Your friend obviously was NOT as healthy as everything thought he was. In fact, I bet if you looked into his past eating habits I bet you would find that he was not a "healthy" eater at all.

Another question you need to ask this friend is exactly what he ate. You should find out if he was one of those people who didn't really research Atkins and thought he could eat all the fat he wanted and very little veggies to go along with it.

I have found so many people who are on the Atkins diet who automatically think that they can consume all the meat and cheese they want. First thing people need to do is BUY THE BOOK AND READ IT! You will understand that you can't eat a side of beef everyday with nothing else and expect to stay healthy. This is not what Dr. Atkins meant when he said low carb. Actually, the last book of Dr. Atkins that I read called it "controlled carb", NOT "low carb".

I am so sorry about your friend, but I would be willing to bet my life that he was not healthy prior to starting this WOE. Hope he gets better.