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Dr. Atkins was FAT!
alledan
Member Posts: 19,541
Dr. Robert Atkins, whose popular diet stresses protein-rich meat and cheese over carbohydrates, weighed 258 pounds at his death and had a history of heart disease, a newspaper reported Tuesday.
Atkins died last April at age 72 after being injured in a fall on an icy street.
Before his death, he had suffered a heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a report by the city medical examiner.
At 258 pounds, the 6-foot-tall Atkins would have qualified as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's body-mass index calculator.
Diet is one potential factor in heart disease, but infections also can contribute to it.
Atkins had had a viral infection which had weakened his heart, his widow Veronica said in a statement.
"I have been assured by my husband's physicians that my husband's health problems late in life were completely unrelated to his diet or any diet," she said. "My husband's death resulted from a serious head injury."
Atkins' weight was due to bloating associated with his condition, and he had been much slimmer during most of his life, Stuart Trager, chairman of the Atkins Physicians Council in New York, said.
Atkins' widow blamed "shameless individuals" who violated federal law in obtaining the report. "Obviously such people will have no trouble picking and choosing bits and pieces of fact and supposition to mislead the world."
The medical examiner's report was given to the Journal by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that advocates vegetarianism.
"If Dr. Atkins himself paid a price for following this sort of diet for a long period of time, that is indeed a tragedy," Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the group, told CBS radio station WBZ-AM.
"The only relevance this would have is if he used himself as an example to show what the diet could do over the long run, and encouraged other people to go on the unhealthy diet that made him a lot of money," Barnard said.
The Physicians Committee maintains the Atkins Diet is unwise.
"Over the long run it is not a good approach to weight control. For some people, it seems to contribute to increased risk of heart problems. We have heard of people dying after following this sort of diet," he said.
In April 2002, Atkins issued a statement saying he was recovering from cardiac arrest related to a heart infection he had suffered from "for a few years." He said it was "in no way related to diet."
On Tuesday, the medical examiner's office would say only that Atkins died of a head injury from the fall.
"I can't comment on people's previous conditions. It's against the law," said spokeswoman Ellen Borakove.
Borakove said that, because of family objections to an autopsy, the medical examiner had conducted only "an external exam" and a review of Atkins' hospital records.
She said a report had been sent to a doctor in Nebraska who requested it, and said he apparently gave it to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
It was later discovered that the doctor was not "the treating physician" and should not have had access to the report, Borakove said. The medical examiner's office plans to complain to Nebraska health officials, she said.
Last month, Veronica Atkins demanded an apology from Mayor Michael Bloomberg after Bloomberg called her late husband "fat."
Atkins died last April at age 72 after being injured in a fall on an icy street.
Before his death, he had suffered a heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a report by the city medical examiner.
At 258 pounds, the 6-foot-tall Atkins would have qualified as obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's body-mass index calculator.
Diet is one potential factor in heart disease, but infections also can contribute to it.
Atkins had had a viral infection which had weakened his heart, his widow Veronica said in a statement.
"I have been assured by my husband's physicians that my husband's health problems late in life were completely unrelated to his diet or any diet," she said. "My husband's death resulted from a serious head injury."
Atkins' weight was due to bloating associated with his condition, and he had been much slimmer during most of his life, Stuart Trager, chairman of the Atkins Physicians Council in New York, said.
Atkins' widow blamed "shameless individuals" who violated federal law in obtaining the report. "Obviously such people will have no trouble picking and choosing bits and pieces of fact and supposition to mislead the world."
The medical examiner's report was given to the Journal by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that advocates vegetarianism.
"If Dr. Atkins himself paid a price for following this sort of diet for a long period of time, that is indeed a tragedy," Dr. Neal Barnard, president of the group, told CBS radio station WBZ-AM.
"The only relevance this would have is if he used himself as an example to show what the diet could do over the long run, and encouraged other people to go on the unhealthy diet that made him a lot of money," Barnard said.
The Physicians Committee maintains the Atkins Diet is unwise.
"Over the long run it is not a good approach to weight control. For some people, it seems to contribute to increased risk of heart problems. We have heard of people dying after following this sort of diet," he said.
In April 2002, Atkins issued a statement saying he was recovering from cardiac arrest related to a heart infection he had suffered from "for a few years." He said it was "in no way related to diet."
On Tuesday, the medical examiner's office would say only that Atkins died of a head injury from the fall.
"I can't comment on people's previous conditions. It's against the law," said spokeswoman Ellen Borakove.
