Yesterday on MSN there was a link to an article about "Fad" diets.

http://womencentral.msn.com/fitness...ddiets_0917.asp

It's disturbing to have people claim "expert" status that have not even bothered to check into what they are commenting on.

Did a search and found this email address for Mr Bonnie Taub-Dix and emailed her my 2 cents. It's: eatsmartbd~aol.com. I'm curious to see if I get a reply from the expert......

I would like to know why we cannot force them to correct their false statements? At the very least, the NO-CARBOHYDRATE diet should be corrected. Newspapers are, I believe, forced to retract after a false or misleading statement is made.

If I hadn't gone on this WOL, not only would I have had heart disease, but I'd also have Diabetes!

I have a hard time reading this stuff when I feel I'm helpless to do anything. Are there a few pointers you could give as to what we might do when confronted, whether it be TV, radio, magazine or newspaper, to get them to change their lies?

Thanks so much for providing this information.

Amber

Sorry, but I have no pointers. All I did was go to www.google.com and I typed in that woman's name with " around it - one of the sites that came up had an email for her in it - but not even a direct email, just one for the eatsmart site. I haven't gotten a response to the email I sent this morning, but I did write this and will post here if I get a response:

Dear Ms. Taub-Dix,
Having MSN set as homepage I saw the link to your article “Atkins to ‘Sugar Busters’: The Truth about Fad Diets’” and I read it.
Your introductory remark about the Atkins Diet “The Atkins Diet is a carbohydrate-free, high-protein, high-fat regiment” is absolutely, totally FALSE! Apparently, you have not even bothered to crack the cover on Dr. Atkins’ book - yet you deem yourself “expert” enough to judge and condemn. This is very disturbing - how many other so-called “experts” do I listen to not knowing that whether they base any of their opinions on truth and fact? I’ll be sure to do my own homework from now.
For your info - and in a nutshell, just in case you care to educate yourself and maybe choose to publish facts not fiction from now on - these are the 4 phases of the Atkins Plan - ALL of which contain carbohydrates.
The following links will provide you with some information that might just be value to have BEFORE one forms an opinion…..
http://groups.msn.com/DietingWomen/...20&all_topics=1
http://atkinscenter.com/science/index.html
http://www.lowcarb.ca/atkins-diet-a...tkins-diet.html
Thank you.

I'm not normally quite so direct or rude, but that article MADE ME MAD!!!!!

WOOHOO Thelma, you go girl... Tell them how you really feel . I am soooo proud of you.

<i>As Taub-Dix notes, carbs aren't really the problem; excessive amounts of carbs are. Skip the fad and limit your bread and pasta intake on your own.</i>

What do you think makes so many people have a weight problem in the first place? The fact that they *can't* limit their bread and pasta intake on their own. I love these diet gurus who think there's actually such thing has having a *half* cup of pasta and then not being hungry for four more hours. Need we remind her that the vast majority of low-fat diets FAIL?

Ha! Boy is that statement about Atkins wrong too!

What a fantastic response! Our Chicago Sun Times is doing a continual investigation on diets and exercise because Chicago came out one of the fattest cities. I have often wondered if they might do something positive on LC lifestyle. I have not yet seen anything that actually bashes LC, specifically Atkins, as he is the most controversial, but I haven't seen them give light to the enormous advantages to it and wondered if I might be able to prompt someone to take a chance. I think I will try.

Here's to getting a big boost for the LC life!

Amber

Well, this caught me on a bad day.... and I wrote too. I don't sound very intelligent, but I don't care.

TeriDoodle,
I'm glad you wrote, too. The more emails, the greater our chances that we are heard.

What makes me the maddest it that this way of eating could potentially help so many people with so many different issues - weight-wise and health-wise. But many of them may never consider it because of crap like that of Ms. Dix.

I searched some more and found a "contact us" on the main page this article came from and I emailed them a piece of my mind, too.

