Anyone heard about liver problems?
 

This guy at work told me he heard 3-4 people died from liver complications from doing the Atkins diet. Anyone else heard of this? I've been doing Atkins since June and had a physical in Sep. Liver came out abnormal. A few blood tests later and a sonogram, it cleared up. It might have been an infection. Now this about the liver, makes me wonder....

Really, and did he know these people, or was it somethign a friend told him that he heard form a friend and so on?

There was the PETA doctor talking about how people have died on the ATkins diet, but he couldn't actually provide any reports, studies or any proof to back up his claims.

Did you know 100% of people who inhale oxygen and who injest water die as well? We should start avoiding those, I mean I know the health claims of drinking extra water, but it's obviously highly dangerous.

He said he heard it on the news last night. I watch the news and I haven't seen it. Thought maybe someone else caught this piece.

I did a Google search and could turn up nothing about news reports of deaths from liver disease on low carb and I think it's highly unlikely that any deaths from liver disease could be directly attributed to low carbing.
Ask your friend what station they were watching and then call the station and ask for a transcript of that particular segment.

I did find this study at the Atkins website that shows that a high carb diet may cause far more problems with your liver, especially if you have hyperinsulinemia, than a low carb diet: http://atkins.com/Archive/2002/7/19-291583.html

Isn't it funny how non-low carbers have always "heard" of these things happening (along with kidney disorders), but no one is ever able to come up with viable proof?

I like LadyBelle's answer about how people die all the time. Correlation does not equal causation, people, no matter how much the anti-low-carbers would like it to.

Even if these 3-4 deaths were directly related to Atkins, there are hundreds of thousands of healthy people who've lived long lives with the help of a low-carb diet. Besides, how many traditional low-fat dieters have died of heart attacks, clogged arteries, and the like? Millions!

In June before I started Atkins the blood work from my physical showed that I had a raised liver enzyme level. My doctor told me not to worry that it was probably just from the flu bug that I had the week before. She said that it would be ok for me to start Atkins and to come back in November to be tested again. In November, the liver enzyme level was normal and my cholesterol level was down fifteen points. I wouldn't worry to much about it.

I ment the last part as a joke. I didn't think about it until later and the fact jokes odn't carry well online, so please don't anyone get mad for it, I ment no harm just some light heartedness.

Liver problems can happen when higher fat is eaten with alcohol. (Or any thing eaten) Alcohol is much easier to convert to keotenes then fat, so your body will do that first. Anything eaten during that time will just be stored for later use. The problem is some of that is stored in the liver. A steady stream of alcohol and fat build up can lead to excess fatty tissues in the liver and cause liver problems down the road. If someone is drinking heavily on a regular basis and eating fats, then they will experience live rproblems, regardless of carbs in diet.

Part of the problem though is there are some doctors who are so biased against low carbing they will blame all health conditions on this WOE and completely ignore health history, bad habits such as smoking or drinking, factors such as suppliments and water consumption and so on. I think there are even some doctors who would blame a car crash on Atkins (he was just so dizzy and unable to concentrate from lack of carbs he swearved into oncoming traffic resulting in the accident.)

I think I'd ask that guy to give you more info before believing what he said.

My father is a doctor and he eats low carb. He doesn't need to, but he does it because he believes it's a healther way to eat. There's a lot of heart disease and cancer in his family, so I doubt he'd risk his health on eating this way if he didn't believe in it.

By the way, there is an issue with the kidneys of the individual has kidney problems. My husband only has 50% kidney function (don't worry, he does fine with that) and he's not suppose to eat more than 3 oz. of protein at once, and no more than 15-18 oz. per day. Thank heaven he's naturally thin because there's no way he could do this way of eating!

Truthfully, he could. 15-18 oz. of protein a day is quite a bit, even if you can't eat more than 3 oz. at one time. That's way more than I or my DH would typically eat in a day.
DH's typical intake is:

Breakfast: 2 eggs, 1 slice low carb bread
Lunch: salad or veggie with 5-6 oz. meat
Dinner: Veggie and/or salad with 5-6 oz. meat

People will believe anything if its said by a group who claims to be looking out for the public health. My favorite is the "Dihydrogen Monoxide" science experiement:

http://www.dhmo.org/

OMG!! I was laughing my butt off reading through this website. Thanks for the belly-laugh! :lol:

Low carb diets have existed, by far, longer than high carb diets. Diabetes, heart disease and obesity rose their heads when diets became high in carbohydrates.
From the info I have read, liver and/or gall bladder problems occur on Atkins if there was a pre-existing condition. If the American Heart Association can , reluctantly, claim that those on this diet lower their cholesterol blah, blah, then the diet is healthy.

Again, people will often speak of deaths that occur but I have yet to see a name or any documentation. Even if they had proof I would ignore it because I know that it is keeping me healthy. There are many doctors who stand by this WOE.

Black57

Another thought, if the Atkins or any other low carb diet is so dangerous, why isn't anyone lobbying to have it banned like ephedra?

Black57

I didn't believe him anyway (to be honest we don't get along very well). He's really overweight and has diabetes. I think he sees all the weight I have lost and is looking for excuses so he doesn't have to do it. It goes back to the jelousy issue. Why people have to be that way is beyond me. I am super happy for people who have lost weight. It's not like I rub it in his face either. He's the one who brought up the subject.

I had my gall bladder removed about three months ago and I was worried that my past year and a half on Atkins had caused the problem with it so I went off of Atkins for 2 1/2 months. Like an idiot, I didnt bother to ask the doctor first if the Atkins could have caused the gall bladder disease. So when I gained 15 lbs back as a result of going off of Atkins following the surgery, I finally did ask him about it and he said it was fine for me to go back on Atkins as a WOE and that it didnt have anything to do with the gall bladder going bad (Hence, I'm back on induction again)