recent than the 70s edition.

1) I hate fish.

2) Y'all can do whatever you want. I'm skinny on a vegetarian diet, my cholesterol, blood sugar, etc. are all in the "excellent" range, and I feel great. To each his own.

3) Troutgirl: people with undiagnosed kidney disease can indeed do themselves major harm on the Atkins diet, as Atkins himself has said. Most kidney disease is undiagnosed. And if you're a diabetic or pre-diabetic trying to do Atkins to get your blood sugar down, there is indeed a chance that you have kidney trouble that Atkins is going to kickstart. There's "never been an incidence of disease attributable to Atkins" in the same way there's never been an incidence of diabetes attributable to Hershey's -- such diseases are multifactorial. But Atkins doesn't help.

i lost a lot of weight once eating nothing but cream cheese frosting and lunch meat. i bet you could come up with any arbitrary list of things to omit in one's diet and they would lose weight. my diet was very easy to follow and i reccommend everyone try it!

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