Who knew eating a plate of bacon everyday was bad?

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

My thread title pretty much sums up my feelings on this matter.

 

Source...

 

A 53-year-old man sued the estate of Dr. Robert C. Atkins and the company that promotes his diet yesterday. The suit says following the Atkins diet for two years raised the man's cholesterol so much that his arteries became clogged and required a medical procedure to open them.

 

The suit is apparently the first to involve the diet, the most prominent and controversial low-carbohydrate regimen and the one most associated with assertions that followers could eat all the red meat and saturated fat they wanted and still lose weight.

 

The plaintiff, Jody Gorran, who is being assisted by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, an advocacy group that supports a vegan diet, is seeking $28,000 in damages. Mr. Gorran said he was using the suit to tell other people about the dangers of the diet and to have its promoters include warnings in books, other products and Web sites.

 

Mr. Gorran, of Delray Beach, Fla., said that in 2001, when his weight crept up to 148 from 140 he turned to the diet, specifically, the 1999 edition of "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution." After two months he said, his cholesterol shot from 146, well within the normal range, to 230, considered in the hazardous range.

 

In October 2003, after three episodes of chest pain, doctors found that Mr. Gorran had a 99 percent blockage in a major artery and performed angioplasty and inserted a stent to keep it open. Before starting the diet, he said, tests showed that his arteries were clear.

 

In responding to a request for comment, a representative for Atkins Nutritionals and the estate of Dr. Atkins said they stood by "the science that has repeatedly reaffirmed the safety and health benefits of Atkins."

 

Speaking of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Nutrition, the statement says that the organization, "a well-known vegan and animal rights group, has a long history of initiating these kinds of scare tactics that are designed to convince the American public to stop eating animal protein of any sort."

 

Dr. Frank M. Sacks, a professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at the Harvard School of Public Health who is a critic of the diet and who looked at Mr. Gorran's medical records at the request of The New York Times, said he was not surprised by the increase in cholesterol.

 

"It could happen in two weeks," Dr. Sacks said. "There are definitely people that happens to, though it is not a majority."

 

The American Heart Association said it would not comment on the suit, but issued a statement saying, "Eating large amounts of high-fat foods for a sustained period raises the risk of coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke and several types of cancer."

 

Mr. Gorran said in his suit that after his cholesterol had increased he was encouraged to continue the plan by a passage in the book that acknowledged that cholesterol would increase for about one in three dieters. The book says those people should "eat only the lean proteins - turkey roll, skinless chicken breast, fish, farmer cheese, lean cuts of meat and so on - but do not increase your carbohydrate intake more than 5 grams. However, if you are not happy on the low-fat version of the diet or get hungry, or don't feel well on it, then don't bother with it; go back to the regular Atkins diet that you enjoyed more."

 

"I contend there ought to be a warning on this diet," Mr. Gorran said in a telephone interview from Florida, where he filed the suit. "I'm seeking an injunction to prevent them from selling their products, books, or having their Web site without a warning, because they know one-third of the people on the diet will have what Atkins referred to as 'less favorable cholesterol.' "

 

Within two months after going off the Atkins diet, where his favorite foods were cheese every day and cheesecake three times a week, his cholesterol dropped to 146.

 

Mr. Gorran, a wealthy owner of a manufacturer of solar panels for swimming pools, said he enlisted the physicians' organization "because they are familiar with publicity.''

 

"The whole thing is based on getting the word out,'' he said. "Even if the suit never gets anywhere, we'll be out there and people will start to think."

 

A law professor who read the complaint said he did not think that it would get anywhere.

 

"The lawsuit has two serious shortcomings from the legal point of view," said the professor, Benjamin Zipursky, who teaches torts and product liability law, said. "Tort law generally does not permit a cause of action or lawsuit based on bad theories put out in a book, and most courts would recognize a valid First Amendment defense here. I would be surprised if the case were not eventually dismissed before getting to a jury."

 

Professor Zipursky said that the suit was "chock-full of information about criticism of the Atkins diet.''

 

"So it really reads as if it were done by someone who is doing it for reasons of publicity rather than private gain,'' he added. "Not only is each claim for relief less than $15,000, it does not ask for punitive damages, which I think is appropriate and a sign of their seriousness."

 

The suit is not the first against a diet book. In 1989, a suit against the publisher of "The Last Chance Diet," by Robert Linn, a doctor of osteopathy, said someone died following the liquid protein diet in the book. A judge threw out the suit.

