I have a friend on another internet board who says her metabolism was ruined by following Atkins.

Further, as she was recently diagnosed as insulin resistant her doctor told her that it was probably brought on by following Atkins.

Any input??

Excuse me please, but that is one of the most misinformed things I've ever heard!Low carbing is the cure for insulin resistance.

This is a bold assumption on my part, but I'll suggest that your friend has messed up her metabolism by yo-yo dieting.

This is a link to the Atkins Center with 324 articles on insulin resistance. The articles were not written by the Atkins Center but by outside researchers. You may want to pass it on to her.

http://atkinscenter.com/global/sear...ulin+resistance

It's important that people do their own research and educate themselves. Doctors have very little nutritional education and are just as ingnorant as the average Joe or Jill when it comes to what effect diet has upon physiology.

Karen

Karen... thanks for the link. I will pass it along. Drs. floor me sometimes with their wealth of knowledge... or not.

The really funny thing is that in the same breath that her doctor told her Atkins likely caused her IR, she also put her on a lower carb eating plan similar to OWL to control it. Go figure.

I found some other great links to give her on the subject and to be fair, I tried as hard as I could to find a site with a legitimate (even reasonable sounding) theory as to how Atkins could have ruined her metabolism or caused IR. There just isn't one out there.

Interesting huh??

A low-carb diet can cause transient period of increased insulin-resistance. I believe this is due to hormonal shifts and is gone after a couple days on a "normal" diet. Even Dr. Atkins recommends 4 days on at least a 150 carb/day diet before getting a Glucose Tolerance Test to ensure accurate readings. However I've never heard of any permanent increase in IR on a low-carb diet.

cre8tivgrl, I'm certainly not laughing at you - I'm laughing at the suggestion that <b>anything</b> other than <b>sugar</b> could be implicated in insulin resistance. IR is, by definition, your body's cells ignoring insulin because they are constantly being bombarded with it. What causes too much insulin? Certainly not a low-carb diet!

cre8tivgrl, if this doctor actually gave this advice, I'd suggest that your friend switch doctors because this doctor doesn't know basic physiology. These types are just so used to repeating the "company line" that they don't stop to even think about what they are saying.

wcollier... I agree... some doctors are very bad about just repeating what they hear from reports or from their peers. Plus I think there will always be those die-hards who will never change their views.

Unfortunately she will not change doctors. This doc is treating her for other stuff that she already knows in detail. And like I said, she truly believes that Atkins hurt her metabolism since she apparently had some issues after being on Atkins for 6 months. I've met people who low-carb eating just isn't for, but her situation is kind of demanding it now.

I did give her the link to this forum. I let her know that there are a lot more programs than Atkins and she could likely find something that suits her better AND people to discuss it with. Plus the recipes section holds it's own in value to low-carbers. It's awesome and such a lifesaver!! Hopefully it will help her too.

Shelley...

Low carbing does not ruin your metabolism unless you are yo-yo dieting (going on and off low carb, losing and regaining the weight) or trying to follow a very low calorie (VLC) version of it. VLC diets, whether they are low carb or not will wreck your metabolism.
I have diabetes which is insulin resistance gone extreme and low carbing has basically reversed it.
Your friend's doctor may know a lot about her and her other conditions, but they don't know a lot about low carbing and insulin resistance based on what they told your friend (Atkins causing insulin resistance). How interesting that in the next breath they recommended a low carb eating plan. Perhaps they think that Atkins is nothing more than induction levels of carbs for life in which case, they really need to read the whole book. Or perhaps they're basing their opinion on seeing patients who try to follow the Atkins plan without ever reading the book and do it all wrong.
If a doctor told me that low carbing causes insulin resistance (knowing what I know now) I'd be running for the nearest exit and not looking back.

Lisa... It's interesting, Dr. Atkins is the best at handling people who present misinformation about his plan. Quite a few times I've heard him say "You haven't (they haven't) read the book then." It's the smartest way to handle it and quite often how I handle any naysayers now.

In my experience with doctors I have found that there are some truly exceptional people out there. But more often than not my experience has found people with a heightened sense of self love and self appreciation to the point that they believe they are untouchable AND have a tee time. "You don't know more than me... I'm a doctor after all." Unfortunately, some people believe them.

