LESSONS FROM (HINA 97ers in Australia concludes, "Complications such as heart arrhythmias,
cardiac contractile function impairment, sudden death, osteoporosis,
kidney damage, increased cancer risk, impairment of physical activity
and lipid abnormalities can all be linked to long-term restriction of car-
bohydrates in the diet. "51 One teenage girl recently died suddenly after
being on a high-protein diet. 52 , 53 In short, most people will be unable to
maintain this diet for the rest of their lives, and even if anybody man-
ages to do so, they may be asking for serious health problems down the
road. I have heard one doctor call high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohy-
drate diets "make-yourself-sick" diets, and I think that's an appropri-
ate moniker. You can also lose weight by undergoing chemotherapy or
starting a heroin addiction, but I wouldn't recommend those, either.
One final thought: the diet is not all that Atkins recommends. Indeed,
most diet books are merely one part of huge food and health empires.
In the case of the Atkins diet, Dr. Atkins states that many of his patients
require nutrient supplements, some of which are used to combat "com-
mon dieters' problems."54 In one passage, after making unsubstantiated
claims about the efficacy of antioxidant supplements that contradict
recent studies,55 he writes, "Add to the [antioxidants] the vita-nutri-
ents known to be useful for each of the myriad medical problems my
patients face, and you'll see why many of them take over thirty vitamin
pills a day."5 6 Thirty pills a day?
There are snake oil salesmen, who have no professional research,
professional training or profeSSional publications in the field of nutri-
tion, and there are scientists, who have formal training, have conducted
research and have reported on their findings in professional forums.
Perhaps it is a testament to the power of modern marketing savvy that
an obese man with heart disease and high blood pressure^57 became one
of the richest snake oil salesmen ever to live, selling a diet that promises
to help you lose weight, to keep your heart healthy and to normalize
your blood pressure.
THE TRUTH ABOUT CARBOHYDRATESAn unfortunate outcome of the recent popularity of diet books is that
people are more confused than ever about the health value of carbo-
hydrates. As you will see in this book, there is a mountain of scientific
evidence to show that the healthiest diet you can possibly consume is
a high-carbohydrate diet. It has been shown to reverse heart disease,
reverse diabetes, prevent a plethora of chronic diseases, and yes, it has