This is my first post, so go easy on me

My friends told me about a low-carb program that was on SKY ONE. I didn't get to see it, but they've told me that somebody is sueing the Atkins organisation because the diet causes osteoporosis, kidney problems and cancer of the colon.

For me personally, the Atkins diet has been great - I've lost weight, gained loads of energy and am more mentally alert. Unfortunately, the above has scared my wife, and I must admit, given me a small niggling fears at the back of my mind.

I don't want to be banned on this site for being a heretic, but I wanted your opinion on the health issues, so that I can point my wife to another thread that shows the research that everything is OK, or if anyone saw this program what they thought.

Thanks

Hi Sapper

Glad that you have enjoyed doing Atkins and feel much better for it, including weight loss. I agree with you. I have been on this way of life for over a year now and will not go back to old habits.

I did not see the programme on Sky One, but it is interesting what you have said. Sounds to me as if the person, and I assume that it is a female, already had the makings of these problems and when they became obvious she blamed her diet.

I doubt that you can make any logical connection between osteoporsis, kidney problems and colon cancer with Atkins.

Osteoporosis is a common problem in women, particularly after the menopause when oestrogen levels are low. To help this it may be helpful to take extra calcium as a supplement. Atkins has limited effect on estrogen and if you are taking a good multivitamin and mineral supplement you should be OK. I do not see diet of any kind being the main problem here.

Kidney problems - I believe, that if you have an underlying kidney problem then the fact that you are drinking a lot of water and thus using your kidneys more can show up problems. Again it is not the diet itself that has caused the problem, just highlighted it. Many people confuse ketosis with ketoacidosis and this can cause kidney problems. The latter is most likely to occur in diabetics (type 1 I think), not by following Atkins.

There is no common cause for colon cancer, not sure how you can relate this to diet. I originally thought that it said bowel cancer and I know people are worried as they fear there is not enough fibre in their diet. I have had not problems and eating vegetables contain a significant amount of fibre. Again, I suspect a susceptable individual.

While I would not want to denegrate people's health fears I think that we sometimes clutch at straws for answers. I have found this lately as I lost most of my energy as my hormones went awry during the menopause, fortunately HRT is improving this situation. I have had one person say to me, you don't think its your diet, do you. No, I don't. If it was, then I would have had these problems a lot earlier than 7 months after I started this WOL.

I would also suggest that you look at the Media Watch part of this forum for more information on research into Atkins which has been getting a lot more good press this year.

Good to see you on the forum.

Hi Sapper, I know just how you feel, I also had famly members who saw Sky TV last week and started to preach about it. I posted a thread where I had a lot of good replies about it to put my mind at ease.
the link is here http://forum.lowcarber.org/showthre...4&goto=newpost.

But today there is another scare about Atkins it is listed in the worst 10 diets ever in the UK. Quite scary I was thinking about changing to the Motagnac Diet where you are restsicted to the amount of fat you can eat, but are allowed fruit and some breads. I am feeling great and losing weight but I am wary to keep going .
UK_Rose