"Atkins Diet May Be Hazardous To Health"
 

Atkins Diet May Be Hazardous To Health

Participants Urged To Limit Saturated Fats

POSTED: 8:22 AM EST February 6, 2004
UPDATED: 9:25 AM EST February 6, 2004

http://www.wesh.com/health/2826688/detail.html

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Low-carbohydrate diets are the hottest diets around these days, but the ads and promotions don't reveal everything.

The Atkins Diet may be the most talked about of all time, but many doctors said it won't work long-term and could be hazardous to your health, WESH NewsChannel 2 reported.

It's the diet of the beautiful people. Stars like Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt and Renee Zellwegger are all said to have used Dr. Atkins no-carbohydrate plan to trim their waistlines.

Lake Mary businesswoman Carolee Butler decided to slim down her image a year ago, and Jody Garron wanted to stop his weight gain before it got out of hand, but they needed some help.

"I could go to Albertson's and get a loaf of that French bread, you know at 5 p.m., and eat the whole thing," Butler said.

It was the Atkins Diet to the rescue. Goodbye carbohydrates, bread, pasta and potatoes. Hello high proteins: meats, cheeses and eggs.

"I usually had either a hamburger with the cheese and a salad, or I had chicken and a salad," Butler said.

"I was eating cheeseburgers, and steak, and cheese, and cheesecake," Garron said.

The Atkins theory is that high-carb foods make you fat, and that if you eat lots of proteins, instead of carbs, your body is forced to burn off that unwanted fat around your middle for fuel.

Now for the skinny on our two diet clients.

"I lost over 40 pounds," Butler said.

"I realized that it had given me heart disease," Garron said.

Success for Butler, but a near-death experience for Garron. Shortly after starting Atkins, Garron's total cholesterol soared from a healthy 148 to an unacceptable 230.

"I started getting chest pains," Garron said.

Doctors discovered this 99-percent blockage in one of his arteries. They had to perform angioplasty to clear it.

"I mean you're seduced by the diet," Garron said.

He blamed the Atkins Diet for encouraging him to eat foods he loved that were high in saturated fats.

"That's the big lie in the Atkins Diet," Garron said.

He has made some changes.

"No red meat. No cheesecake. No cheese ... I'm eating stone-ground whole wheat. I'm eating Smart Balance spreads, so that the oils in there are not saturated," Garron said.

His cholesterol is back to where it was before he started Atkins.

"I may not be eating as well as I would like to, in terms of the foods that I love, but I feel good, and I know my heart is better," Garron said.

Even with his heart problems, Garron said he supports the low-carb Atkins Diet, minus the saturated fat. Many others, like Butler, said it's just fine the way it is.

"I went from a 16 to an eight, and I'm going to stay here," Butler said.

The Atkins folks said they never meant for people to eat unlimited amounts of saturated fat, and that they've been advising doctors on that for the last couple of years. But if you ask anyone who knows about the Atkins Diet, their impression is that you can eat all the fats and meats you want without worrying about the consequences.

The bottom line: If you have a large amount of weight to lose, using a diet severely limited in carbohydrates can work. But you have to be careful of saturated fats, and ultimately, you have to end up on a sensible diet and increase your exercise, WESH NewsChannel 2's Dr. Todd Husty reported.

To comment on this story, send an e-mail to Dr. Todd Husty Todd.Husty~wesh.com.

Amazing, most people it takes years to develop heart disease and he got it what, in a few weeks?

WOW - my one-year anniversary on the diet is Valentine's Day - although, I died of congestive heart disease last August.

Nice reporting - that guy was NOT doing Atkins if that's all he was eating. He was on a meat and cheesecake diet... the twit.

Well, no wonder he wound up with chest pains. Where are the vegetables? I wonder if he ate cheesecake during induction, and just how much cheese he was eating (seems like a lot, from the above statement). I love it when people don't educate themselves before starting a low-carb plan.

It never ceases to amaze me at what/whom people can place the blame on for their own misgivings and stupidity. <sigh>

Local News Press
 

http://www.wesh.com/health/2826688/detail.html
orted.

Another scare story. It's absurd to think a few weeks of any diet would cause such a radical change in your heart health.

Irresponsible journalism at its finest.

It is my understanding that blockages take quite a while to develop, and have no symptoms.
David Letterman felt fine when he went in for a checkup and came out with a bypass.
I think this dude in question got indigestion from his steak & cheesecake menu and they discovered the blockage that had been there all along.

Another life saved by Dr. Atkins.

Yeah, there is no way he could have developed 99% blockage in just a few weeks.

Pfffft.

Emily

I sent the good doctor a love note expressing my dismay that he failed to educate the reader by talking about the need for vegetables and fiber in the diet, as well as the need to consult a doctor.

I also pointed out that as a doctor he should know full well that you cannot get a 99 percent blockage "shortly after starting Atkins", no matter how much steak and cheese you ate.

brobin

I can feel the love from here!

Thank you, brobin!

gotbeer

I went on an Newsgroup about the Atkins Diet back right after I started Atkins. Some of the stories I read on there were just plain ludicrious. The typical story would be someone who claimed they started the Atkins Diet, and like 3 days or a week later, they either had a heart attack, had to have a kidney/gallbladder removed, or something along those lines. Even though I had just started the diet, and hadn't yet discovered this site, I knew enough to know that you couldn't possibly develop any of those conditions in 3 days or a week. Nonetheless, they managed to scare a few people off trying Atkins.

Those are no fun! I wanna hear the REAL stories the GOOD ones you know about how you go on atkins for an hour and drop dead because your brain doesnt have enough carbs to function.