New Website warns physicians could be liable for side effects from Atkins diet

A new website ( http://atkinsdietalert.org ) warns doctors that they could be liable for lawsuit for physical damage from the Atkins diet which include:

 

 

  Physicians are informed of the latest research showing the dangers of the popular, well publicized Atkins program.

In part it says:

>>>Despite press accounts of seemingly dramatic weight loss, the effect of high-protein diets on body weight is similar to that of other weight-reduction diets. Two recent studies (one at Duke University and a second at the University of Pennsylvania, whose results are as yet unpublished) suggest that mean weight loss with high-protein diets during the first six months of use is approximately 20 pounds. While this weight-loss is greater than that which occurs from diets not designed for weight loss (e.g., diets based on the Food Guide Pyramid or National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines), it is not demonstrably greater than that which occurs with other weight-loss regimens or with low-fat, vegetarian diets prescribed without energy restrictions. High-protein, very-low-carbohydrate weight-loss diets are designed to induce ketosis, a state that also occurs in uncontrolled diabetes mellitus and starvation. When carbohydrate intake or utilization is insufficient to provide glucose to the cells that rely on it as an energy source, ketone bodies are formed from fatty acids. An increase in circulating ketones can disturb the body's acid-base balance, causing metabolic acidosis. Even mild acidosis can have potentially deleterious consequences over the long run, including hypophosphatemia, resorption of calcium from bone, increased risk of osteoporosis, and an increased propensity to form kidney stones.

 High-protein diets typically skew nutritional intake toward higher-than-recommended amounts of dietary cholesterol, fat, saturated fat, and protein, and very low levels of fiber and some other protective dietary constituents. The Nutrition Committee of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism of the American Heart Association states, High-protein diets are not recommended because they restrict healthful foods that provide essential nutrients and do not provide the variety of foods needed to adequately meet nutritional needs. Individuals who follow these diets are therefore at risk for compromised vitamin and mineral intake, as well as potential cardiac, renal, bone, and liver abnormalities overall.<<<<<

The Atkins diet, heavily sold on TV is condemned by most health organizations including the American Heart Assn.

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