Why are Doctors so afraid ?
 

Why do doctors fear Atkins ?
What do they have to hide ?
It seems if you're doing well and losing weight- then they should be cheering you on.
After my friend introduced me to Atkins, I started reading and realized the opposition he received- and that's what turned me on to this.
The real kicker was that New York times article.

I am generally cynical about doctors, and with good reason.
One doctor nearly killed my mother in 1984 by over-dosing her on lidocaine by 10x- and she should never have been given the drug in the first place.

Two doctors misdiagnosed the stroke I had.

Yet another doctor called my father's minor heart attack a "stroke."

My spinal problems were chalked up to "depression."

Other doctors in this town have been in trouble with over-prescribing anti-depressants.

Then of course you have this idiot who mismatched the blood type on that 17 year old who needed the heart/lung transplant. Now she's dead.

That is why I drive an hour to see a doctor anymore.

Sorry guys, I am on a rant, better stop now-lol. :spin:

I figured if Dr. Atkins was standing against the medical establishment, then maybe it was worth listening to.

My doc said okay
 

I have been going to the same doctor for about 5 years. He has seen me go up and down. I have asked him what he thinks of Atkins and he said, "Whatever it takes for you to lose the weight, go for it!!!"
I have high blood pressure and low thyroid and take medicine for the problems and am still able to lose weight on Atkins.
I have basically tried to stay on Atkins for about 2 years, have had some reasons why the weight has come back on, but when I stick to Atkins I still lose while on medication.
I have had people tell me that they can't do Atkins because they get depressed, etc. But I have never had any problems while on it. My daugther can't do Atkins because she really isn't much of a meat eater, she does well on Weight Watchers.
You just have to do what is okay for you. Whatever it takes for you to lose the weight.
Good luck and let me know how you are doing.
JAN :wave:

Because its the opposite of what we have always tought
 

Either its Atkins, CKD or any other low carb diet its all the opposite of what we have always been told.

Fat is bad, fat will kill you faster and all the rest of that crap.

Doctors often dont know nothing and many other care professional too.

I have a vendetta against chiroprators they are all full of you know what and will give you endless sessions reajustements for nothing never fixing your problem, they are the worst or the worst.

Has for any type of low carb, it works but because lots of fat has to be eaten, on the ketogenic diet 90% of calories comes from fat , then doctors that are high on the high carb low fat diet will tell you its dangerous.

My mom was on hormones for 10 years, she recently changed doctors and this one is good, he stopped all the pills, told here to cut the sugar, bread, rice and pasta.

My mom is now 58 and she has lost 15 pounds in one month by doing so.

Sooner or later Atkins and low carb will rule the diet world because theses diets work.

My doctor has no problem at all with this WOL, he sees the changes in my physically, emotionally and medically (cholestrol down, stomach problems gone) - no if I could just cut out the ciggies ;)

Vikki

I love my Doc. Have had the same doctor for a little over 15 years. But when I mentioned I was going on Atkins...all heII broke lose!!

It was "Oh no, do you know what a high fat diet can do to you?" "Your going to gain an enormous amount of weight" Cholesterol this, and Diabetes that...Blah Blah Blah ....
So my response was "I'm doing it with you, or without you"
And after my results and ongoing success, I am the talk of the office. :D (in a good way)

My doctor has been doing alot of research on the ins and outs of Low Carbing now. :)

I agree with Yannick on the Chiropractor front too...go for Shiatsu!! :D :D

Everyone has to remember one thing. Doctors get most of their information on latest reserach fed to them by big drug companies. Big drug companies don't necessarily want doctors to know that eating meat, eggs, and veggies instead of sugar and other high-carb products can cure a lot health problems as drug companies want to sell drugs and make profits from doing so. So, take everything your doctor says with a grain of salt and educate yourself and empower yourself to make decisions. The internet is an amazing tool because now each and every one of us can do our own research. As more and more people see success through LCing, more and more doctors will become informed of LCing and more and more doctors will seek additional research about LCing that those big drug companies failed to provide them.

My OB/GYN is the one who convinced me to give this diet another try. I did it a few years ago (and lost 17lbs) but quit when I got pregnant. I didn't go back on it because of all the bad press the diet has gotten over the years (health risks, mostly). Anyhoo...my OB/GYN said that Atkins is what he uses to control his weight (and he looks great) so I figured it must be okay. I trust him with everything else...umm...personal...about my body. Why not my weight, too?