Borakove said that, because of family objections to an autopsy, the medical examiner had conducted only "an external exam" and a review of Atkins' hospital records.
She said a report had been sent to a doctor in Nebraska who requested it, and said he apparently gave it to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
It was later discovered that the doctor was not "the treating physician" and should not have had access to the report, Borakove said. The medical examiner's office plans to complain to Nebraska health officials, she said.
Last month, Veronica Atkins demanded an apology from Mayor Michael Bloomberg after Bloomberg called her late husband "fat."
Comments
Isn't there at least three things per year they say are bad for you then within the next two years it's announced to eat more of those items...
I think the good doctor was a money grub and all the PETA researchers are....hell no one knows what PETA people are or where they came from.
Kill It Then Grill It....
NRA Life Member ---"A pocket knife, a clean hankey, and a pistol... things I can use." - Ted Nugent
So who do you want to believe?
When you wrestle a 'gator, there ain't no good end!!
"Molon Labe!" Spartan General-King Leonidas
PETA has an anti-meat agenda.
When Atkins died of head injuries sustained in a fall after being hospitalized for several weeks, he had gained water weight from intravenous feeding and inactivity.
His diet advocates eating meat/protein and shunning various carbohydrate-laden foods like rice and beans and bread; which begins turning your body into a ketosis machine.
Ketosis starts your body burning stored fat instead of storing it around your waist.
What's so difficult about understanding * function?
If you know it all; you must have been listening.<br>WEAR EAR PROTECTION!
It is a dangerous fad, because in the long run it will cause health problems, such as kidney failure. It also will cause gout. There is no fiber in meat cheese and eggs, so here comes colon cancer.
In our country, we have to go to the extremes. Carbohydrates have become a dirty word by the uninformed. Beans, whole wheat, brown rice are nutritious and healthy, as is meat, butter, and eggs, when taken in moderation.
Get your big butt off that Atkins diet, eat moderately from different food groups, and exercise.
His diet works, and was approved by my Internist and Cardiologist. I've lost 32 pounds to date, and my blood work shows my liver and kidneys are fuctioning better than they have in years. My blood sugar is under control even witout medication now, and I feel better than I have in years.
As long as you read the book and do as he recommended by getting blood tests before and during the diet, it is safe. The only people who hurt themselves are the ones who stay on the "induction" phase ( the first two week part of the diet) for an extended time period. If they would have read the book, he tells people not to do that, but most people are too lazy to read and just take the parts of the diet they want to do. That is dumb. Do it, and do it right, and it is safe. As with most things, do it wrong, and it will hurt you.
How you doin'!
How many gallons of ice cream, how many buckets of fried chicken do you have to eat to attain that tonnage?
If you read some of my posts you will see that I am anything but a liberal, where do you get off with that odd remark?
Sharpshooter, I'm glad it's working for you, and let me be the first to congratulate you on your success.
Allen, I'm sorry that what was said pi$$ed you off, but look inside and see a few facts. It is true that most of those who fail at the diet haven't read the book or are not following the diets protocals. Also, if you read the book, you will find that the reason you are cutting out the carbs is so your body will use it's own insulin to pull carbs from stored fat. That is how it changes your metabolism at starts the fat burning process. It is sound medicine according to my doctor.
How you doin'!
I eat up to 50 grams of carbs (yes carbs with fiber). There is a lot more too it than meat, eggs and cheese. I have lost 80 pounds, blood pressure medicene is a thing of the past for me. The crap about liver and kidney damage is bull too. If you do it "by the book" and drink the water and exercise, this is a perfectly safe way to change your eating habits and get healthy. Just had a colonoscopy one week ago today, clean pipes all the way (and I do mean all the way).
Get a little education before stepping up on the soapbox. I guess millions of people are wrong.
Like in the NFL, defense is the key.
I have been studying nutrition for fifteen years.
I eat meat every day, and I love butter and eggs. I have learned, however, that too much protein and fat will cause kidney failure and gout.
If y'all would get more excercise you could eat a sensible diet and be healthy.
When I see Burger King advertising a low carb whopper, which is a whopper in a plastic dish with no bun, I know I am looking at a fad.
Like all fads, this one will fade away some day. I hope you Atkins guys don't wind up sick
http://atkins.com/Archive/2001/12/15-464579.html
I have lost over 50 lbs, I used to eat a roll of tumms / rolaids
a week, I haven't needed them since I started!
Have any of you other dieters tried the carb-smart ice cream?
tasty stuff![:D]
Don
Welcome to America...Now speak English.
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The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.