This particular dr. knows that Atkins or low-carb in general is one of the best treatments for IR and diabetes. She just happens to believe that, for whatever reason, that low-carb also puts you in that position to begin with. Misinformed as it is, how do you say "I know you spent eleventythousand dollars on med school but you're wrong here." Okay... I might say that to them but I think most of the population just isn't comfortable with confronting someone who at some point might be their only link between life and death. It's this myth that for what they charge, doctors SHOULD be experts, they SHOULD know all the answers and when they give advice it SHOULD be factually correct.

But alas, the medical community can't give you all the right and real answers because eventually they would be out of their jobs and how would they buy the Lexus that takes them to and from Pebble Beach?

P.S. Sorry for my obsession with Drs. and golf... it stems from writhing in agonizing gall bladder pain while my surgeon finished up his 18 holes. How did I know? My brother was the assistant Pro at the course.

Doctors can't give you all the right and real answers because they don't know all the right and real answers. As much as people would like to believe otherwise, medicine is not an exact science (why do you think they call it practicing medicine? ) As scary as it sounds, often making a diagnosis is a bit of a guessing game based on observation and elimination.
There is no possible way to learn, know and retain every little nuance of every possible disease. This is why doctors often specialize in just once branch of medicine; to try and remember it all is too overwhelming and honestly just not possible.
OTOH, too many people are willing to place complete control in the doctor's hands instead of taking some responsibility for their health themselves. Instead of educating themselves, they just want to be told what to do, be handed a prescription that will [hopefully] make things all better and be sent on their way. In the day when people were less educated and medical information was less accessible than it is now, that system worked fine (well, sort of), but today there's basically no excuse for not educating yourself on whatever disease you are dealing with, especially if it's a chronic one.

Oh, Lisa, I do agree that medicine is an evolving process. The quote you used of mine was more directed at finding a solution to obesity as well as to quite a number of physicians' attitudes as a whole.

On their attitudes... perhaps it would be easier to stomach doctors not knowing everything if they admitted that fact along the way. Yet, instead of saying "look this is a changing field, we are learning new things everyday," they say things like "Atkins caused your IR."

Don't get me wrong, as I said before I've had some really wonderful doctors. But in the long run, I've come across even more that act like you have ruined their day by coming in or worse, that you might be faking what is wrong with you. I've actually had some of these professionals question why I would be researching things on the net. So now I've offended them by getting sick and offended them again by having a pretty good idea what is wrong with me. Maybe it's threatening having information that was once sacred to only them become available to everyone by way of internet. Maybe they get truly frustrated by people self-diagnosing and worrying.

My take is that I know my body better than anyone and in the end it's me who has to live with it, healthy or sick. But I have also had my fair share of docs who have made me want to run screaming for my life so I am quick to find another if need be.

As far as finding a solution to obesity... I think there are a lot of people who stand to lose a lot of money if it were just that easy to say "Hey, you are IR. You can eat lower carb and balance your weight and lead a healthy life." We all know there are professionals out there who understand that a lower carb lifestyle is good for their patients but are threatened by it solving too many problems. What would the pharmacutical industry do if there were suddenly a cure for diabetes? So low-carb <i>is</i> bad... to them.

I gave my friend some great links as well as the link to this site. I hope that she can find strength in that.

Shelley...

I have to agree with you on the attitudes that many doctors have and yes, I've run into the the problem of having a doctor not like that I actually knew something about my disease and was willing to disagree with him openly. Fortunately the doctor that I have now, while a bit quick with the prescription pad, is willing to hear what I have to say and respects that I actually have more than a few grey cells between my ears and that I have become quite knowledgable about my disease. He has become my partner in managing my health.
I also agree with you that it's at least not in the interest of the drug companies for people to start taking charge of their health and fighting obesity by changing their diets. As for doctors...well I'm not so sure about that. We will always need doctors even if obesity is wiped out; there are a host of other diseases and illnesses as well as injuries that they are still needed for to advise and treat. OTOH...the diet industry would take a huge hit.