Here is another idea. How about all of those companies that sell bread, rice, pasta, etc. If the entire world decied that lcing was the way to go. They would be out of business.

That is another reason that the low fat high carb diets were so popular. It is cheaper and easier to maket that stuff. Plus the shelf life is endless.

It doesn't mean that those of us who are educated have to buy into all of thier nonsense.

By the way, doctors are only people. Most people give them God status. They are human and are only able to digest so much info too. It isn't our fault that the read the wrong books.

I'm really lucky in that my doctor is very open minded and progressive. He gave me his full blessing to start Atkins. But, I do understand your gripes about doctors in general. When my boyfriend smashed his hand under a one ton coil of metal, they didn't even know that he had a broken bone in his hand until 3 weeks AFTER the accident! They couldn't understand why it wasn't healing as it should've healed, and then they looked at his xray again and found a broken bone! Thanks to their incompetency, his hand never healed the way it could have. My mom's doctor prescribes medication for anything. She will even give them out without examination, just call her up and ask for such and such and she writes them out! I can't understand how people like them can still be practicing.

Well, not only doctors but people in general...but the doctors should know, right?
My doc is great, he told me last year that I should try to eat less carbs, I was complaining about constant bloating and many other things...anyway, I did not believe him! Of course I was "dieting" and rice, pasta and potaoes were my basic food.
I think peole have a non-critical respect for authorities and if they are told a million times that fat is bad, they rarely change their mind...I really fell sorry for them. Like Larry King on CNN intervieving Dr Atkins...my GOD...King:" Fat sounds bad, fat is bad, fat will make you FAT..."
Well, will all sugar make you sweet?

Saw a documentary about a very obese man, he lost his job and doctor put him on "diet" of bread, rice, potaoes and bananas plus meat...but little fat. I felt so sorry for him.
I hope more and more people will give this WOE a try...

Vikki....trying to quit smoking? Me too...down to 8 per day...how are you managing?

I'm a bit nervous about talking to my doc at this point because I don't know what her reaction will be. I rather see her when I can backup the plan with proven results. That way, maybe if she's a non-believer, I might just change her way of thinking. And on the other hand, if she is already a believer... I can listen to her praise with a big grin on my face :p

Great Thread :D
I had the same experience with my doctor. He said, "Do anything except Atkins", so I did the opposite. I won't even mention it to him anymore. I have tried other "diets", but his WOE works for me and it's realistic. I'm not suffering. Love this topic :)
Thanks :)

A few months ago I had my first physical with my new doctor (my previous one decided to go work for the VA). Right before he came to see me, he was taking care of a diabetic patient. I explained to him I was on Atkins and that I lost weight sine I was on it. I think he just thought, fat cow, what do you know. He ordered blood work for me.

Then, when I came back a few weeks later for some follow up he saw my numbers. My collesterol was 180 and I already forgot the rest but everything was really good including my sugar. He asked about the diet.

I see him again at the end of March.. (yuck, a pap follow up! :( ) I wonder what he will say when he sees how much more I have lost. :)

Fear Motivators
 

Two words: Malpractice Lawsuit.

What happens to a doctor who advocates (or even prescribes) low carb eating if a study conclusively links low carb/high fat to serious health problems? Do you think for a moment that opportunistic people wouldn't jump to take advantage of that situation for monetary gain?

As long as the government and health care establishment as a whole keeps beating the low-fat diet drum as the healthiest way of eating, doctors are going to be hesitant to contradict that. Because, if studies conclusively link low-fat to health issues and obesity, doctors can't be held <i>individually</i> responsible for advocating that way of eating. They have a place to point their fingers when someone tries to blame them for their ruined health.

When you look at it from their perspective, it's just self and career preservation.

Doctors
 

I believe that doctors mean well. They are concerned for your health, but they have specific, and limited, training in nutrition. They are taught, as well, to abide by a scientific regimen; thus they are likely to look upon Atkins as highly suspect at first. I think that as time goes on they will be more informed and more comfortable with what is happening. They are also just human and their opinions and abilities to accept new information such as Atkins, will vary. I don't pay too much attention to their nutritional advice, except "lose weight." It that they are absolutely correct.

Good Luck!

