Anyone know if this guy has gotten any traction outside the UK since January? He seems a kinder/gentler version of Atkins (not unlike the misguided South Beach). No real evidence at Amazon that anyone has bought his book.

Sat 10 Jan 2004
Scotland's answer to the Atkins diet

TARA WOMERSLEY
HEALTH CORRESPONDENT

A SCOTTISH surgeon is fast becoming Britain’s answer to Dr Atkins, with sales of his book starting to rival those from the American diet guru.

Since Prof Charles Clark’s book was launched a week ago, it has sold more than 26,000 copies.

The book, The New High Protein Healthy Fast Food Diet, launched on 2 January, is already one of Amazon top sellers and at points through the past week has even been outselling Dr Atkins’s New Diet Revolution on amazon.co.uk.

Prof Clark stressed that his book is all about maintaining a healthy diet and that, unlike Atkins, he does not limit vegetable intake, apart from potatoes and parsnips.

His low-carbohydrate - as opposed to no-carbohydrate - philosophy advises people to cut out refined carbohydrates, such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes, cakes and confectionery reducing the amount of insulin produced, with the result that, instead of making fat, the body starts burning it.

Prof Clark is already the biggest selling European diet-book author, The New High Protein Diet having sold more than 250,000 copies since being published 18 months ago.

Prof Clark, 46, who was born in Edinburgh and went to George Heriot’s - he studied medicine at Edinburgh University and became the youngest consultant surgeon in the UK in 1988 - drew on work as a consultant ophthalmic surgeon at London’s Diabetes and Lipid Centre to devise the diet.

He said: "I am always being compared to Atkins, which I suppose is inevitable but the difference is that Atkins is restrictive and needs supplements. The difference between us and Atkins is that Atkins reduces all carbs whereas we only reduce refined carbs."

Prof Clark adds that no supplements are required on his diet, and even herbs and spices have been added for their nutritional value.

In Scotland, Waterstones reports that the book is equalling Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution in sales, while in the UK as a whole, sales are a quarter of that of the more established New Diet Revolution.

At various times in the week Prof Clark’s book was ahead of Atkins, at No4 on amazon. co.uk’s top sellers list, which is updated hourly, although by late afternoon yesterday, it had slipped to No45, with Atkins at No20.

A spokeswoman for Waterstones said: "It appears that although Atkins titles are still very popular his diet has inspired people to look around for less daunting advice.

"The latest Atkins title, Atkins for Life, does not appear to offer much more than his previous books, whereas The High Protein Fast Food Diet does have a new more user-friendly style."

A spokeswoman for Atkins said that the Atkins New Diet Revolution had sold more than two million copies in the UK.

She added: "As obesity reaches epidemic proportions, the Atkins Nutritional Approach provides a safe and effective working solution to combat overweight and promote good health through the principles of controlled carbohydrate intake. The programme’s success is reflected in book sales.

"At all stages of Atkins we encourage consumption of nutrient-dense foods, including plenty of vegetables, with the introduction of fruits and whole grains in the latter phases as one approaches ideal weight."

Amazon said that Prof Clark’s book had done particularly well through word of mouth.

The spokeswoman added: "Due to its position in the top 50 throughout the week the title has been doing really well. I think that people want to look at alternatives to Dr Atkins and want to maybe look at diets along those lines, but not in the Atkins mould."


This article:

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=88&id=30712004

Sounds like the OWL or pre-maintenance phase to me.....

Although an excellent read, as this book has been written with a British audience in mind (i.e., using British ingredients, measurements etc), I do wonder if anyone outside of the UK and Europe would actually buy it.

it still amazes me how many people think atkins =s NO carbs

I don't know why doctors say "no-carbs" . Why don't they read the book??? It's all about restricting carbs, not completely banning them from our diets. O well. I guess they'll never learn.

I agree I followed the link to that article, readit, then sent a letter to the editor about their misinformation from their "Health Correspondant"

I agree. I met a woman, Liz, last night who kept saying that Atkins was "no-carb." I had to correct her 3 or 4 times before she got it. She's going to email me so I can send her some information. Her daughter is trying to get pregnant and has classic symptoms of PCOS. She's going the artificial insemination route, which of course means fertility drugs to get eggs, and not having any luck.

When she asked her doctor about diet, he told her to talk to a nutritionist.

My comment to Liz was that the fertility doctor just wanted their money and didn't really care about her daughter's health. Hopefully, she'll email me and use some of the advice I'm prepared to give: booklist, link to this site, etc. Of course, I'm going to make sure she knows I'm not a doctor and all that.

Although, I do have to say, I'm not planning on recommending Atkins. I'm going to recommend The Schwarzbein Principle and Protein Power, since they are my too personal favorites.

Oh, and Liz is insulin-dependent Type II diabetic and thin as a rail. She does realize that she and her daughter should be limiting carbs so I suggested Dr. Bernstein's book for her, but I couldn't remember the whole title. I'll make sure I give her that one too.

It bugs me that they suggest that Atkins is inferior because you need supplements. It's possible to get all of your vitamins and minerals from your food, it's just impractical. This is true no matter what diet plan you follow - LC, low fat, etc. Most of us get into a pattern of eating the same foods. Few of us want to sit down in front of fitday and calculate a precise menu that covers all the bases, so it's logical to take supplements as backup.

His low-carbohydrate - as opposed to no-carbohydrate - philosophy advises people to cut out refined carbohydrates, such as bread, pasta, rice, potatoes,

Potatoes are now refined carbs ??
danny

I've read two Charles Clark books and though they're loaned out at the moment I'm about 99.5% sure that they DO advocate taking vitamin supplements and I've been doing just that since day one of my diet.

I take a multi-vitamin pill every day because that was recommended; I take a fish-oil capsule for omega oils and I take a garlic one because I it's good for the blood.

The Charles Clark books are good, no, fantastic in fact, but the proposed diet is not as different to Atkins as some people have tried to suggest. There is more leeway given to eating vegetables but the main difference is that Clark's book is easier to follow for UK customers - especially with regards to measurements and ingredients, etc.

This is just a sloppy article from a Scottish newspaper sticking up for a Scottish doctor, though it certainly seems well-intentioned towards a low carb lifestyle.