I think this is the appropriate forum? PLease move if I am wrong.

a little background...I am a nurse in long term care. My job is restorative care (therapy including re-teaching walking, range of motion and general palliative care) I also sit in on meetings involving weight loss (not a good thing in this population) and wound/skin issues.

yesterday, in the wound meeting we were discussing a pt with a decubitus ulcer (bedsore) on her coccyx (butt) This pt is diabetic and overweight. She also had some lab tests done (albumin and pre-albumin) that says her protien stores are really low. So, she is diabetic, overweight and losing protien (probably because of this big sore on her butt.) The dietician was suggesting upping her protien intake with a diabetic "shake" but as I am reading the ingredients on this shake I see that it has tons of carbs. and is very high calorie and relatively low in protien. so I say "I don't think she needs all these extra calories. What she really needs is just protien. Could we try a "body-builder" protien shake? They have some with relatively no sugar and are very high in protien" This is met with a few questions regarding body building...I then open my big mouth and say "atkins makes a really good shake that is high in protien and low in carbs--it also has no sugar" The dietician went completely nuts on me! Everyone is sitting around the table with jaws on the floor. She is ranting "I will quit before I see this company spend one red cent on that fools diet products" "he is just greedy and out for money" "the only difference between him and scarsdale is no one has killed him yet" I say "I don't think this needs to be a debate about atkins, I was trying to help come up with a way to increase this persons protien intake without increasing sugar" She goes off on another rant about how "if you want to lose wieght you need to take in less calories than you use-and exercise--using fad diets and introducing such stupid diets into this elderly population is just plain irresponsible nursing and you should know better"

I am still just sitting with my jaw on the floor. But then I got MAD. I said "if you want to discuss atkins with me, I would be happy to, if you have read the book. If you haven't read the book, I will lend you my copy and we can discuss what the studies say, but, this isn't the time or the place, can we return to patient care and figure out a solution for our patient?" The director of nursing tries to bring the discussion back on track, but the dietician is furious! We finally get through the meeting and in the hall she approaches me. She is completely misinformed about so many aspects of the diet. I give up arguing with her and try to walk away. SHE FOLLOWS ME! unbelievable. Eventually she "apologizes" (sort of) and tells me she is concerned for my heart and my health.

She is a very educated woman. She kind of scared me a little with her vehemence on the "anti-atkins" wagon. I'm sorry that this turned into a novel, but I wonder if any of you meet with so much resistance towards your woe? and if you do, does it change the way you are thinking about your diet?

scary, and I wonder why I try my best to stay away from the medical community,

my question is why Atkins has not funded a genuine conventional scientific study of this WOE,

personally I am convinced, but the ancidotal(sp?) stories on this forum will never mean anything to the 'scientific' community,

julienne

Jullienne, he has

http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...&highlight=Duke

Check out the Research Forum - its one up from this one. There are many such studies and article sited. There is plenty of evidence that this WOL is healthy. There is none that it is not. You just have to read.

Nat

Here are a few more.

Low-carb diet deemed safe over short term

Three Medical studies lend weight to low-carb-diet claims

MSNBC -- good article on Atkins

Study finds cracks in food pyramid

Hi denali:

If it makes you feel any better, DH (an MD) started on Atkins' after we watched the interview on Larry King.

Generally, I don't say I'm on Atkins'. I just say I don't eat sugar and flour. Same thing, but it makes a psychological difference to so many people. I have run into situations where people have tried to argue that LC is unhealthy. So far, no one's ever won that debate b/c I'm always prepared with my answers. I could be better prepared, but I'm not a great debater in the face of anger. I get very uncomfortable.

My personal feeling (and experience) is that people who are vehemently against LC have no understanding of how insulin works. Did you ask the dietician what was so unhealthy about Atkins? Is sounds like something else was going on. People usually don't react like that. She surely needs to learn a little professionalism. I feel for you.

No, it doesn't change the way I think about my diet b/c I am a LC book junkie. I read everything I can get my hands on and it assures me that I'm doing the right thing. I got very unhealthy following a LF diet for 6 years, so I know in my heart that this is what is right for me.

I did ask her why she had such strong feelings. She said she hated to see people "scammed" into unhealthy eating. I explained to her that I am eating a much more balanced diet and I am loosing weight for the first time in forever!

I also told her I wasn't advocating for atkins diet for our patient--Just suggesting a product that might help her and this started her rampage again!

