I am so angry about this totally irresponsible attitude. How can a Dr stand by and advise his patients to remain fat rather than try this eating plan? Surely that goes against EVERY bit of knowledge they have.

FAT BETTER THAN THIN WITH ATKINS, GPS (on AOL today)

More than one in four GPs would advise a patient to stay obese rather than go on the controversial Atkins diet, a survey has revealed. How stupid is THIS???

Concerns about the long-term effects on health of the trendy low carbohydrate high protein eating plan have caused many doctors to raise doubts about its suitability.

But despite this, 33% of those questioned by medical website onmedica.net said they would recommend Atkins in certain circumstances. A total of 28.9% said they would advise someone to remain obese rather than try the diet, but 10% of GPs admitted to actually trying it out themselves.

Following recent high-profile coverage of the diet - which involves eating protein foods such as meat and cheese but not carbohydrates such as bread and potatoes - 82% of GPs said patients had raised the issue with them.

The doctors polled expressed concerns about the diet including the risk of cardiovascular and renal disease, long-term effect on cholesterol, possible mineral deficiencies, effects on blood fat and long-term effects on liver and kidneys. Again, no basis for this at all.

One doctor said of the diet: "It is totally in opposition to all the healthy eating principles that I promote to my patients - reduce fat, plenty of fruit and veg, emphasis on complex carbohydrates." This is how we got fat isn't it? People that can't see beyond their own brain-washed ideas. Anyway, we do eat veg and fruit. Grrrr.

Another criticised those people always looking for "quick-fix" methods of losing weight. Quick?? Not for me.

"The general public by and large are always looking for an easy way to slim without any pain or effort on their part. They blind themselves to the simple fact that they must scoff less to lose weight," he said.

Another GP voiced concern that the theory behind the diet had not been researched and that the "high protein, high fat intake will cause many problems in the long-term". Yes, like the low fat high carb has helped so many of us hasn't it?

A total of 189 doctors took part in the onmedica.net survey.

Copyright (c) Press Association Ltd 2003, All Rights Reserved.

Is it any wonder that people get scared about Atkins when the Drs say ridiculous things like this to their patients. They seem quite resistant to change don't they?

This is so worrying. The trouble is that people believe their GP's. They see them as some sort of know-everything gods, not ordinary people who have the same prejudices, blind spots, hanging-onto-their-old beliefs-in-spite-of-evidence as the rest of us.
The fact is that GP's are mainly not nutritional experts. They've been taught about low fat diets just like the rest of us.
It is, however, very irresponsible of them, given their standing with the general community, so spout rubbish based on prejudice and hearsay, rather than good scientific research.
My dad had this trouble with his doctor and gave him Protein Power to read. At least he read it and changed his mind!
Knowing the (researched!) problems that obesity causes, to advise folk to stay that way instead of trying low carb diets is negligent.

Perhaps all we can do is to teach people to take 'experts' advice from as many sources as possible and then make their own minds up - after all, we're responsible for our own lives, when all said and done. My doctor doesn't approve of Atkins - fine, she's entitled to her view and I'll continue to ignore it!

Incidentally - good pic Lisa!

What I don't understand (among other things), is people who criticize Atkins for allegedly offering an easy and painless way to lose weight. Why do they think that the only acceptable way to lose weight is through pain and suffering? It is almost as if they view dieting as punishment, a way to atone for our sin of getting fat. What do they think we lose out on if we manage to lose weight fairly easily without a lot of pain?

The beauty of Atkins is that so many of us can follow it easily without a lot of pain or effort. I don't understand how it can be criticized for that. What possible gain would we get from abandoning Atkins for a more difficult diet plan, such walking around hungry all the time because we are counting calories?

I don't know why doctors are considered all knowing. Mine is a right patronising git. I was getting mutiple nose bleeds (several a day) and all he said was change jobs because it was something at work doing it. Change jobs very easy to do especially as it would have ment a 10 grand a year drop in wage.

And Dr Mark Porter in the London Evening Standard last night said he would rather not lose weight then do Atkins and have bad breath! Could be paraphrasing here a bit but even so...!
Louise

People, people! Look at the situation from the doctors' point of view.

What are the benefits for the doctor of recommending what could be a dangerous weight-loss plan? If his/her patients get worse, he/she takes the blame (and there HAVE been weight-loss regimens that have made people worse off -- Fen/Phen anyone? Maybe with a nice liquid protein drink to wash it down). It's much safer to recommend exercising more and eating less, or maybe a nice low-fat restricted calorie diet -- it might not be effective, but people won't blame the doctor when it doesn't work -- obviously, failures of low-fat diets are due to a breakdown of the will of the dieters.

Considering the risks the doctors are taking, the really extraordinary fact in this article is not that 28.9% of doctors would rather their patients stay fat. It's the fact that 1 out of 3 GPs WOULD recommend low-carb dieting to their patients who want to lose weight. This is progress, folks.

Yeah, and folks got Fen/Phen from whom?
Their doctors!
My doctor is recommending it to his patients...one of the reasons he's my doctor. To quote him on my last visit, "All the ladies out front are losing weight on it, and their blood work looks good. Whatever works, I say."

That one always kills me! Like a little halitosis is dangerous to your health? Heck...even a LOT of halitosis does nothing to your health (although it may tend to diminish your circle of friends a little).
So....what this doctor is really saying is that he'd rather die from heart disease, diabetes or stroke than have bad breath? And we PAY folks like him for advice????? How scary is that?