'wcmail~microsoft.com'

And I wrote (and I hope I didn't make as many mistakes as in the one to Dix - but at least my facts are straight):

I read the above referenced article 'Atkins to Sugarbusters': The Truth about Fad Diets written by Ms. Bonnie Taub-Dix and find myself deeply disturbed. One only has to read the summary of the Atkins Plan to realize that this in NOT a carbohydrate free regimen, as Ms. Taub-Dix claims.
To verify my claim, you may refer to the following links
http://groups.msn.com/DietingWomen/...20&all_topics=1
http://atkinscenter.com/science/index.html
http://www.lowcarb.ca/atkins-diet-a...tkins-diet.html
I believe any one of these links will show Ms. Taub-Dixes claim as totally false and unfounded.
Does your site provide for some room for retractions and corrections or will this incorrect, unresearched, and false article stand?
Do I have to verify everything that appears on MSN before I can trust the information?????
Just trying to inform myself….

Oh, that's good!! We could send the link to Atkins Center also, just to make them aware. They probably have a whole public relations/media team who handles these things! Maybe they can put some pressure on for a retraction.

Ok here's my letter to them. I posted it to http://www.msn.com/feedback.ashx do you guys think I'll get a reply? I'd also like to know where I can find some of those energy-packed sugars, a snickers bar perhaps?

Dear MSN

Your article on "Fad" diets was chock full of errors, however I will only focus on the most blatant obvious error. In the article posted at http://womencentral.msn.com/fitness...ddiets_0917.asp your "Nutrition Consultant" states that "The Atkins Diet is a carbohydrate-free, high-protein, high-fat regimen". This is an utter and complete falsehood. The Atkins diet is not carbohydrate-free, not even close. Even a cursory glance at the Atkins plan would reveal this. The honorable thing to do would be to print a retraction after verifying for yourselves the fact that Atkins is NOT carbohydrate-free, don't take my word for it, just as I will never take nutrition consultant Bonnie Taub-Dix's word on anything relating to nutrition. I suggest you get a new consultant. Could you also by any chance give me her credentials so I can judge by what criteria MSN hires consultants to write their articles? Looking forward to your reply.

Thank you,

Good one, Mr. Frumble.

I'm curious to see if anybody gets an answer.

Ok, I wrote another one, this time to MSN. Thanks for the links, Mr. Frumble!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I refer to the following article about "fad diets" which contains significant errors: http://womencentral.msn.com/fitness...ddiets_0917.asp

Quote: "....'Lifetime Live' nutrition consultant Bonnie Taub-Dix gives us the lowdown on these trendy — but highly unhealthy — quick fixes and flops."

If all of your consultants are as misinformed as this one, it is apparent that MSN is not a reliable source of important information.

QUOTE: "......The Atkins Diet is a carbohydrate-free, high-protein, high-fat regimen."

This right here proves she's never cracked any of Dr. Atkins' books. Atkins does allow carbohydrates in the form of vegetables.

QUOTE: "Atkins eliminates a ton of calories by cutting out carbs completely...."

No, Atkins does NOT cut out carbs completely. Reducing carbohydrates in the diet is not for the purpose of eliminating calories, it is to control the insulin response which, for many people, is responsible for a number of health problems one of which is excessive storage of body fat.

QUOTE: "The high fat and protein intake taxes the kidneys, promotes osteoporosis and increases your risk of heart disease."

This has never been proven in scientific studies but continues to be spouted by irresponsible "experts" who don't bother to do the research themselves.

QUOTE: "...Plus, you'll feel less energetic and less interested in exercise."

Again, this is blatantly incorrect. After an adjustment period of only a few days, most low-carbers report having more energy than they've ever experienced in their lives and maintain vigorous workout programs.

QUOTE: "...As Taub-Dix notes, carbs aren't really the problem; excessive amounts of carbs are."

This is the only part of this article that is even remotely accurate. Atkins agrees with this, but goes several steps further to help one determine what that critical carbohydrate level is.

QUOTE: "... Still, it cuts out energy-packed sugars and, like Atkins, emphasizes protein and high-fat foods much too heavily."

This almost made me laugh out loud (if it weren't so sad). "Energy-packed sugars"???? What qualified expert on the planet would recommend sugar in ANY diet? This demonstrates beyond any doubt that your "expert" is no such thing.

If you would like to repair your credibility, I would recommend a retraction and correction of these statements.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`

I like that, TerriDoodle. Great letter!!

Well I got a response back, they told me to contact with my concerns.

wcmail~microsoft.com

So I forwarded my email to that address. I'm not going to let this dog lie till they either retract or refuse to. Even though Bill Gates owns stock in the company I consult for. I'm a brave man.