Claire's Atkins nightmare

9 September 2003

link to article

Actress Claire Sweeney blamed the Atkins Diet today for giving her a kidney infection.

The former Brookside actress said she tried the controversial diet two years ago as a "quick-fix" after Celebrity Big Brother turned her into a household name.

But within a month of following the diet, which allows large amounts of protein instead of carbohydrates, she suffered a kidney infection which caused pain and a fever.

She told ITV's Lunchtime News, she said: "At the time I had a very punishing schedule and suddenly being thrust into the spotlight after Big Brother made me aware of my weight and being under scrutiny.

"It seemed like the quick-fix diet. You could go to a restaurant and it would be quite easy to choose what to eat, so I went on the Atkins Diet.

"I didn't notice a great weight loss and within three to four weeks I started getting pains in my lower back and kidneys, then I got a temperature and uncontrollable shaking.

"I never miss a day's work but suddenly I was bed-ridden for two days. I had a kidney infection.

"There wasn't enough known about the side-effects at the time but my instinct told me it was due to the diet and probably a punishing schedule as well."

Sweeney, 31, who now stars in West End musicals, recommended healthy eating and exercise as the best way to stay in shape.

She said: "I have just done a show called Here Comes The Sun. It is set in Spain with sundresses and bikinis and all that, so I wanted to lose weight again.

"I went for eating sensibly and working with a fitness instructor and I lost weight within a month."

This would be why her name is not: Claire Sweeney, M.D.

Gee, my die-hard vegetarian daughter ended up in the hospital for 3 days with a renal-wide infection, from kidneys to urethra. And she's still a vegetarian!

Hello to you all
I have been reading your posts with great interest but after this morning and seeing that you had a post about Sweeney being on ITV I felt I had to write.
Sweeney stated that when she was on Atkins she had no carbohydrates and snacked on meat ham and cheese, and horrors of horrors no alcohol.
Obviously she was not doing Atkins.
If I here this c*** about the so called balanced diet again I shall scream. I was fat on a balanced diet, for 40 years I suffered terrible pain from IBS (all in the mind of course)and cravings worse than when I gave up smoking.
Up to date I haven't had a colic since I've been on the Atkins, everybody tells me I look younger and really well, I have also gone down from a size 20 to a 12 with no hunger.
What made me so MAD was that there was no-one to contradict her. They they were lapping it up. Talk about bad reporting. I have e-mailed the BBC but as I am not an actress I am sure that nothing will be done. I also e-mailed the Atkins web site. Boy was I cross.
However, I have now got it all off my chest and will take the dog out for a walk. That is now a pleasure now I have lost all that weight!!!!!!

I wonder if it ever occurred to her that possibly lack of sleep and more than likely not enough fluids (who has time to pee when you're involved in a punishing schedule?) had anything to do with it.



Oops! Then she wasn't doing Atkins. Now, how is it you can blame something you weren't doing for the results that you got?

I also have to wonder if anyone warned the dozy tart (well sorry, but she is! ) how dangerous it is if you don't change in to something warm, dry and covering the kidneys after running about on stage? I lost count of the number of kids I had to treat for getting a chill on their kidneys (oh it feels like an infection alright, but it's just nature's way of telling you you're not quite as smart as the other girls!) because they didn't listen and prioritised crop tops over health and safety.

Such a shame the media prioritise scare-mongering and financially motivated propoganda over the actual health and welfare of the nation. Then again, I'd long since ceased to believe a word they say without thoroughly researching it for myself anyway!

Atkins isn't high-protein either! It's high fat.
You know, if news services report this badly about something that is SO EASY to research (what can you eat on atkins) how the hell can we trust them to report accurately on ANYTHING that requires a bit of 1) integrity or 2) legwork!

grr!

S

Hmmmmmmmmmmm - Claire Sweeney takes part in a day time chat show and a couple of weeks ago they were talking about the Atkins diet - don't remember her saying anything about this at the time - so wonder why she's suddenly 'remembered' this happening to her.

Obviously just wanted some publicity to promote her new show 'Here Comes the Sun' and decided to jump on the bandwagon

I first tried the Atkins diet in late 2000. By the standards of this article, ITV can blame the 9/11 attacks on my doing Atkins -- "Atkins Diet Kills 3000 in One Day!!!"

"Evidence? We don't need to show you no steenking evidence!"

But did you notice that she said she thought it would be a "quick fix" She went into the whole thing with a mindset.

I was kind of laughing at the fact that she referred to herself as a "household name". I've never heard of her!

Who is this chick anyway? A household name? I think not. Not in my household. Foolish people make foolish claims. She wasn't on Atkins, she was trying to make things up as she went along then blame it on Atkins.

Since I've started Atkins I am much healthier and far more energy than I've ever had. I'm also never hungry and eat more veggies than ever before.

Shame on this chick for telling such lies. Shame, shame, shame.

shortstuff

You guys have no idea what we are going through in Uk at the moment, it is utter madness!! Atkins is getting slated everwhere, you can't tell anyone your on the plan for fear of getting linched. We don't have half as much products in Uk as Us and are trying to change that by bombarding all supermarkets with emails but they send them back saying they are unsure of the effects on health, yet they continue to sell Alcohol and tabbaco!!!
Claire Sweeney is a household name in Uk, she starred in a soap and celebrity big brother and a couple of other things, but has recently started a stage career, this was clearly a plug for her new show.
If you look on the UK sub forum you will see there are a little group of us fighting the good fight

I think she's just jumped on the "Atkins-Bashing" bandwagon as a means to promoting her new show. As well as the article on Claire Sweeney in the Daily Mail on Tuesday, it also mentioned the acress Amanda Redman who lost one-and-a-half stones (21 lbs) in 8 weeks on Atkins when she was 19, She went on to say that she had suffered health problems since (her periods stopped for nearly a year). When she went to the doctors, and told him she had done Atkins, he attributed it to the diet! He obviously based his opinion on good old scientific fact - not!

That said, it might have affected her memory too. She went on the diet when she was 19 and is now 41, so why the sudden need to put all this at the door of the Atkins Diet? I think she muyst be going through a bit of a career slump at the moment too.