Study Links Atkins, Possible Health Risk

By TARIQ PANJA
Associated Press Writer
Posted March 17 2006, 6:00 AM EST

LONDON -- The popular Atkins diet could be linked to a life-threatening complication which one woman who claimed to be following it developed, according to doctors who published a case report on it Friday in a British medical journal.

The Atkins diet calls for restricting carbohydrates to achieve weight loss, then gradually adding them back in. However, many people who say they're following the diet actually eat large amounts of protein and fat.

Doctors from New York University wrote in The Lancet journal of a 40-year-old woman who developed a dangerous condition called ketoacidosis, a dangerous buildup of acids called ketones in the blood which can lead to patients falling into a coma.

However some outside experts said the case is rare and does not reflect a major health threat associated with low-carb diets.

"I think this is an isolated case. The idea that serious ketoacidosis could be triggered by a low-carb diet does not happen very often," said Dr. Paul Clayton, president of the forum on food and nutrition at the Royal Society of Medicine in London.

Atkins Nutritionals referred calls for comment to the Dr. Robert C. Atkins Foundation, a medical research charity run by Atkins' widow, Veronica. No one at the foundation could immediately be reached for comment.

The patient, who was not identified, was admitted to an intensive care unit for four days after becoming short of breath. Before being hospitalized, she had lost her appetite, felt nauseous and was vomiting four to six times a day, the doctors wrote in the paper.

Tests confirmed ketoacidosis.

Ketones are produced in the liver when insulin levels fall due to starvation or diabetes.

"Our patient had an underlying ketosis caused by the Atkins diet ... This problem may become more recognized because this diet is becoming increasingly popular worldwide," said Professor Klaus-Dieter Lessnau, who led the team from the New York University School of Medicine.

Clayton said that the main problem of high protein diets is in the strain they put on kidneys and the risk of renal failure.

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/nationworld/ats-ap_health10mar17,0,1590471.story?coll=sns-ap-tophealth

America and the UK are the fattest countries on earth, i.e., the most carb addicted cuntries on earth. Our bodies can handle fat, protein and salt in abundance. Carbs are what lead to fatigue; Carbs are what lead to obesity; Carbs are what lead to diabetes; Carbs are what lead to shortened and reduced quality life.

A high carb diet is a JOG approved one, White men and women. You should strive for and achieve a consistent 40/30/30 split in your diet (Carbohydrates/Fats/Protein) if you want health and long life.

Couldn't have said it better, myself. The Atkins diet is extreme, but only on the initial phase (induction phase). 40/30/30 is just about right. If anything, the component for fat could go up. There are some very healthy people in the Mediterranean whose diet is more like 30/40/30 (C/F/P). As long as you reduce intake of carbs well below the standard American diet. Carbs are fine, but not like Americans consume carbs. The Standard American meal is a big lump of bread and some stuff on the side.

The big food and medical industries make their money on lard assed Americans and the diseases that the American diet brings on. These industries have been trying to discredit Atkins since his diet first came out. This latest article is pathetic. Jeeez!! Talk about reaching.

Enkidu

cuntries

You're making me miss Lindstet.

"However, many people who say they're following the diet actually eat large amounts of protein and fat."

Notice that media stories on Atkins always mislead as to what Atkins is. (This is just like when the media covers Christianity, they always somehow "accidentally" botch it.)

Protein and fat are what Atkins allows in unlimited amounts. That's the Atkins diet. If you are on Atkins, that IS what you will eat in large amounts, until you get sick of them and eat less and less until you would rather go hungry.

Atkins works better than any other diet, and it means eating less of the judeo-corporations packaged food and fast food and donating nothing to Israeli-owned Weight Watchers, that is why They hate it, I agree.

One person getting a rare disease while on this diet isn't even newsworthy.