Dieter Sues Atkins Estate and Company

[PfcHammer]

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/27/national/27atkins.html?ex=1086235200&en=8399bbe637d87537&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1

Dieter Sues Atkins Estate and Company
By MARIAN BURROS

Published: May 27, 2004

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.


bacon & eggs ain't for everyone

[rpannier]

1. Yeah Right...

People need to take more responsibility for their own actions. No one forced him onto the diet. He should have researched the diet more carefully. It's his own damned fault.

[havocmom]

2. While I am concerned about possible increased rapid growth of cancers

in people eating a diet way too heavy with hormone filled meat and dairy products, nobody put a gun to their heads and forced them to adopt a regime that simply is not balanced. Same for people who eat a whole gob of meat then get clogged arteries

Phooey on law suits because of being gullible or shortsighted. You are right, bacon and eggs ain't for everyone.

P.S. Did Atkins take out gall bladders on the side? Business must be good in that field too.

[kevinhnc]

3. Well he should know...

That every study, even those done by skeptical researchers, shows that Atkins actually raises HDL (good cholesterol) and lowers LDL (bad cholesterol), and total either goes down slightly or stays the same. Triglycerides (bad for you) go way, way down. These are studies done independently, not paid for or done by Atkin's people.

Want to know why his cholesterol went sky high? He cheated on the diet! He ate his steak, bacon, and eggs and then proceeded to scarf down some Krispy Kreme donuts when nobody was looking!

I feel sorry for him, but it was indeed his own fault, and independent studies prove that.

[PartyPooper]

4. "...his weight crept up to 148 from 140."

How tall was this guy?

Golly, gee whiz. Was this guy even "fat" to begin with?

:shrug:

[cliss]

5. No matter how successful this "diet" is,

I'll never be tempted to go on it. I eat a vegetarian diet. Have for a long time. The sight of a 1-inch thick slab of red steak will not sway me.

I'll lose weight the old-fashioned way; with a lot of exercise, cutting back on the fats and drinking lots of water.

I think if you're on the Atkins Diet, you're on it for life. And I wouldn't want to die with a piece of bacon in my mouth.

[Emillereid]

6. What fraction of that cholesterol is HDL?

The Atkins diet usually either lowers LDL or leaves it about the same, while it raises HDL. This fellow probably won't get any where because the scientific literature is showing that Atkins actually lowers the so-called cardiovascular risk factors. There are many things besides diet that increases cholesterol including infections and stress. In the article it says his favorite foods were cheese and cheesecake -- Atkins actually restricted cheese quite a bit in the version of the diet this guy says he was following.

I wish I had thought of suing when living on the pyramid and then the Dean Ornish plan raised my cholesterol, lowered my HDL, raised my triglycerides, resulted in terrible weight gain and made me as sick as I've ever been. My cardiovascular risk ratio went into the stratosphere and my doctor offered to put me on medication. Luckily I turned the damn pyramid on its head and began to eat meat, veggies, eggs, nuts, berries, etc. a la Atkins like my paleolithic ancestors and now my risk factors have all plummeted and my risk ratio has dropped way below average.

Different strokes.