My problem with Atkins detractors

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

Phil - 09 Mar 2004 16:51 GMT

I've been lurking here for a while and it seems that most
folks objections to Atkins are based not on science or
medical fact, but on intuitive beliefs and superstitions
(e.g. fatty food must make you fat, food that tastes good
can't be good for you). I'm not counting dishonest groups
like PCRM, who hide their true motivations.

Reply to this Message

Mike - 09 Mar 2004 17:32 GMT

i haven't seen any of that, sorry.

Signature

LC since Feb '04
205/194 . .goal 175 by May '04

> I've been lurking here for a while and it seems that most
> folks objections to Atkins are based not on science or
> medical fact, but on intuitive beliefs and superstitions
> (e.g. fatty food must make you fat, food that tastes good
> can't be good for you). I'm not counting dishonest groups
> like PCRM, who hide their true motivations.

Reply to this Message

DigitalVinyl - 09 Mar 2004 17:37 GMT

>I've been lurking here for a while and it seems that most
>folks objections to Atkins are based not on science or
>medical fact, but on intuitive beliefs and superstitions
>(e.g. fatty food must make you fat, food that tastes good
>can't be good for you). I'm not counting dishonest groups
>like PCRM, who hide their true motivations.

I had a lot of concern when starting Atkins. And honestly it freaked
me out. I'm a big guy and my father's family all died young with heart
and circulatory diseases and complications. For the last 150 years no
male in my father's line lived past 60. People saying the diet is
dangerous, bad for heart, your going have a heart attack eating like
that got to me. After a week of shoveling snow from a 12" snowfall I
had pains across my chest. Everytime I felt them I was grabbing my
chest and provoking images of Fred Sanford ("Wheezy, I'm coming!")
However, the pain was from the muscles across my upper ribs-strained
from the workout--and not my heart at all. Didn't stop me from
freaking!

So many detractors in the medical profession really concerned me--so I
went about educating myself and when I read articles against Atkins I
found that they were incredibly inaccurate about what Atkins ACTUALLY
says. Doctors and people with all sorts of impressive initials at the
ends of their name would say things that were simply untrue and
indicated that they knew almost nothing about what the Atkins diet
actually says. Their knowledge seemed largely based upon the six
o'clock news tagline "Eat Steak and Eggs and lose weight". It showed
me that the detractors--including medical professionals and
reseachers-- didn't do any of their homework and were simply ignorant
and biased on the topic.
DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)
350/321/Mar-315/200
Atkins since 1/12/2004

Reply to this Message

Chet Hayes - 10 Mar 2004 14:49 GMT

> >I've been lurking here for a while and it seems that most
> >folks objections to Atkins are based not on science or
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
> from the workout--and not my heart at all. Didn't stop me from
> freaking!

I hope you related this experience to your doctor and had at least a
stress test done. Given your family history, this isn't something to
take chances with. And if your seriously overweight and out of shape,
it's a lot better to pay someone a few bucks to shovel snow instead of
killing yourself.

> So many detractors in the medical profession really concerned me--so I
> went about educating myself and when I read articles against Atkins I
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
> 350/321/Mar-315/200
> Atkins since 1/12/2004

Reply to this Message

DigitalVinyl - 10 Mar 2004 15:21 GMT

>> >I've been lurking here for a while and it seems that most
>> >folks objections to Atkins are based not on science or
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>it's a lot better to pay someone a few bucks to shovel snow instead of
>killing yourself.

The pains came from a sore muscle. I could induce the pain simply from
rubbing the muscle on top of my rib cage. Last I heard the heart was
inside the rib cage. It had nothing to do with my heart. When I had
pericarditis I experienced deep chest pain, so I'm familiar with the
difference.

And shoveling snow can be fine unless you are stupid about it--which
many people are. I spent about an hour doing a 10-15 foot section,
taking a minute break after every 2-4 minutes of work. The goal wasn't
to do some "cardio" but to raise my physical activity level. A week of
an hour a day had all the dirveways cleared of snow slush and ice.

>> So many detractors in the medical profession really concerned me--so I
>> went about educating myself and when I read articles against Atkins I
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>> 350/321/Mar-315/200
>> Atkins since 1/12/2004

DiGiTAL_ViNYL (no email)
350/321/Mar-315/200
Atkins since Jan 12, 2004

Reply to this Message

Tara. - 10 Mar 2004 07:45 GMT

Or it's based on hearsay, or believing what someone says just because they
are a doctor or a nutritionist.

--
Tara
www.dazzled.com/lowcarb - my homepage

Reply to this Message