[Guest Choken One]

Why can't all these fucking idiots stop trying to find the quickie diet to shed those 150 pounds of excess fat they got from shoving doughnuts down their throat the NATURAL way.

 

Excercise and Healthier eating.

 

Or Liposuction.

 

either one.

 

Atkins is just another diet scam that people have blindly brought into.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Well limiting your carbohydrates is helpful if you have a rather sedentary lifestyle, as I have a friend on Atkins (who SWEARS by it and refuses to believe that anything like the above story can happen) who went from 330 to 228 in about 6 months, and it's mostly been through dieting. I'm sure it doesn't help to eat low-carb, HIGH CHOLESTEROL foods though, such as Cheesecake.

 

Best way to lose weight I find is to limit, but not totally take out the carbs in a diet, and only eat a normal amount of carbs on days when you have to exercise since your body needs them for exercising. And always try to limit fat in diet, but not totally cut it out.

[Mole 0]

Why can't all these fucking idiots stop trying to find the quickie diet to shed those 150 pounds of excess fat they got from shoving doughnuts down their throat the NATURAL way.

 

Excercise and Healthier eating.

 

Or Liposuction.

 

either one.

 

Atkins is just another diet scam that people have blindly brought into.

Amen to that.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I think it's more complex than that. The Atkins diet is either a government scam to make the people lose all their energy to revolt, a racket by the meat industry, (which is preferable to a Vegan racket like the group funding this lawsuit), or else a religious cult.

 

No way will I ever go on this diet. A friend of mine tried it, nearly passed out in a gas station once from the lack of energy, and a couple weeks later, ate two bites of a burger with the bun, and caught a buzz.

[EricMM 0]

When will people understand that carbs are better for you than fat?

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

When the Atkins diet generation has to start buying Lipitor by the bushel.

[The Metal Maniac 0]

I'm still curious as to why anyone is following the diet advice of a fat dead guy.

[Mik 0]

The guy deserved it. He went on it after gaining 8 pounds to raise his weight to a whopping 148.

 

Here's a tip, you don't need a diet when you weigh 148 pounds. Even if you're a midget.

[Nevermortal 0]

I'm on a bastardized version of the atkins diet... I don't watch my carbs religiously but I stay away from Rice, Pasta, Bread, Pizza, Chips, and Soda. I only drink water nowadays.

[Guest Brian]

As with all diets, they're good in moderation. When you say low carbs, it doesn't mean going around eating hamburger patties and bacon. It means you eat lean, high protein foods: egg whites, beans, chicken, fish (especially tuna and mackerel). And generally, there is anthropological evidence about the human diet that points to the fact that carbs were in abundance, meat was hard to catch, so our bodies had to adjust to building fat reserves on what we got. And we do know certain carbs are worse for you that others, mainly sugars , white bread, and pasta; and that veg are generally better. So they're are points to take it, but most diets are like that.

[Kahran Ramsus 0]

It isn't even so much what you eat. As long as you...

 

a) Don't eat too much of it.

b) Work it off.

[Guest BDC]

Running around eating high fat protein is not good. If people actually read the stuf fon the Atkins diet instead of just eating only meat, this kind of garbage might be avoided.

[Guest Brian]

Personally, I don't think the whole fad is going to end up being that great on the kidneys, but as a short-term, transitional diet it works fine.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

When will people understand that carbs are better for you than fat?

Carbohydrates contribute more calories than fat to your diet if you follow the USDA Guidelines.

 

USDA Guidelines (Think that stupid pyramid) for 2200 calories

 

80 grams of fat a day @ 9 calories a gram = 720 calories.

300 grams of carbohydrates a day @ 4 calories a gram = 1200 calories.

70 grams of protein a day @ 4 calories a gram = 280 calories

 

One of the things that holds true is that if people go on a low fat diet than their intake of carbohydrates is higher and vice versa.

 

One of the biggest culprits of Carbohydrates in most people's diets are Soft Drinks (non diet anyway). 1 12 oz can of soda has 40 grams of sugar (carbohydrate).

 

Simple (BAD) carbohydrates are digested quickly. Many simple carbohydrates contain refined sugars and few essential vitamins and minerals. Examples include fruits, fruit juice, milk, yogurt, honey, molasses, maple syrup and sugar.

