The Atkins Killer Diet

[shannon_a]

According to the ME's report, released today, Robert Atkins was obese at the time of his death. He also had suffered from a heart attack, congestive heart failure, and hyper tension. (Gee, almost sounds like the results of eating a diet heavy in meat and dairy, doesn't it?)

His widow, who probably makes millions off of Atkins branded food every year, was unhappy that the report had been released. The full story is here:
Diet Irrelevent, Cries Atkins Widow

I do wonder how long it's going to be before Americans wake up and smell the carbs. I predict that within 5 years we'll be seeing class-action lawsuits against companies selling Atkins branded food.

Comments

Re:

[catamorphism.livejournal.com]

It's actually unclear from this article, though if you have other sources that make it clear, I'd be happy check them out:

"Stuart Trager, chairman of the Atkins Physicians Council in New York, told the Journal that Atkins' heart disease stemmed from cardiomyopathy, a condition thought to result from a viral infection."

This is what Atkins' PR goons are saying. Nowhere in the article does it quote the medical examiners' report directly. Unless I saw the report itself in full, I wouldn't necessarily trust either the PR people or the PCRM (though in the latter case, they're a reputable organization and I'd trust them not to deliberately spread lies).

[dougo.livejournal.com]

Well, no, I don't have unimpeachable sources. There's a CNN article that quotes Dr. Clyde Yancy, an apparently impartial expert, as saying: "Despite the obvious irony, I believe there is a total disconnect between the cardiac arrest and the health approach he (Atkins) popularizes." Maybe some investigative journalist should look into whether there was a false diagnosis report or some other cover-up, I dunno.