My former MD missed my diabetes for over 4 years--- gee, now I know why I couldn't lose any weight no matter what I did!! She even had me go see a dietitician to start the AHA diet. That was awful. Anyhoo, I moved back home last year and opted for a DO (osteopathic doc) and it was the best move I could have ever made! His practice (2 docs & 1 phys. asst.) are all BIG supporters of the LC WOL. If I hadn't have found him, I would still be over 300 lbs., probably a whole lot more by now, and depressed about my life.

We take labs every 3 mos. to check cholesterol, triglycerides and blood sugar and have visits every 6 mos. or so to monitor progress. I honestly couldn't imagine butting heads with my doc about the WOL. Then again, I wouldn't have found my way to this WOL w/out him!! If only there were more like him...

Happy LCing!
Nikki :daizy:

Wow Nikki... sounds like you have an awesome doctor! Way to go on your success!

I have a wonderful Dr. He is ok with Dr. Atkins and told me to keep it up. I just had my physical and my bloodwork was great. Last year my good cholestrol was bad and this year it is great. He said to keep up the good work and to come back in and be checked in six months.

It has been years since I weighed under 200 and he is glad that I am doing something also.

You all have a good evening.

Windy

I hav'nt read all of the posts......but not all doctors are afraid of Atkins. My doctor put me on this plan because I am addicted to carbs and sugar and she herself was thinking of going on the plan. So, I guess it all depends on how mind set the dr. is.

My doc was all in favor of my cutting carbs (note that I never said the name Atkins, just low carb) and has been very impressed with the results I have gotten so far. I think his exact words when I said low carb were, "If you think it will help, go for it!".
I may be wrong with this assessment, but I think in general the younger doctors are going to be more open to this WOE than the older ones who are more set in their ways and it may even have to do with their specialty. I don't think you'll find a lot of cardiologists recommending low carb just yet, but I'd be willing to bet that a lot of endocrinologists do.

correct
 

Couldn't agree more. My Dr. wants to prescribe a pill for just about anything. If you press him, however, he will admit that non-pharma paths have had good results.

Some doctors do support Atkins, it's a matter of finding the right one. Also if you don't use words like Atkins or low carb, just tell them you care cutting out junk food and refined processed foods, they may support it.

I think alot of doctors, especially those that have been practicing for many years, are very restistant to change. They have been doing things one way, it seems to work, and they are just to busy to keep up on every single study that comes out. Others (though not good ones) really have a god complex. I guess it's easy when you're helping people and saving lives. They basically refuse to look at any information that may prove thier ideas and past advice wrong.

To me a really good doctor is one who listens to you. If they odn't know alot about a particular subject, they will research it a bit more. Also I think they should be open to new ideas and new advances, though tread cautiously.

Kind of like those doctors of the 50's who smoked while seeing patients and had bacon every day for breakfast. Some of them didn't support low fat when it came out :)

That's one thing that really turns me off about doctors. Go in complaining of a pain or something and they pull out the script pad. I don't like taking drugs, prescription or otherwise, and usually just prefer to tough it out when I get sick.

It seems to me that any doctor who is against doing Atkins obviously has not researched the subject. Also, I think the medical community in gereral doesn't want to admit that maybe they have been wrong all this time. Face it, it's no fun to admit you were wrong, especially when the medical community has been so vehemently pushing low fat-high carb for so long. I just saw my doctor last week and informed him that I had been doing Atkins for a little over a year and had lost 40 pounds on it. He seemed to be ok with it, but not thrilled. I guess he figured if it works for me, then fine. His opinion was that there is nothing "magical" about reducing carbs. He believes you just end up eating fewer calories, so you lose weight. He obviously has not seen the studies, that most of us have, where people lose more weight even while eating the same or even more calories than on a low fat diet.

i dunno, my doctor is the one who suggested i do Atkins in the first place.

When my dh went to the ER in January (Turned out to be nothing serious), the cardiologist, who was a younger guy, told dh that he had lost 40 lbs doing Atkins. But he also commented that its not something you do half-way. I really liked hearing that from a cardiologist, I mean he deals with heart disease every day, and he did Atkins! I think that says alot.

Wow, I can't believe you think that way about pharma companies. I am a sales consultant with a pharmaceutical company and I have never, ever heard of a company that would deliberately keep anyone unhealthy to gain sales. I would not work in an industry that did that!