Ok, the set up here is that I write reviews on Amazon for just about all books I read. Well, it seems that this author's publicist sees my reviews. I get an e-mail saying she'll give me a free copy of the book if I promise to write a review on Amazon. I figure, okay, no problem. I like reading diet books and if I get a free one just for writing a review after, cool.

So I say yes and the book arrives and I'm flipping through it yesterday and I am so not impressed. Dr. Dan has his own diet plan and exercises outlined in the book. No problem there. But then he takes a swipe at low-carb!

You know, I have this theory: if you can't tout your diet program without knocking down another to make yourself look better, your diet probably isn't worth my time. I stumbled across this in the chapter on nutrition:

Dr. Atkins was right that excess refined carbohydrates stimulate excess insulin production that can lead to weight gain. However, that is only part of the story. In sulin is also esential for muscle growth and development, and it is activated when you combine exercise with protein and carbohydrate ingestion in the formation of lean muscle mass... (um...protein will stimulate enough insulin for muscle mass; how do you think the cavemen were able to survive with no carbs to help their muscles?).

I get patients and clients on an almost daily basis who have "been on Atkins" for months or years. Frankly, I have yet to see one that was fit and in good condition; they are mostly plump, bloated (um...carbs cause bloating) and out of shape (and this is the fault of the diet...how?). Many have lost weight with Atkins, gained it back, lost it again, and then gained back even more. This is the inevitable consequence of loss of lean muscle mass and lowered metablic rate. If you really enjoy eating very low carbohydrates for prolonged periods, you feel healthy, have energy, reach your ideal body weight and stay there, and are lean and fit (he thinks these are impossible), then I have no objection to Atkins or any of the other carbohydrate-restricted plans. However (you knew that was coming didn't you?), it is ineresting to note that the finest athletes do not eat that way. Enough said.

Oh yeah, the co-author claims that women can "bulk up" if they use high weights at low reps. Um...no...not unless they are taking testosterone or steroids.

I'm knocking off one star from my review just for the section quoted above. It seems it was written at the height of the low-carb craze, but seriously, to ask a low-carber to review a book that bashes low-carb probably wasn't the best idea!

To sum up...don't buy this book! On the bright side, Dr. Dan recommends 40-45% carbs and the lower end of that is what the Zone recommends.

of course... another doctor (and i use that term very generously) who blames the diet instead of the patient. sounds to me like he's trying to straddle the nutritional fence in order to please everyone.

Wow, Atkins bashing is almost a guaranteed thing these days!

I know people who drink water every day and they're fat, ill, and ugly too.

We really oughtta ban water.

wonder what this fool looks like himself? probably stuffing a box of Krispy Cremes down his gulet as we speak!!

Does he mention any empirical research studies that used an experimental design to test his theory? My assumption would be no - this advice is 100% anecdotal and biased. JMO... Jill

yeah didn't you know, dihydrogen monoxide is fatal when inhaled for more than 2 minutes, it's corrosive and is causing massive damage to our environment. it should be all be destroyed!

He doesn't. While there are footnotes to studies elsewhere in the book, this section has none.

Women can bulk up using high weight and low reps, I've trained MANY women of all shapes, sizes and age that have achieved this. Some have gone on to compete at bodyweights of 140 lbs, ripped! Does he define his idea of low carb in this book? I am very pro low-carb, but I'm not necessarily pro Atkins.

He's anti-low-carb in general and anti-Atkins specifically.

I use high weighs and low reps and I am becoming mucular and toned, but I'm not bulky in the least.

bulky is a tricky word and often times means many different things. i tend to use it to define an increase in body mass via primarily muscle.

your avatar picture appears to be proof that whatever you're doing is working.

An increase in muscle mass - h*ll yeah I'm working on that. But truly "bulky" - couldn't do that without the help of steroids.

Well you HAVE to bash the other diets, or else no one will have a reason to buy YOUR diet book

I have a theory too, like you do ... there are already a ZILLION diet books out there. There is no need for any more. So shame on you Dr. Phil, trying to steal away sales from the other diet books that really work!! And Oprah, nobody cares what you ate least week!

Dr. Atkins bashed low-fat diets. By doing this though, he was not taking on another "diet book", he was taking on the entire medical community of his day. Gotta respect that. Sales of a diet book were not his first concern.

Even Dr. Agatston, who sounds like a very nice and well mannered guy in his "Southbeach diet" audiobook manages a few underhanded slams against Dr. Atkins, even while copying almost 100% of his diet directly from from Atkins.

Atkins was using the Glycemic index long before Dr. Agatston arrived on the scene.

In Dr. Atkins biography, the doctors late wife Veronica is quoted as having angrily said "Dr. Agatston didn't credit Bobby anywhere in the book."

This is in spite of Dr. Agastons admission in "the Southbeach Diet" that he had "known and liked" Dr. Atkins.

Obviously, Dr, Agatston could not give credit for his diet to Dr. Atkins, or else it would not sell ... it would not be accepted within the medical community.

I always get a kick out of it when Southbeach dieters get angry and upset when their program is referred to as "low carb". They obviously do not know where the diet came from

I am not against Southbeach though, because it took the Atkins diet, and repackaged it into a form that the medical community could accept, without having to admit that Dr. Atkins was right all along. That is why it is so popular now.

Heres the deal. If you want to lose weight, do Atkins. If you dont have much to lose and want an easier diet that is healthy for the long term, start with Southbeach.

Atkins lifetime maintenance and Southbeach phase 3 are pretty much identical.

No need for any other diet books. New ones shold be banned.

Ummmm....NO..this is not entirely true and I speak from personal experience. I lost all(118 lbs) my weight using SBD...and have modified to suit me. I have not eaten much in the way of grains/flour as they stall me. To me, it is a low carb plan. I'm actually using some things from Atkins, like the carb ladder for OWL (phase II SB)...and I am not so strict with the low fat dairy as I would be if I was a perfect SBDer.

They are very close in maintenance but too bad many who do Atkins never get off Induction and onto OWL so when (and if) they get to maintenance, they don't know how to eat.