These foods, in addition to compromising your health, also cause weight gain. Dr. Atkins was
correct when he said, “Get rid of them and the addiction that comes with it, ASAP.”
Where Dr. Atkins and I part ways is on the solution. Even though Dr. Atkins arguably died of his
own diet, the low-carb/high-protein diet is still in full swing, and its derivatives crowd diet-book
shelves everywhere.
There are two parts to this diet: the high-protein part and the low-carb part. Both are problematic.
We addressed animal protein above in the previous trap.
Dr. Atkins was simply playing into America’s love affair with high-calorie, low-nutrient, disease-
promoting animal foods when he projected his own love affair with these foods as “the only way to
eat.” A quote from his book reveals his true feelings: “I mean, who would eat a diet comprised
predominantly of plant food?^43 ” Lots of people, as it turns out—healthy, happy ones!
If you want to eat more high-protein foods, solve your weight problem, and retain your health, eat
green protein. Four hundred calories of spinach meets more than 100% of your daily-
recommended allowance of protein. If you meet your protein needs in this nutrient-rich healthy
way, you’ll lose weight quickly, while promoting your health at the same time.
But depriving yourself of carbohydrate is not healthy or sustainable. Ditch the refined carbs, yes.
But not whole, plant-based, nutrient-rich carbs! Your body needs carbs for essential functions—it
just doesn’t need refined ones.
A low-carb lifestyle is dieting. It is deprivation and short-changing your body for a short-term goal.
It’s not sustainable from a health point of view.
Carbohydrates are your body’s natural primary energy source. Low-carb eating is a way to trick your
body into relying on fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. Of course, people think this is the
point—in shortsighted weight-loss-only thinking, you just want to use the fat; side effects be-
damned
But side-effects you will get—this “bypass” of normal energy use thrusts you into a state of ketosis,
your body’s response to a lack of sufficient carbohydrates (i.e., starvation). It is also your body’s
response to physical disease, alleviating the symptoms of hunger. It is not a way to live. It is actually
a bodily response to the advent of death from starvation.
“When people are ill, they need to be recuperating, not gathering
and preparing foods. Loss of appetite facilitates recovery. A
kindness of nature for starving people is to quiet the pain of hunger.
After three days with no food, the body enters a state of ketosis, and
the pain of dying is relieved."- John McDougall, M.D.
(^43) Adkins RC. Dr. Adkins' New Diet Revolution: The Low-Carb Approach that Has Helped Millions Lose Weight
and Keep It Off. New York, NY: Harper; 1992.