basedonextremesinonefooditem,andextremesalwaysleadtoimbalances.Imbalancesmay
provideseeminglypositiveresultsintheshort-term,butdetrimentalresultsinthelong-term.Mostof
thesefaddietshavecomeandgoneovertheyearsafterbeingtoutedastheultimateway,notneces-
sarilytogoodhealth,buttowhatmostpeoplewantevenmore,goodlooks.Theyarepursuingthe
diettosatisfytheiregos,andnottheirhealthneeds.Manypeopledonotwanttoloseweightbecause
ofthehealthbenefits.Rather,theywanttoloseweightsothattheycanlookgoodtoothers,tobeat-
tractiveanddesirable.Thishasledtountoldsuffering.ArecentcrazewastheFen-Phensystemofdi-
etingusingdrugsthatwerelaterdiscoveredtodamagetheheartandcausedeaths.Thisledtoarecall
of the drugs and the system in the wake of multimillion dollar lawsuits that have gone on for years.
Oneofthemostpopulardietingprogramscurrentlyisthe“AtkinsDiet,”developedbyDr.RobertC.
Atkins M.D.
July, 2002, Duke University Research on the Atkins Diet
DURHAM,N.C.–“Thehigh-protein,low-carbohydratedietpopularized
byDr.RobertAtkinsDietRevolutionhasbeenthesubjectofheateddebate
inmedicalcirclesforthreedecades.Now,preliminaryresearchfindingsat
DukeUniversityMedicalCentershowthatalow-carbohydratedietsuchas
the Atkins Dietcan indeed lead to significant and sustained weight loss.
LiketheFen-Phensystem,theAtkinsDietcanproduceweightloss,butthequestionisatwhatcost.
Theeminentdeveloperoftheprovenandtested“ReversingHeartDiseaseDisease””program,car-
diologistDr.DeanOrnishM.D.,alongwithothersintheorthodoxmedical,wholisticandalternative
healthfields,havebeenvoicingtheirconcernsovertheAtkinssystemforsometime.Dr.Ornishwas
soconcernedthathelabledtheAtkinssystemas“mortgagingone’shealth.”Thismeansthatoneis
puttingone’sfuturehealthatrisk,inexchangefortheshorttermgains(losingweight).Theproblems
isthatahigh-protein,low-carbohydratedietleadstomineralandvitamindeficienciesthatwillcause
orpredisposeonetoallkindsofdiseasesandconditionssuchasHeartDisease,includingcardiomy-
opathy and heart failure, as well as osteoporosis.