Have just come across this great article from Dr Malcolm Kendrick on redflagdaily.com. It's great to see such a positive article from a British doctor.

WHY THE ATKINS DIET IS HEALTHY

By RFD Columnist Malcolm Kendrick MbChB, MRCGP

I was idly watching a programme on the Atkins diet last night which, to my surprise, was reasonably balanced. Yes folks, the Atkins diet has crossed the pond to reach the United Kingdom. Although, in reality, all it is doing is returning. After all we invented it nearly one hundred and fifty years ago.

A man called Banting promoted a diet pretty much indistinguishable from that of Atkins in 1863. In fact, the verb to ‘bant’ is used in Sweden as a term for going on a diet

To find out more about the Banting diet (now known as the Atkins diet) go here

Anyway, reasonably balanced or not, on this programme there was still an unquestioned view that, even if the Atkins diet did help with weight loss, it was still damaging to health. It would cause kidney disease, and osteoporosis and heart disease. Various professors of nutrition were wheeled out to condemn the Atkins diet as dangerous nonsense.

Ignoring the kidney disease and the osteoporosis for now, the nutritional professors made the usual statements. For example, ‘It is known that saturated fat increases the level of blood cholesterol and causes CHD.’ They didn’t quote any evidence for this. As far as they were concerned it is just a known fact.

Well, what is the evidence that a diet high in saturated fat raises your cholesterol level? Where does it come from?


Click here to read the full article

Kendrick is great! He's part of The International Network of Cholesterol Skeptics.

Sheldon

great article!!!

Thanks for sharing. Now if only I could memorize this stuff to repeat it when I am asked questions lol

wow fascinating stuff !! I strongly urge you to read it, despite the fact it's quite technical. It makes you understand so much more

Why isn't this known in the mainstream medical science ??

It is known to a certain extent. I believe some of the problem is ignorance within the medical community, there is no nutrition education requirement for medical school, some is simply prejudice and an effort to save face. Nutritional recommendations and research in this country seem to be influened by food manufacturers and the "prevailing wisdom", whether or not it is actually supported by science. Profit margins are much higher on high carb and highly procssed foods, and much less on things like meats, veggies, fruits & whole grains. The food industry is very motivated to keep you addicted to these profitable items. The goverment is also motivated in a diiferent way, it makes a pretty appetizing sound bite, "Don't eat fat and you won't be fat." Plus, how eager is the government and medical community to admit they may be partially responsible for the obesity and diabetes epidemic in this country. My guess is, at this point, it is more important to appear right than actually be right.

That right there is, I think, the heart of the whole issue. That and the fact that it's human nature to be very reluctant to change your mind on what you believe to be true and in fact, have probably believed to be true for the majority of your life, even in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. How many posts have we all seen here titled: "Help! I'm afraid to eat fat!"? While doctors and scientists are supposed to be objective and analytical, they are still human (yes, I know some would disagree with me on that). Face it, most people find change threatening or at the very minimum uncomfortable, especially when it is being forced on them and not their idea. Changing your mind on what you have believed for a very long time to be true is still change.

Great article Demi. Glad he liked the C4 show!!!

For those of you interested in what Malcolm says, I would recommend that you sign up to the free newsletter at:

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