First of all, I want to make it perfectly clear that I am NOT asking for medical advice from anyone in the forum. I take that disclaimer at the top of each page seriously, and I take all advice with a grain of salt and a "YMMV" sort of attitude.

Having said that, a close relative has asked me to explain the Atkins approach to her with an eye to doing it herself. She carries a significant amount of extra weight, and has done so for some time. She is also on the usual battery of older-North-American drugs for high BP, cholesterol reduction, blood thinners, and so on. She did suffer a clotting episode a few years ago that put her life in danger. She is under good and accessible medical care, although I do not personally know her current family physician.

My first instinct is to describe the Atkins approach (it is, after all, public knowledge) -- and then to urge her not to begin anything such as a formal induction without consulting her primary care physician to see whether or not this would be compatible with her regime of prescription drugs and risk factors. BUT (and this is a sticky point) what are the odds that her family doctor will even be familiar with Atkins' theories, let alone approve of them? When I consulted my own doctor about possibly doing Atkins, she appeared to be under the impression that it could be followed as a low-fat plan.....and I am afraid that I just let her labour under that misapprehension

Anyway, my question is this: could someone like this possibly just cut down carbs (sort of like Pre-maintenance, say) while they consult their medical authority and would they obtain the appetite suppressant benefit that comes along with Induction, even though they aren't really doing it? I must add that my relative's usual diet is swimming in carbs AND fat, so in a sense she is already half-way to Atkins It would be awful to "try" LC eating, deny oneself all those HC goodies one is used to, but be hungry and miserable and, inevitably, fall off the wagon...

Anyone have experience along this line?