razzle
Wed, May-15-02, 13:52
so many people lately have been posting about docs who think that Atkins is horrible, I thought I'd expand a bit on what both Atkins and the Eades discuss in their books--innovation in any deeply institutionalized field is seldom welcomed.
A case in point is that of Ignatz Semmelweis -- his story is summarized here (http://www.doyletics.com/arj/tcatcrvw.htm) . In short, he invented the concept of hand-washing before surgery and was ostracized and insulted for recognizing that filth and infection were related. Today, we think, "well, duh!" at that--but when he first stated this, he was despised for the act.
This is not uncommon--think of Galileo; think of Giordano Bruno, burned at the stake for his ideas (like "There is no absolute up or down, as Aristotle taught; no absolute position in space; but the position of a body is relative to that of other bodies. Everywhere there is incessant relative change in position throughout the universe, and the observer is always at the center of things").
But the tide is turning today regarding nutrition. Even people who merely read newspapers have figured out transfatty acids are worse for you than butter. At the Harvard Med School site, a low glycemic index diet is promoted: here (http://www.health.harvard.edu/article.cfm?id=48) Printing that out and handing it to your doc/RD/whoever you feel the need to justify your WOE to might help turn the tide further. Harvard Med has more than a tiny bit of cachet in that world.
HTH
A case in point is that of Ignatz Semmelweis -- his story is summarized here (http://www.doyletics.com/arj/tcatcrvw.htm) . In short, he invented the concept of hand-washing before surgery and was ostracized and insulted for recognizing that filth and infection were related. Today, we think, "well, duh!" at that--but when he first stated this, he was despised for the act.
This is not uncommon--think of Galileo; think of Giordano Bruno, burned at the stake for his ideas (like "There is no absolute up or down, as Aristotle taught; no absolute position in space; but the position of a body is relative to that of other bodies. Everywhere there is incessant relative change in position throughout the universe, and the observer is always at the center of things").
But the tide is turning today regarding nutrition. Even people who merely read newspapers have figured out transfatty acids are worse for you than butter. At the Harvard Med School site, a low glycemic index diet is promoted: here (http://www.health.harvard.edu/article.cfm?id=48) Printing that out and handing it to your doc/RD/whoever you feel the need to justify your WOE to might help turn the tide further. Harvard Med has more than a tiny bit of cachet in that world.
HTH