WHOA! Everyone take a deep breath. For a while there, reading this thread I felt like I was in the Low Carb War Zone, not the FORUM.

Here are my two cents (well, okay, $2.22) worth:

• I don't know about in the States, but in many parts of Canada, LCing in any form has yet to gain great respect, which is why I don't discuss my WOE with many people outside of here, so loss of credibility isn't much of an issue for me. I just know I felt that I had a real EUREKA moment when I finally read DANDR, and some of the other research, and just plain looked at the results on here. I didn't bother discussing it with my doctor at all, he would look at me blankly and tell me to eat lettuce.
• I did suddenly "push the envelope" and eat things I hadn't eaten without guilt in years..prime rib, butter, bacon, full fat cheeses etc. and I probably overdid it. In any form, too much of a good thing is NOT a good thing in my opinion. I love chicken and fish, why suddenly was I buying beef like crazy? I am not say give up the beef, but as many said, isn't just eating a good variety of foods the best way anyhow?
• I am with Potatofree on many things, especially, if it gets LCing more respect..then great..let them "approve what we are doing" then eat as we always did...you can fool a lot of the people a lot of the time! I am sorry that, yes, it may suddenly seem like the DOC lost some credibility, but those who believe and know the truth just say the heck with it, this WOE isn't going away.
• Atkins was the pioneer, the rest have picked up on his research. No one WOE works for everyone. I don't know if Atkins is my WOE for forever, I too may find in time, I want to try CAD or CALP or any of the others if I feel as I get to know my body better, there is a better plan for me.
• Folks keep saying in many journal discussions and posts that you have to do what works for you, yet I can see that some people do treat others as traitors in they even mention something other than Atkins. Fanaticism of any kind scares me. I believe the U.S. Constitution and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, do uphold the rights to freedom of speech and opinion...as long as it doesn't hurt others (always have to add the responsibility after the right!)

So..WOE's will come and WOE's will go, but the basic science remains the same. The media will continue to get it wrong...it requires a lot of understanding ( as in my goodness, I felt I needed a degree in Biochemisty to understand some of the arguments in this post)...and I learn every day. BUT...bottom line... IMHO if whatever LC plan you are following works for you, and you are happy, and your body is improving, along with your mood, your blood chemistries etc....just do it, and forget the misreporting, uneducated media who still think after thirty years it is a fad or a craze! There is enough bashing out there, we don't need to start in on each other.

PEACE

Margot