Everyone:
I received this from a colleague today. For those of you who don't know, PCRM is a vegan propaganda group closely allied with such wonderful organizations as PeTA and the Animal Liberation Front (ALF), classified as a terrorist organization with the FBI.
You all may want to register with the mentioned sites to voice your SUCCESSES with the Atkins Diet (or other L/C plans).
You can also see my papers on vegetarianism or high-protein diet myths on my website for a closer discussion of the supposed health risks of L/C eating.
SCB
For Immediate Release
Friday, August 2, 2002
"Got a Beef with the Atkins Diet?"
Doctors launch campaign, warning of possible health and legal risks with high-protein diets
Washington, D.C.-The nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is launching a provocative new campaign about the potential medical and legal risks of high-protein diets.
A consumer ad, "Got a Beef with the Atkins Diet?," will debut on Yahoo.com on Monday, August 5. An ad targeting primary care physicians-with the headline "Could Prescribing a High-Protein Diet Put You at Legal Risk?"-will debut the following week on The Journal of Family Practice's Web site.
Additional placements will follow. Both ads can be viewed now at the campaign's site,
http://www.AtkinsDietAlert.org.
Central to the new Web site is an online registry with which PCRM will track adverse health effects from high-protein diets. Anyone who has been on a high-protein diet and believes he or she developed health problems because of it-or anyone who has just begun one of these diets-is invited to register.
Studies show that the foods consumed on meat-heavy, high-protein diets are linked to osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer, and renal disease, and have particular complications for people with diabetes.
PCRM is also concerned about legal liability-both from the physician's perspective and that of patients. The site, which features both a consumer and a physician advisory, counsels doctors that liability could be an issue and explains to consumers that they may have legal recourse.
"Given the health problems associated with high-protein diets, doctors who prescribe them may be assuming serious legal liability," says PCRM's president Neal Barnard, M.D.
PCRM hopes its campaign convinces physicians and patients to be wary of high-protein diets. "There's no need to put yourself at risk when there are safer and healthier alternatives, especially low-fat, plant-based diets," says Barnard. "Not only are vegetarians, on average, 10 percent lighter than omnivores, but they enjoy dramatically lower rates of heart disease,
diabetes, and several forms of cancer."
The Web site also resolves common diet myths. For example, people whosubscribe to the myth that Americans have gotten fatter while fat intake has dropped will learn that the fat content of the American diet has actually risen over the years. Although the percentage of fat has gone down, Americans are eating so many more pounds of food that the total amount of fat has increased.
Founded in 1985, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is a nonprofit organization that promotes preventive medicine, particularly good nutrition, and conducts clinical research trials. PCRM also promotes higher standards in research.
Ms. Simon Chaitowitz, Communications Director
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
5100 Wisconsin Ave., N.W., Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20016, U.S.A.
202-686-2210, ext. 309; simonc~pcrm.org
http://www.pcrm.org