April 5, 2004
The Atkins Diet Craze
Posted by ryan at 12:00 PM in health . | 10 Comments
America has fallen under the spell of some excellent marketing, disguised as a new breakthrough in healthy living. People who want to lose weight love to hear that they can eat all the red meat and cheese they want as long as they just cut out the carbs. I can't go anywhere without seeing products with the Atkins "A" on them.. products that never even had carbohydrates anyway.
The question is, does it work? Is it safe? The answer is no.
atkinsdietalert.org is brought to you by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine ... Studies show that meat-heavy, high-protein eating patterns are, over the long run, linked to osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer, and renal disease, and pose particular dangers for people with diabetes.
The American Heart Association has written about these risks as well. High-protein diets have no proven effectiveness in long-term weight reduction and pose potential health threats for those who adhere to them for more than a short time, according to an advisory from the American Heart Association.
Not only is the diet unhealthy, but the results are poor as well. According to the Chicago Sun Times: Dietitians who specialize in weight management gave Weight Watchers an average total score of 20.4, of a possible 25. Among the seven programs rated, Atkins finished last, with 7.9 points. The lowest possible score was 5.
Just some things to think about before you decide that not exersizing and eating fatty foods that are high in cholesterol is the way to healthy weight loss.
Comments
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Hah hah that's hilarious, me and John were having this exact discussion with MicroMan last night. (John is hitting up the Atkins). We're all psychically linked! Posted by: polamex at April 5, 2004 1:20 PM |
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John G or your brother? Posted by: ryan at April 5, 2004 1:21 PM |
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from what i understand, the actually atkins diet wasn't about eating all of the meat and cheese you want. it was about cutting down on refined sugars, which is really a good idea. latley, i've cut back on refined sugars (for a health reason other than weight loss) and have noticed a direct link between eating sugar and sugar cravings later. it is like i have a sugar monster living in me and the more i sugar i eat, the biger the monster grows and the more sugar it needs. when i stick to eating whole grains, i don't have that problem. Posted by: brette at April 5, 2004 1:48 PM |
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Well, it sounds to me like you are just eating healthy. What people are doing with Atkins seems more like starving their body of one thing and replacing it with another. They have taken things to the extreme to create a lazy diet plan that carries some serious risks. Posted by: ryan at April 5, 2004 1:56 PM |
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John G. That's a cool handle. You listening John?? Posted by: polamex at April 5, 2004 1:57 PM |
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Johns the one who distrubutes 'meat' to scratch. You know what I mean. :) Posted by: villageidiot at April 5, 2004 1:59 PM |
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Yeah, Polamex was trying to tell me about the great benefits of the "John G Beef Injection Diet Plan" Posted by: ryan at April 5, 2004 2:00 PM |
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what people are doing with atkins is totaly crazy and wastefull. tons of resources goes to growing the grain that fattens cattle and then moving the meet around the country. when people eat animal protein in excesses of what their body can absorb they're wasting even more than they realize. harper's ran a great story called, 'the oil we eat' a few months ago that covered a lot of this. Posted by: brette at April 5, 2004 2:40 PM |
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Well, at least the companies are saving money on grain that used to be fed to the cattle by just feeding cattle to cattle. It's sooo healthy for everyone, has NO problems microbiologically, and most importantly...keeps down the BOTTOM DOLLAR! Posted by: MicroMan at April 5, 2004 5:03 PM |
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especially cow brains. yum. Posted by: brette at April 5, 2004 11:20 PM |