STEVE BAYT
(Parma/Brook Park, Ohio)

      So, this article's research and analysis took much longer than
the objective of 48 hours. For now that millions of Americans have
been brainwashed by the Atkins Low Carb Death Sentence, it's only a
matter of a year or so until the annual 992,000 average American
deaths makes AIDS look like a warm-up act to ARDS-Atkins Related Death
Syndrome.

        Heart disease is virtually entirely by eating too much fat
and cholesterol. Other causes comprise a very small percent. So people
can do the math as to how many deaths have been attributed to Atkins
and related diets. As they can do the math for how the death toll will
increase due to Atkins' increased advertising.

        The science is unquestioned. Atkins in 35 years has been
condemned and virtually every health and nutrition entity has warned
the media about accepting advertising even implying a Low Carb or
Atkins life style is not a death sentence.

        In April 2004 the federal bureau in charge of Beer and Wine
licenses made it illegal for beer, wines or any alcoholic beverage to
even imply that being low carb is healthy. The FDA is presently trying
to make mandatory on all Low Carb products, some sort of disclaimer
about Atkins' fatal consequences and the necessity of consuming at
least 100 mgs of complex carbohydrates a day.

       It's rathere symbolic that marketers have recently made up a
term "Carbphoia" as was done with "AIDSphobia". For AIDS And Atkins
pretty much do the same thing both biologically. And Atkins is
presenting the same false immpression that was done with homophobia.

           Atkins and Low Carb has more fatal consequences than
cigarette smoking, according to thousands of health entities not
financially connected to Atkins. The marketing for Atkins is the same
type as with smoking. For nearly a half-century cigarette smoking
portrayed as being cool-Joe Camel and The Marlboro Man started in the
early 1950's.

          In 1965, a year after the surgeon general's first report on
smoking, the first law was passed to have all cigarette ads and
packages have health warnings. Through the years, the warnings and not
allowed advertising methods have increased.  All radio and non-cable
TV stations can't even air commercials for cigarettes according to FCC
regulations.

           Yet, millions of people continue to smoke and die.

           Press Releases and requests to media outlets from
thousands of health entities to not run Atkins or Low Carb Ads have
produced, well,,, a media that will run anything. Just like TV, radio,
magazines and radio stations glorified smoking, they are now
glorifying the low carb lifestyle (or more appropriately called low
carb death style).

            The only thing that can be done in the short term is to
hope that once Atkins sufferers get back to a healthy lifestyle before
there are so many people having heart attacks that America doesn't
have enough doctors and hospitals to deal with them. Of course, 35% of
people who suffer heart attacks, due almost entirely by too much fat
and too few carbs to sustain heart functions, die before even arriving
at the hospital.

            Someone who starts on the Atkins Death Sentence today has
about 2-4 years before being near a heart attack. Hopefully, those 65%
who make it to coronary care units will be told by doctors to stop
with Atkins.

         Unfortunately, lawsuits are unlikely to prevail against
Atkins due to a legal concept called "Assumption of Risk" which has
for decades protected cigarette companies from having to pay anything.
When the FDA eventually decides on a warning for Atkins similar to the
1994 DSHEA with nutritional supplements, I hope it reads something
like."
EVERY HEALTH AUTHORITY CONDOMNS ATKINS. CONTINUED LOW CARB HIGH FAT
AND PROTEIN DIET WILL RESULT IN MANY POTENTIAL FATAL CONSEQUENCES."

           The first warning for cigarettes was fairly lame: "Smoking
may be hazardous to your health."  Hopefully, with Atkins the FDA
won't play around with such lame disclaimers and get straight to the
sort of disclaimer mandated in 1978.

              Similar to how America learned about terrorism by 911,
Americans (if this Atkins brainwashing continues) will have to ask
whether the first amendment worth millions of Americans suffering
heart attacks, kidney disease, stroke, brain damage and then death.
For the first amendment is what protects the media from running Atkins
adverting. 911  taught us to act proactively to potential threats.
Yet, library shelves are filled with potential health threats,
collecting cobwebs, as was Atkins a year ago.

               The media has a choice; each newspaper, TV station
etc. can get millions of dollars in ad revenue or act responsibly.
Tragically, the media's value is to make money instead of helping save
lives.

               If the present advertising trend continues, similar to
cigarette smoking, Atkins ads by late 2005 will be replaced with
Public Service Announcements about how "those tens of millions who
have become coronary ticking time bombs can defuse themselves and get
back to a healthy lifestyle."

                Of course it wasn't until 1990 until the first PSA
for using condoms was run on a non-cable network (Fox) which at the
time was a very struggling network.  By the time Fox ran the first
Condom PSA, 200,000 Americans had already died.

               There was a newspaper chain (with tobacco financial
interests) THE MEMPHIS PUBLISING COMPANY that wouldn't run cigarette
ads with the surgeon general warning in the early 1970's. The
Tennessee and US Attorney General had to virtually take over the
newsroom of many Memphis Publishing Company publications to guarantee
ads ran with the warning. (Leech vs. Memphis Publishing Company)

                Presently, there is a branch of the Federal Trade
Commission called the National Advertising Review Board that reviews
deceptive ads and if the advertiser is "found guilty" the advertiser
is forced to place corrective advertising.

               Based on the pathetic irresponsibility of the media
promoting the Atkins Death Sentence, which could lead to millions of
ARDS. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to fine the media for
running the advertising along with the advertiser.

               The fine to the medium (that is a singular noun form
of media referring to a single member of the media) would be twice the
amount that was billed to the advertiser.

                It is clear that the media that have barely mentioned
Senate Bill 722 and HR. 3377, which would effectively ban supplements
while promoting Atkins Low Carb, does not deserve the First Amendment.
Through American history a FREE PRESS has had generally more tragedy
than benefit-Pentagon Papers etc.

               Similar to cigarette smoking, the Atkins death
sentence takes at least 2 years to prevail. And unlike AIDS there is a
cure. Not one single person who started on the Atkins Low Carb death
style, say about 6 months ago when the advertising rush started has
suffered any permanent health risk and can go back to a low fat, low
cholesterol, high nutrient dense diet without burdening their loved
ones with hospitalization and funerals.

               If anything comes of this Atkins epidemic is that
maybe the first amendment might finally be amended. For its hard to
tell which is worse. That Americans can be brainwashed by advertising.
Or that the media ignores lives for money.

              Atkins isn't a fad, its potential epidemic. You can get
HIV or other STD;s with one time of unprotected sex. Fortunately, one
can't get ARDS with just one month or even a year of Atkins  So, there
is hope…..

Love Means Never Having To Say, You're Sorry….

STEVE BAYT

             

It's unkown when my next Atkins bashing article will be done. Maybe
not until July 11th.