Stephen,

Who on earth are these "self-interested charlatans and nutritionists who would stop me and others from losing weight and enjoying it" you refer to? The British Dietetic Association may not endorse the Atkins diet, but I have yet to see them stuffing bread into people's gullets or burning piles of Atkins books. The bread industry is suffering, the book has shifted (ironically) like hotcakes, a major high street pharmacy is about to stock Atkins lo-carb products on their shelves, and you think people are trying to stop you?

At present there is a lack of scientific evidence to support the Atkins diet in comparison to a nutritionally balanced, low-fat diet with exercise. We also do not know the long term cardiovascular and renal risks of the Atkins diet. You might consider that nannying, but others would consider it information to enable them to make a balanced decision.

You have every right to ignore scientific opinion and do what you wish with your body, but to suggest those who have concerns about Atkins are self-interested charlatans puts you dangerously close to the anti-globalisation mindset. A friend suggested there was a carbohydrate conspiracy to suppress the Atkins diet - completely ignoring the fact that the Atkins diet is a multi-million pound industry in itself.

I have a friend who in 1997 weighed 320 pounds. Dieting and gym memberships had done nothing for him. He went on the Atkins diet and in July of 2002 weighed 183. He went off the diet, walks 4 miles a day, eat a proper diet and remains carb conscious. Had he not gone on the diet he surely would have a heart problem. He is no longer depressed or obsessed with food and great fun to be around. His doctors say he's in excellent health. Should he develop a heart problem in his 80's or 90's and someone try to tie it to Atkins I will properly laugh them off the face of the earth.

Glad to hear about your success on Atkins, Stephen.
I am severely hypoglycemic, which means that I do not tolerate sugar and therefore most carbos, which are metabolized as sugars. After being really really ill receiving bad medical advice, in desperation I turned to Atkins & The Zone, which are too restrictive (I was thin to begin with), but after trial-and-error, I am now in what can be described as a modified Atkins diet, therefore I
1. Do not eat anything that has sugar added. This doesn't mean you are not having sugar, since lots of foods contain sugar, not only fruit (obviously), but milk (lactose is a sugar), etc.
2. Do not eat more than 1/3 cup of starchy foods at one meal. Rye bread, wild rice, whole grain pastas are OK if in that amount.
3. Have at least 20 grams of fiber each day since instead of having my carbos as starches I have them as vegetables, salad, and low-glycemic fruit (such as cantaloupe, strawberries); I have a salad at least 2 x day, and 1 cup of vegs at least as often.
4. Eat as many different varieties of green vegs, salad greens, olives, nuts, fish, poultry and meat as one can possibly get hold of. This is simple enough to do since in my area the supermarket stocks ready-to-eat salad-in-a-bag (even organic), and chopped up vegs (both frozen & fresh).
5. I do have butter and whole milk products (cheese, yogurt), olive oil, and avocado, because otherwise I wouldn't get enough calories to stay at my desired weight, but no hydrogenated fats, margarine, coconut oil, etc.
6. At each meal I do have at least 1 serving of protein (egg for breakfast, meat, chicken, etc at other meals).
As a result, my blood sugars have been stable at normal levels for over 2 years, my weight is exactly right for my height, and my good cholesterol is higher than my bad cholesterol (overall cholesterol of 149). All systems (kidneys, etc) functioning well. I don't have cravings for sweets at all, either.
So the anti-Atkins researchers might not want to hear about people like me.
Wishing you continued success,

I've never had a weight problem, but I find your experiences and observations fascinating, Stephen. You have a book in you. If people can give this treatment to what Prozac has meant to them, you can do the same with Atkins.

I see a best seller.

Hey - I lost a little more than 50 lbs on Atkins so far and I only have about 15 left until I am back at my college weight ! We did it ! Yipee !

There is one side effect of the Atikins diet - you can't stop talking about it. Probably because it's the only diet that works without causing undue suffering.

Me, I believe in the physics diet: consume fewer calories than you burn. If the Atkins plan makes it easier to keep to that regimen through carb restrictions, then hey, that's great! In the US, anyway, the standard serving of fries is a half pound or more and of pop, a quart. In most restaurant and easy-to-prep frozen food, starches are pretty easy to digest and don't tote along much in the way of soluble fiber that helps a feeling of satiety. Neatly excising such bad habits is in my untutored opinion an excellent way of putting the first law of thermodynamics on your side.

