Atkin's Diet

[JustAGuy]

That's at least 4 cents! Well done! Thanks.

Heh, yeah. I thought about that comment when I was proof reading my post... What was supposed to be "Atkins is safe, science says so, and more studies are coming out proving it" turned into something a tad longer.

There was a Dateline story on Atkins tonight. Some guy was suing Atkins' estate for damages, although not much. He claims he developed heart disease from doing Atkins. He claims he developed it from doing the program for a period of five years.

Now, Atkins isn't for everyone. My mother can't do it because she is fat-sensitive. This man didn't heed the warnings in the book; Atkins wrote that not everyone can do the diet, and certain modifications need to be made to the program for certain people. The man had a physical done before he started Atkins, and despite his family history of heart disease (!) he was given a clean bill of health and was told he had a 95% chance to NOT develop heart disease. He did Atkins and five years later, got it. I can't remember if he had a heart attack or not, but his major arteries were 90% clogged.

Now, his reasons for claiming that Atkins is bad seem a bit specious to me. He has a family history of heart disease, and he claims he was doing the program religiously, despite his own admission of eating cheesecake twice a week. Just because he has only a 5% chance to develop a heart condition, doesn't mean he won't. After all, his mother and sibling (if I recall correctly) both have heart disease. He's not suing for much (basically, medical costs, $15,000 or so), and he admits he's mainly suing for the publicity: he wants people to be aware that Atkins is "dangerous".

He believes firmly that Atkins was responsible for his heart problems, despite his family history. Seems clear to me that he is misguided. His specious reasoning is the cause, and I believe that if this goes to trial, he'll lose. To paraphrase the Simpsons:

"This rock keeps tigers away."
"How do I know it works?"
"Do you see any tigers around?"
"I'll pay $80 for it!"