Peter Aitken wrote:

> Completely false - there is in fact a lot of evidence to back up the Atkins
> diet, both its effectiveness and its safety. Also, if some people
> misinterpret the diet - which is certainly true - that is not a reflection
> on the diet, is it? The two main misrepresentations that I have seen are
> that you can eat as much as you want of any food as long as it is low in
> carbs, and that vegetables are minimized. Both are completely false.
> Unfortunately there are some people who are anti-Atkins for psychological
> reasons. Grow up!


What the study showed was that Atkins was about as effective as any
other diet, that is, not effective in the long run. Almost all study
participants returned to original weight within a year.

Some of the results for blood cholesterol were much better than
expected.


My opinion (and it's strictly that, an opinion) is that any eating plan
that severely resticts a class of food like carbs is doomed. Few people
will be able to adopt it for any substantive length. Note that I don't
need a bunch of testimonials of the, "yer nuts I'm on it 20 years now it
works great" variety.



Brian Rodenborn