Dr Robert Atkins dies

[JulieCitySlicker]

NEW YORK (April 17) - Dr. Robert C. Atkins, whose best-selling low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet was dismissed as nutritional folly for years but was recently validated in some research, died Thursday, his spokesman said. He was 72.

Atkins died at New York Weill-Cornell Medical Center, surrounded by his wife and close friends, said Richard Rothstein, his spokesman.

Atkins had suffered a severe head injury April 8 after falling on an icy sidewalk while walking to work.

Atkins first advocated his unorthodox weight-loss plan - which emphasizes meat, eggs and cheese and discourages bread, rice and fruit - in his 1972 book, ''Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution.''

Its publication came at a time when the medical establishment was encouraging a low-fat, high-carbohydrate diet. The following year, the American Medical Association dismissed Atkins' diet as nutritional folly and Congress summoned him to Capitol Hill to defend the plan.

Labeling it ''potentially dangerous,'' the AMA said the diet's scientific underpinning was ''naive'' and ''biochemically incorrect.'' It scolded the book's publishers for promoting ''bizarre concepts of nutrition and dieting.''

Despite this, his books sold 15 million copies, and millions of people tried the diet. Atkins' philosophy enjoyed a resurgence in the 1990s with ''Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution,'' which sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and spent five years on The New York Times best-seller list.

But criticism of the diet lingered, with many arguing that it could affect kidney function, raise cholesterol levels and deprive the dieter of important nutrients.

Atkins said no study showed that people with normal kidney function developed problems because of a high-protein diet, and he never gave in to his detractors.

Defending his plan at the American Dietetic Association's convention in 2000, Atkins quipped, ''I'm very happy to be here. Not as happy as Daniel in the lion's den.''

This year, his approach was vindicated in part by the very medical community that scorned him. In February, some half-dozen studies showed that people on the Atkins diet lost weight without compromising their health. The studies showed that Atkins dieters' cardiovascular risk factors and overall cholesterol profiles changed for the better.

Still, many of the researchers were reluctant to recommend the Atkins diet, saying a large new study now under way could settle lingering questions of its long-term effects.

On the Atkins diet, up to two-thirds of calories may come from fat - more than double the usual recommendation, and violating what medical professionals have long believed about healthy eating. Carbohydrates are the foundation of a good diet, most say. Eating calorie-dense fat is what makes people fat, they say, and eating saturated fat is dangerous.

To Atkins, the key dietary villain in obesity was carbohydrates. He argued they make susceptible people pump out too much insulin, which in turn encourages them to put on fat.

Fat in foods can be a dieter's friend, Atkins said, in part because it quenches appetite and stops carbohydrate craving.

Atkins, a graduate of Cornell University's medical school, first tried a low-carbohydrate diet in 1963 after reading about one in the Journal of the American Medical Association. He said he lost weight so easily that he converted his fledgling Manhattan cardiology practice into an obesity clinic.

Besides his work on nutrition, Atkins also argued that ozone gas can kill cancer cells and HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and he claimed to have treated more than 1,000 patients with ozone therapy.

The ozone treatment is a common alternative therapy in Germany and some other nations but has not gained acceptance in the United States.

In 1999, Atkins established the Robert C. Atkins Foundation to finance diet research. It has sponsored research at Duke University, the University of Connecticut and Harvard.

Last April, Atkins was hospitalized for cardiac arrest, which he said was related to an infection of the heart and was not related to the diet.

Besides his wife, Veronica, Atkins is survived by his mother, Norma, of Palm Beach, Fla.

[JenRN]

Sorry to hear about his death! I don't "believe" in his diet regimine it has proven to help people loose weight BUT the long term effects on people are traumatic. I have seen so many people come into the hospital who have lost a TON of weight but are now in kidney failure due to the high protein content etc! I hope his family finds comfort in the thousands of people who really liked him!

[Bridge of Clay]

that was a pretty stupid death, I must say...

[JulieCitySlicker]

I know Didn't he just bump his head

[marlsy]

That's how my Grandmother died, she fell and hit her head, went to the hospital, they said she was fine, a few days later she fell into a comma from bleeding on the brain, a lot of older people are on a drug called Kumadon sp? it's a blood thinner, well she actually had some bleeding from the fall and the blood thinner caused her to slowly bleed and not stop!!! She had brain surgery and was in a comma for 2 months before she passed.
She was 75.

[JulieCitySlicker]

Quote:

Originally posted by marlsy
That's how my Grandmother died, she fell and hit her head, went to the hospital, they said she was fine, a few days later she fell into a comma from bleeding on the brain, a lot of older people are on a drug called Kumadon sp?  it's  a blood thinner, well she actually had some bleeding from the fall and the blood thinner caused her to slowly bleed and not stop!!!  She had brain surgery and was in a comma for 2 months before she passed.  
She was 75.

Wow Marsly! That must have been horrible I guess it is possible for people to die that way
I've heard of a lot of freak accidents where someone dies

[marlsy]

yeah, it was really bad so very very sad

[TeriB19]

I never really agreed with his diet plan. It's ok if you are going to change your eating habits for the rest of your life (I'm not even touching the high protein troubles Jen mentioned) but if you use his program, lose all the weight you want and then go BACK to eating the way you did before his diet, you will gain it all right back. It's like ANY weight loss program, Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, LA Weight Loss, all of these plans or programs have you eating a certain way. If you go back to your regular habits, you gain it all back (after wasting a ton of money, I know, I speak from experience). I'm sorry he died, but his diet plan was just another in a long line of diet plans that are flash in the pan.

[JulieCitySlicker]

I didn't agree with it either. Like eating all that meaty foods won't hinder your health Most meats are very high in fat so I don't see how doing that diet helps you lose weight Plus the only meats I usually eat is chicken, turkey, fish, and some beef. I hardly ever eat pork. I am a high believer in doing things the hard way, like exercise It tends to keep the results more and not to mention longer:P

[JenRN]

The key my friends is MODERATION!!!! If you want to lose weight Teri is right you need to stick to portion size and not some "crash plans" you need to adapt to a lifestyle of eating habits, not something to loose than gain right back! Battle of the bulge is tough, nothing easy about it