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Crave Sweets? On the Weight & Mood Roller Coaster? Perhaps It's More Than You Think!
The sugar industry and the food manufacturers are capitalizing BIG TIME on the addictive nature of carbohydrates (sweets, breads, deserts) in the human body. Blood sugar-handling problems promote arteriosclerosis (plaque in the arteries),...
Depression Series (Part 3): What to Do with Those Antidepressant Side Effects?
Maria’s depression was difficult to treat. As you can recall, various medications had been tried to no avail. But after several months of treatment, Maria has eventually become stable on a combination of two antidepressants. She’s now able to do...
Introduction to Vitamins
This article is offered for free use in your ezine, or on your web site, so long as the author resource box at the end is included, with hyperlinks. Notification of publication would be appreciated. Introduction to Vitamins Vita – for live; ...
Mediterranean Diet Information
Mediterranean diet is basically the dietary traditions followed by the people of Greece, Spain and southern Italy who live around the Mediterranean Sea. It has been studied by an American Dr Ancel Keys when he landed in Greece in 1945. He...
Protein - its place in your weight loss program.
Any food that we take into our bodies is composed of macronutrients, micronutrients and water. The macronutrients (macro = large) are protein, fat and carbohydrates; the micronutrients (micro = small) are vitamins, minerals and trace elements....
The First Step To Curing
The first step to curing acne is knowing what type of acne you have. This information gives you precious insight to what may have actually triggered the acne outset. Once you know your acne trigger, you are one step closer to removing the acne...
The Fundamentals of Choosing The Right Diet
There are so many diets on the market today it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine which one will do the trick. Well, it’s not a trick you need to be looking for. What you need from any good diet is one that is flexible, sustainable,...
"The Subconscious Diet" Can Help You Get Rid Of Negative Habits!
How could a diet possible help change a habit pattern that has been causing grief for years? It is because the Subconscious Diet: It's not what you put in your mouth; it is what you put in your mind! looks at all the factors that cause weight gain...
The Subconscious Influence on Your Diet and Permanent Weight Loss
Copyright 2005 Kelly Burris What determines human behavior and in particular your eating behavior? I have yet to come across a psychiatrist, psychologist or physician who can answer this question, yet this is the most fundamental question if you...
You Don’t Have to Live With Stiff Neck Pain
Getting quality sleep has, for many, become an elusive goal in the modern day. We work longer hours, take less time off, and try to overcompensate by micromanaging what little free time is available to in order to enjoy all facets of our lives....
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Atkins Diet Plan -- Are Low Carbs Diets Doomed?
According to Veronica Atkins, the widow of Dr. Robert Atkins, the cause of his death was from falling on a slippery sidewalk with subsequent irreversible brain damage (from a CNN interview, February, 2004). Many critics of the Atkins Diet Plan claim the fall was due to a heart attack. This has not been verified to date.
He was 72 years old.
With all due respect to Veronica Atkins, I would like to assume Dr. Atkins did in fact suffer a fatal heart attack. This is in order to answer the following questions...<ol><li>Is it right to use his death as evidence against the safety of the Atkins Diet Plan and other low Carb diets?
<li>Does the recent bankruptcy of the Atkins Corporation provide evidence for the ineffectiveness of low Carb diets?
<li>Many critics of low Carb diets say yes to both questions, but are they right? </li></ol>
The Atkins Diet Plan & Cardiovascular Risk
Medically speaking, it is incorrect to associate Dr. Atkins' fatal heart attack to the use of his low Carb diet. There are two reasons for coming to this conclusion.<ol><li>The increased risk for cardiovascular events associated with Atkins Diet Plan are not from restricting carbohydrates. Instead, the higher risk of cardiovascular events comes from replacing carbohydrates with foods high in saturated fats.
<li>Dr. Atkins died at the age of 72. Beyond the age of 72, the risk for a cardiovascular event is the same for everyone. Granted, he was diagnosed with a cardiomyopathy (diseased heart muscle) when he was 69 and he suffered a heart attack in early 2004.
However, both events occurred well above the age of 55...the cut off used for men to assign an increased risk for cardiovascular events to their first degree relatives. He was at an age which allows for the exclusion of any significant cardiovascular risk passing to his children.</li></ol>
From an epidemiology view point, risk behaviors like smoking or eating a high fat diet are no longer considered as primary contributors in Dr. Atkins' death.
Yes, eating a high fat diet may have played a role, but this is only speculation. Because Dr. Atkins was 72 at the time of his death, no risk for similar events is passed onto his first degree relatives and the risk for cardiovascular events is the same for everyone at that
age.
With all due respect, he died of old age. To blame the Atkins Diet Plan and low Carb diets in general is medically irresponsible. At 72 years old, there are several factors to consider when faced with a fatal heart attack, including the aging process itself.
Veronica Atkins was quoted by CNN...
"My husbands health at the time of his death is a sad and distracting sideshow, taking time away from an intelligent debate of the known science."
For a more detailed discussion on cardiovascular risk and age, please visit...
www.medscape.com
Low Carb Bankruptcy -- Evidence for its Ineffectiveness?
The only correct way to measure a diet's effectiveness (or lack there of) is to study the evidence provided by clinical trials. Recently, a few good studies have reported on the effectiveness of the Atkins Diet Plan and other low Carb diets.
In short, low Carb diets, measured at one year, are safe and effective in helping dieters lose weight.
Like all diet types, the evidence for long term effectiveness (2 to 5 years) is sparse and inconsistent.
Cardiovascular risk increases for some dieters on low Carb diets, not because of the carbohydrate restriction, but because of the consumption of foods high in fat. Also, sticking with the low Carb diet appears to be tough for most dieters beyond one year.
And lastly, low Carb diets that promote long stages of measurable ketosis may cause rapid weight loss that is too extreme. This is a great way to guarantee weight regain in the near future.
Conclusion
Atkins death, from whatever the cause, can not be associated with his diet because he was 72 years old at the time of his death. Even if Dr. Atkins' death could be associated with his diet, no correlations could be made to similar low Carb diets, too much variation exists between them.
Bankruptcy does not belong in a scientific discussion of a diet's effectiveness.
To Healthy Living!
Michael A. Smith, MD
Chief Medical Consultant
Diet Basics Web Site
About the Author
Dr. Smith is the Chief Medical Consultant for Diet Basics, a content rich weight loss website dedicated to all dieters. Please visit his site at... The Weight Loss Professional
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