 

Complex (GOOD) carbohydrates take longer to digest and are usually packed with fiber, vitamins and minerals. Examples are vegetables, breads, cereals, legumes and pasta.

 

Since the majority of the carbohydrates people eat come from the Simple variety, I think that people could cut those out and still eat things with Complex Carbs in them in moderation and they would probably see the same differences as if they went on one of the carb restrictive diets. Thats just my theory on the whole issue.

[Guest croweater]

It's amazing how wrong people are when it comes to food and diets and what they think is good, bad and healthy.

 

Firstly, eat all the god damn cholesterol you want. Cholesterol isn't a bad thing to eat. We make our own cholesterol. Like everything, there are good and bad types of cholesterol.

 

The reason for his high cholesterol is his saturated fat intake. Saturated fat causes less cholesterol to be taken up by cells, leaving it in the circulating blood. That's the reason for his high cholestorol, not the fact that he's intaking it.

 

The problem with soft drink is its extremely high glycemic index. Meaning that most of the energy in them will be converted into fat.

 

Simple (BAD) carbohydrates are digested quickly. Many simple carbohydrates contain refined sugars and few essential vitamins and minerals. Examples include fruits, fruit juice, milk, yogurt, honey, molasses, maple syrup and sugar.

 

Complex (GOOD) carbohydrates take longer to digest and are usually packed with fiber, vitamins and minerals. Examples are vegetables, breads, cereals, legumes and pasta.

 

alot of that is wrong.

milk, yogurt and fruits contain more vitamins and minerals than you can shake a stick at. It's where we get most of those from. Also their carbohydrates aren't digested quickly at all, and the carbohydrate quantity in them are minimal anyway. Fruits are also high in fibre.

 

White breads and cereals are generally starchy and have a GI on the higher end of the scale, meaning that their carbs will be digested more quickly to glucose.

 

So if you want to lose weight:

Eat fruits and vegetables as they contain fibre, minerals vitamins, with little carbs.

Eat wholemeal cereals

Eat lean meats and consume legumes

 

 

If you want to lower your cholesterol and/or prevent heart disease:

eat fish (Omega 3 creates weak thromboxanes preventing plaque buildup)

Use lots of olive or canola oil (polyunsaturated oils DECREASE cholesterol by causing cells to uptake it more readily)

reduce consumption of butter and saturated fats (red meat, chicken, full cream milk)

 

Sorry for the bit of a rant. It started off as a short post but then turned into revision for my biochemistry exam next week

[NoCalMike 0]

The thing is, the only way to stay fit is to eat a somewhat normal diet, and move around aka exercize a bit. It is kind of shady that a lot of these big food corporations that are putting fructose corn syrup in our food to fatten us up also own about 90% of these fake diet scams that they peddle to all of us on TV to take the weight back off...

 

That and it is worth a mention to say that a lot of the same foods that have been around for 50 years are more fattening today because companies have found cheaper ways to process the food which is usually putting cheaper more fatty additives into the food, so they can save a buck or two.

[Guest Quik]

When doctors link fatty foods to a shitload of diseases, it actually comforts me whenever I light up a cigarette. It just reminds me that EVERYTHING is bad for you. Even dancing.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I think the FDA should start handing out tapeworms to help combat obesity.

[Guest Man Of 1,004 Modes]

Maybe I'll sue Burger King for making me falling a sleep during The Simpsons tonight.

[Guest Brian]

The thing is, the only way to stay fit is to eat a somewhat normal diet, and move around aka exercize a bit. It is kind of shady that a lot of these big food corporations that are putting fructose corn syrup in our food to fatten us up also own about 90% of these fake diet scams that they peddle to all of us on TV to take the weight back off...

 

That and it is worth a mention to say that a lot of the same foods that have been around for 50 years are more fattening today because companies have found cheaper ways to process the food which is usually putting cheaper more fatty additives into the food, so they can save a buck or two.

That's why I basically mke all my own shit nowadays, or know my purveyors personally. It's much healthier and the cost is basically the same.

[Krankor 0]

The problem is the dumbasses on the Atkins diet think because the diet says "Eat until you feel full" that it means eat until they are throwing up dinner. Maybe if a diet was created with vile and disgusting foods people would lose weight.

 

mmm....Baked Bull Testicle Casserole

 

2 weeks of this and you'll see the pounds just fly off the fatties

[Guest Brian]

That's actually a problem with American society. Portions as a whole are out of control.