Carbophobia: a fulfilling romp into the science of Atkins and other fad diets
Despite not actually sticking around to see Dr. Michael Greger (nutritionist, author, vegan) at this year’s Boston Vegetarian Food Festival, the talk re-piqued my interest in his book Carbophobia: The Scary Truth About America’s Low-carb Craze. I had heard Dr. Greger speak about the book a few years ago at a lecture at the University of Chicago. He is a great speaker, making mundane nutritional statistics sound absolutely fascinating. I wanted to buy the book at the time, but being a poor college student prevented me from having ten bucks on hand. Dr. Greger was so nice though–he told me to take a copy then and send him the money later. I declined to take him up on the offer. Well, you see how long it took me to get around to reading the book, imagine how long it would have taken me to send him the money.
Carbophobia by Michael Greger, MD
Anyway, although the Atkins craze seems to have petered off by now, Carbophobia is an important reflection on the diet, which seriously endangered the lives of its followers. The short of it is that just like other diets that restrict what one eats, the Atkins diet does have people losing weight in the short term. However, a host of physiological harms counter any weight loss when dieters stick to the prescribed menu of meats and cheeses encouraged by Atkins. The diet actively eschews carbohydrates from pastas, fruits, and vegetables. Some of the short-term side effects of a low-carb, high-fat diet include:
- astronomic cholesterol levels (too much saturated fat)
- constipation (not enough fiber)
- ketosis (from the body inefficiently trying process fat instead of carbs)
- bad breath (from the ketosis)
- mental impairment (also from ketosis)
- depression (carbohydrates are the building blocks of serotonin)
- “peeing your bones down the drain” (the processing of excessive animal protein consumption leaches calcium from your bones)
These are results of short-term adherence; the long-term risks are deadly. According to Dr. Atkin’s, in his chapter entitled “Nutritional Supplements: Don’t Even Think of Getting Along Without Them,” these short-term effects should really be non-existent because the program details no less than 65 supplements available to counter these symptoms and others produced by the vitamin/mineral deficiencies one is bound to suffer on his diet. Again, those horrific symptoms appear even after short-term adherence to to Atkins diet.
I encourage everyone to read Dr. Greger’s Carbophobia to read more about the pitfalls of the Atkins diet, but also to learn the medical profession’s response to it, starting from when Dr. Atkins wrote the first version of his diet book in 1972. Unlike Dr. Atkins’ ‘nutritional advice,’ the AMA, NCI, CPSI, etc. have well-cited and well-researched demonstrations to support their opinion. So much so that one would have to concede to calling it fact and Dr. Atkins’ book fiction. When confronted with the fact that his books didn’t have a list of citations to support his theories, Dr. Atkins told an interviewer that “It and the papers I quoted were in a briefcase I lost some time ago.” How could anyone take a man like that seriously, especially when it comes to one’s health? Well, Dr.Greger goes into that and takes a good look at the consequences of other diets too. In short, Carbophobia is a compelling and very fulfilling romp into the science of fad diets.
If interested, but don’t have the time to purchase/read/find the book at a library, a lot of the same information can be found at Dr. Greger’s website AtkinsExoposed.org, including the Atkins Corporation’s response to it all.
November 21, 2008
Posted in: Health, Science & Technology
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