I think what people mainly argue against is temporary-'Atkinsing' - in the first couple weeks on this kind of diet one *will* lose water weight as the body's balance adjusts, and it's probably not kind to one's kidneys to be going off and on such a diet. This is true of any diet, though.

In a larger sense, though, however doubtful one might be about the effects of being on a low-carb diet long term, there's absolutely no doubt that being down 50 or a 100 pounds is far more important. OK, one might be hurting one's kidneys a bit. But if that's the price of being much less abusive to one's heart and joints, then it's cheap.

Recent research into Atkins showed that people who were on it ate more calories than those who weren't and *still* lost more weight, doing the exact same amount of exercise (as those who had similar body weights). This researched seemed to take dieticians by surprise, as it went against what they'd been preaching -- a calorie is a calorie. I can't remember the specific study but it's one of the ones towards the bottom of this page.

And the first two weeks of Atkins -- the "induction" period -- is only meant to last two weeks anyway. You're not supposed to stay on that bit indefinitely.

Kudos to you, Stephen. I did Atkins with great success a few years ago, but did not find it a doddle (giving up alcohol was difficult, as was having to plan up to six meals a day) and it wasn't a long term solution for me. I may give it another go, but congratulate you anyway on your achievements with it. Anyone who gives you a hard time about it reveals something very unpleasant about themselves.

Jackie,

I'm not trying to give Stephen a hard time about the diet (I'm glad it is working so well), but if Atkins was a drug with the current amount of evidence for its efficacy and safety (compared to low fat diets with exercise) it wouldn't get licenced.

Stephen Pollard is losing half a stone every month. Assuming he is now a mere 20 stone he will be able to apply for Pop Idol in 10 months and become a ball-kid at Wimbledon in 2005. But will he be able to learn tennis's scoring system, which he says he can't understand? Meanwhile perhaps he will stop sneering at tennis, Wimbledon and Tim Henman OBE.

Dean Esmay's blog has information on how an extreme form of Atkins actually helps many people (including children) avoid/prevent epileptic seizures. There's a lot of fascinating information on there about Atkin's. The thing works.

Who would've thunk it? The sugar in our food was making us all fat!

Oh, and btw among ethnic groups (Japanese, Inuits) whose diet largely consists of fish, arthritis is nearly unheard of. It's extremely rare. The Omega-3 in fish (which is part of the Zone Diet) helps with depression as well. Of course, so does exercise.

Anthony, I don't include you in the "giving Stephen a hard time about his diet" crowd -- unless you had a go at Stephen for using Atkins when we all met up at the pub and I missed it. There's nothing wrong with having reservations about Atkins, but I was speaking about a specific group of people who, when they congratulate someone on losing weight, enquire as to what's brought it all about and then tut, sneer and react in a generally rude manner when they find out it's a lower carb/higher protein method. You're far too nice for that, unless I've got you all wrong and you're really a bit of an unpleasant bastard.

There are quite a few people in my office who've decided to try Atkins. It seems to be working well enough for them, but I have to admit a certain skeptisism about any diet that deliberately excludes entire parts of the food groups. Add to it that none of the people doing the diet (in my office) are exercising in addition to following the diet and it seems to me that it is a recipe for disaster.

That having been said, in some extreme cases I suspect it is more important that the weight is lost rather than *how* it is lost. For those people, *any* diet that can be followed (including Atkins) is probably a better course of action than not losing the weight at all.

The people I suspect are in trouble are those who need to lose fewer than 50 lbs and do the Atkins diet without appropriate strength training to ensure a minimal loss of muscle mass. The loss of weight does not have enough benefit to outweigh the potential health risks of excluding a large portion of a well rounded diet and not exercising while you are dieting.

i have to say i disergree with stephen not only did he dose he not have any proff of the alligation that he has gained IQ points i know a person who got 153 and she's big and also bye statein this you are makein more people and children feel the need to diet
sorry but that the way i feel

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