Quote Originally Posted by RGA
Actually I wrote a university paper on the Atkins approach two years ago in a Health and Wellness class in an attempt to show it would be dangerous - but when I started to dig the anti Atkins group headed by Dr. Dean Ornish didn't have a leg to stand on - I would like you to prove with scientific independant studies that the Atkins diet is a health risk - and guess what there is absolutely no credible evidence in existance anywhere to support that Eggs are bad for you or that meat is bad for you.

There are a bunch of people including doctors who make all sorts of claims that it's bad for you - none of them have any statistical proof - the Framinham study comes closest but those people also ate high carbs - so while they blame the meat - because the study is tainted they have zero way to know whether or not in fact it was the plate of potatos and white bread that actually affected those poeple(and new studies indicate that in fact it was the potatos and bread). Few on CNN or others have actually bothered to read the Atkins books so there are foolish assumptins that he says you can't eat any fruit or any bread and all you can have is Red Meat, Bacon and eggs. In fact if you are a Vegetarian you can be on the Atkins diet - so why then every time one puts on the tube and Atkins name comes up uyou see a big fried steak and eggs is simply to make it look bad. In fact a lot of people who rip Atkins I've asked them to tell me what they typically eat in a day - and then I politely tell them that they are in fact on an Atkins diet without knowing it - because the media would like to help ceral and bread manufacturers - high profit big industry.

Both Harvard and Duke universities have done independant studies - and both yield very positive results - no sir I have done extensive research on it - before going on it myself. I went on it in January 2003 by June I went from 237lbs to 192lbs. My cholesteral level improved as did HDL and LDL. Blood pressure improved needless to say - I went from a size 40 to a 36. My weight has stayed off - going up to a high of 205 (I have a sweet tooth around Christmas). Typical food are a lot of green vegatables - Peppers, eggs, fish, Rasberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, necdarines(sp?) high fiber bread - organic foods. There is in fact little that is any different from a low fat diet - except that low fat items often put huge amounts of SUGAR in everything. Cutting out the sugar and simple carbohydrates - tht is basically the main thing in his diet - and sorry but this is not a wrong approach.

Yancy, W.S., Jr., Olsen, M.K., Guyton, J.R., et al., “A Low-Carbohydrate, Ketogenic Diet Versus a Low-Fat Diet to Treat Obesity and Hyperlipidemia,” Annals of Internal Medicine, 140(10), 2004, pages 769-777.

Willett, W.C., “Reduced-Carbohydrate Diets: No Roll in Weight Management?,” Annals of Internal Medicine, 140(10), 2004, pages 836-837.

Stern, L., Iqbal, N., Seshadri, P., et al., “ The Effects of Low-Carbohydrate Versus Conventional Weight Loss Diets in Severely Obese Adults: One-Year Follow-up of a Randomized Trial,” Annals of Internal Medicine, 140(10), 2004, pages 778-785.

Samaha, F.F., Iqbal, N., Seshadri, P., et al., " A Low-Carbohydrate as Compared with a Low-Fat Diet in Severe Obesity," New England Journal of Medicine, 348(21), 2003, pages 2074-2081.

Weinberg, S.L., "The Diet-Heart Hypothesis: A Critique," Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 43(5), 2004, pages 731-733.

Higginbotham, S., Zhang, Z.F., Lee, I.M., et al., "Dietary Glycemic Load and Risk of Colorectal Cancer in the Women's Health Study," Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 96(3), 2004, pages 229-233.

Aljada, A., Mohanty, P., Dandona, P., "Lipids, Carbohydrates, and Heart Disease," Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, 1(3), 2003, pages 185-188.

Feinman, R.D., Makowske, M., "Metabolic Syndrome and Low-Carbohydrate Ketogenic Diets in the Medical School Biochemistry Curriculum," Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, 1(3), 2003, pages 189-197.

Bailes, J.R.J., Strow, M.T., Werthammer, J., et al., "Effect of Low-Carbohydrate, Unlimited Calorie Diet on the Treatment of Childhood Obesity: A Prospective Controlled Study," Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, 1(3), 2003, pages 221-225.

Vernon, M.C., Mavropoulos, J., Transue, M., et al., "Clinical Experience of a Carbohydrate-Restricted Diet: Effect on Diabetes Mellitus," Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, 1(3), 2003, pages 233-237.

Yancy, W.S., Vernon, M.C., Westman, E.C., "A Pilot Trial of a Low-Carbohydrate, Ketogenic Diet in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes," Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, 1(3), 2003, pages 239-243.

I can list over 100 more if you'd like to read up. The diabetic association told my mother to go on a high carb diet when she was suspected of having type 2 diabetes. This high carb would have made her a diabetic and she would have needed to BUY drugs to inject herself for the rest of her life. Instead she tried Atkins - no diabetes AT ALL now. Went from an 18 to a 10, lost lots of weight blood pressure 120 over 65 - considering she's 67 that was better than me and still is. Sorry, if you do precisely what he says it works = if you go off it you'll get fat...but that only proves his point.

EDUCATION

The statistical funding aside - we would need to see all schools across the country - which schools get the funding. I'm not a U.S. citizen.

Firstly, there is a difference between funding and the results. What is it being taught? I can;'t reclal Bush's slogan but it went somehting along the lines of more accountability of teachers(when a real teacher can actually be hire that is). In other words teachers are graded based off of the results of the students. We can debate this approach - I'm studying to be a teacher - so i have an insider's view of this. It makes for good rhetoric for the masses because it is nicely simplified for people - if you keep things simple and in blacks and whites people follow it better so they can get back to watching Friends' re-runs.

It's tough for me to defend an imperialistic nation whether governed by a democrat or a republican.
...to hear about your father, but medicine DOES increase your chances for a longer life, period. That's one reason cavemen died in their twenties, and we can live to our 80s (whatever). Along with preventative meds, knowedge, and a few othe things, we have extended our days. Again, I'm sorry to hear about your dad... I lost mine in '78, and I hope yours will fare better. I guess he already has! (Just trying to lighten up a bit...:*)

Atkins? You might look good for your own funeral... WAY too much fat and sat fat. The heart failure rate for some of the cold Nordic countries can testify to this... too much animal fat. Well, thats what they have...

And as soon as one goes off the diet... back to normal. Lol... my friend Bill can attest to this. If there was a "given" that said "eat heart-attack foods for 6 months, and you'll be thin forever", I could see it. Eat cholersterol-laden foods for a long period? No way.

At any rate, best of luck in the future for the family.