I really can't explain her behavior. I don't agree with a vegetarian diet. (My own opinion--I just don't see how it can be completly healthy, unless you monitor yourself VERY carefully and take supplements) But, I would never feel like it was ok to body slam a vegetarian about her/his woe. I have run into a few more "anti-atkins" people and I guess I just don't understand why they think it is so ok to bash my woe.

Just a strange little episode!

Oh, and I did watch that Larry King live show and found it VERY interesting! Especially the marathon runner that was interviewed.

Oh, that explains it! I was a vegetarian for 17 years and I never preached to people about eating meat. It's a personal decision to make. There are lots of failure to thrive vegetarians out there and I was one of them. It's unfortunate that you had to be the brunt of her "issues".

Myself, I don't agree with Atkins' products either b/c people should be eating whole, nutritious foods. But that doesn't mean I throw the baby out with the bathwater.

I've learned that nutrition now falls into the area of religion, politics and sex.

Sounds like you're trying to hit her in the pocket-book...

I think the "professional" community is starting to get a bit nervous...you know, the tidal wave is coming, it's inevitable, and these people are GROUNDED into what they've been taught.

I scheduled a meeting with another therapist at work who is big on "obesity" studies...which is what my thesis is about. So I thought it would be good to talk with her...then I find that she has lost the same amount of weight as me on Low Fat, and that she's a 12-step person to boot...as well as some other major life issues that we are completely opposite on...

I'm dreading it! But she's a nice, reasonable woman...so hopefully we can have a calm debate and if nothing else, agree to disagree!

I still dread it...

We couldn't find a solution for this patient with our traditional stuff. I just thought I would suggest something a bit non-traditional. I really wasn't trying to gouge her

The thing with this whole episode is that she had such strong feelings about atkins....and she has never. read. the. book! I hate it when people can give me such brutal (sometimes ugly) opinions when they are mis- or un-informed.

DDMariana... what degree are you working on?

I agree that people have been indoctrinated with the great "low-fat" "low-cal" "low-nutrition" woe! It is hard for me sometimes to realize that it is ok to put that cream in my coffee! I do think the food industry is getting a bit nervous too!

Denali,

Yup, the medical community strikes once again! I asked my GP for some advice a while back regarding metabolic resistance to weight loss, L-Carnitine, Co-enzyme Q10, etc. She had no idea what I was talking about and suggested I try Weight Watchers(which, I already told her that I had, for months, with no success). She, however, admitted that she had NO KNOWLEDGE about this program aside from what your average person would pick up from the media. In her defense, she would not give me an opinion because she had NO KNOWLEDGE. I respect that she admitted that she had NO KNOWLEDGE and was a little frustrated that she couldn't even point me in any type of direction.

I belong to an HMO. To get some of the tests I need I have to jump through "hoops" one of those hoops is having to go to a diatician every 6 months. I just go and think about other things as she rants and raves about how my diet is fake and rediculous... then she tells me how its damaging my liver and kidneys.. I blinked out of my daydream of me winning a gym competition at those words.
I looked at her, "Have you seen any of my test reports? I've had my heart, liver and kidney tested twice, both times I was doing Atkins.. have you see my cholesterol?"
She looked at me furiously and flipped open my chart.
"I don't get that information" I then say, "Can't you see it on your computer" And sure enough up comes my report.
"You are just fortunte that no damage has happened yet"
At this point I was daydreaming again...

Lessara-

That cracked me up! What a riot. You just better watch it, or your kidneys will explode.

Lessara, I feel for you!! You must feel like a kid in the principal's office. That story made me laugh, but it's really not funny when a health professional insists on butting heads instead of working with you.

Why do they get so <b>Angry</b>? This is what blows me away. If you said you were eating Kosher, or vegan, would they flip out? What if you were just eating too much junk food and not eating any vegetables?

Argh. I hope I never get sick.

Denali, what a story. "....and she has never. read. the. book! "

Argh!

OMG, that's hilarious. Maybe we should go around and say we are on junk food diets. No one would bat an eye.

Bottomline, people don't like to change. This way of thinking requires learning, new ways of thinking and new behaviours. That can be threatening to many people.

I did recently ask my doctor that since I've been losing weight could we just say I'm following the "program" that my dietican gave me. My doctor says that he wrote that I'm following the dieticain diet with the modification that I don't eat potatoes, wheat, and processed foods due to allergies" Its kinda the truth so I don't have to see the woman in June.. yeah. But I still get tested every 6 months. Hey I like being proof that LCing works.