Hi,
I recently lost 12 pounds doing the Atkins diet, I am also seeing & feeling the benefits. I 'd like to lose some more fat though ,I personally think low carbs is the way to go. But my family is starting to nag me it seems every time I turn around my mother in-law is putting down Atkins diet saying that it's so unhealthy, when i defend it she looks for some thing eles , if it' s not one thing it's another. Then she tells me I don't need to lose any more weigh in the first place, I think she's worried I'll become anorexia again. It's really annoying me I'm an adult now I think I should be the judge of my weigh no one eles unless they are a medical doctor of corse. I don't tell her how much she should weigh. Is There anyone here who has had any problem with any of their organs or knows of some one? I need some medical proof that Atkins is safe & healthy to how them , that I ain't killing my self.

Thanks,
Josie

Josie, First I'd like to congratulate you on your 12 lb. loss. Then I'll step out here, and put in my two cents worth. You aren't that tall, 5 foot, and 118 lbs. is not an unreasonable weight for your height. Maybe if you wanted to be smaller, you could incorporate some exercising, possibly some weight training and that would tighten everything up. As far as medical proof, there are soooo many articles on the Atkins diet.There is a link on top, the orange bar...Low Carb Research and Studies.,and it has alot of great info on it. Your family is probably just concerned about your weight because of your prior being an anorexic.Did you get professional help with that? Anorexics have a distorted body image, and think that they are fat when actually they are underweight. if you did not work on improving your body image of yourself, then perhaps you are at a good weight right now, and don't realize it. I would get a doctor's opinion as to how they feel about your current weight for your frame, and whether you should be losing any more. IMHO, If losing fat is your goal... go for weight training and build up your muscles. It'll shrink you, plus make you stronger and more efficient in burning fat.

Hi Josie!

Have a look around the research/media forum here and also on the first page when you sign in; there's lots of information on low carb and health, but there have been no long-term studies to date that show whether low carbing over a long period of time is healthy or not, although there have been a couple of 6 month studies published recently that show low carbing produced improvement in nearly every measurable aspect and a long term study is about to begin. Print whatever you find helpful and hand them to your mother-in-law to read the next time she starts in on you about how unhealthy this is. What she is doing is simply repeating the low fat dogma that she has been fed (and believed) for the past 20 or so years. There are whole cultures that have traditionally thrived on a high fat/protein low carb diet (the Inuits, for example), so I base long term low carb effects on that. Personally, I've been doing this for 18 months with nothing but improvement in my health and there are others here who have been low carbing for a lot longer than that. There's also Dr. Atkins himself who has been following a low carb plan for at least a couple of decades and Dr. Robert Bernstein who has been low carbing for 40+ years to control his diabetes; I'd wager his health is far better than most juvenile diabetics his age (if they even survive to his age). There's also Dr. Schwarzbein, Drs Dan and Mary Eades and Barry Sears...all doctors who agree that cutting carbs is what we need to do, not cutting fat.
As far as your weight goes, your own physician would have to assess that and determine if you really need to lose more weight or if toning up and adding more muscle would do just as good a job. Either way, adding more muscle can only benefit you in the long run. HTH

Hi Josie,

I would start challenging them in return! Because, as Lisa points out there has never been any evidence of damage done to anybody ever by low carbing.

When the naysayers "attack" me, I tell them that many people criticize Atkins et al, but no one has yet come up with any actual scientific evidence of harm.

You could also mention that ketogenic diets have been used in the past (and are now again) to control epilepsy in children. Again, there has never been any evidence that these children were anything but healthy.

HTH!

Rosebud

I'll have to point out the facts. And challenge them as well.
Yes, I exersize for 2 hours a day least when I have time which is usally 5 days a week, I am seeing some muscle definition as well . My main goal now isn't so much the weight but to lose my lower belly. I am shaped like a boy w/ breast, I have no hips & my waist barely goes in.
No I was never treated for anorexia, I think I just got it scared out of me. But I doubt I have an eating disorder I eat to much. But I'm not constantly thinking about food.

Josie

My sisters do the same thing. They critisize me about being a low carber but I've found away to stop them at least for the moment

You see, I'm border line diabetic. When I eat carbs my sugar jumps high. So I was put on a diabetic diet which is high carb and low fat. I was hospitalized and when they did my blood work found my sugar level was around 300! for an average while before I was 140.

I started low carbing about two months after this nightmare and my blood work shows my sugar level is 95 on average and I had a bonus. My bad cholestrol went from 271 to 79! My good cholestrol went from 25 to 45!. I will tell you this. All my blood work was done twice. Twice. Because the doctor couldn't believe my results. Now I don't believe everyone should low carb but if sugar reacts negatively to your body and your cholestrol is very high. I think this is the way to go.

In otherwords, results can be your defense against the negative comments you hear. Best wishes.

That I've seen where Bad cholestrols have gone down & so has sugar levels but some people think Dr. Atkins is a brain washer.

Josie

I agree and support everything that has been said by my colleagues and think you should consider what they've said.

I would ask your mother-in-law to produce some actual studies - not media generated articles - that indicate why low-carbing is not safe. Otherwise, she is paying lip service to the uneducated hordes that perpetuate the old yada yada rumours and myths. There are many studies in the Research/Media section that support its safety.



This cracks me up! The low-fat police have done a much better job of brain-washing. The supporters are out there are banging the low-fat drum while getting fatter and unhealthier by the minute and wondering what's wrong. Now that's a brain-washing job and a half!

LC is not for everyone, but if it creates health and a sane way of learning to eat again, it is for you.

Karen

This is the only reaon I had said something about your being anorexic, because of this in your original post. I wish you luck on your journey~

All low fat stuff. All it ever got me was chubby & headaches & belly aches & who knows what eles. I used to have to exersize for hours a day just to get kno way but I kept it up because people said least I 'll be healthy.
Now the reason that I exersize for 2 hours aday is just out of habit once I go back to work it will probably be an hour a day
.
SuzeC i wasn't affended by what you said. That was many years ago. I am aware that that is something I will have to look out for.

Karen, thanks that is a good idea I don't know why I didn't think of that.

Josie

You might tell your mother-in-law that you are avoiding all the additives in processed lowfat foods that haven't been throroughly tested because you are afraid of long term negative effects to your body. Tell her that you prefer to nourish your body with natural foods such as butter and meat and eggs and lots of fresh vegetables. Tell her you are avoiding the white foods that even the so called experts say to avoid. You could also point out that the so-called experts who sing the praises of the lowfat high carb diets remind you of the same so-called experts that used to tell people to put butter on burns. You are probably too young to remember, but when I was a child, the recommended treatment for burns was butter.
I'm just curious. Is your mother-in-law overweight and has she been attempting lowfat diets? Perhaps she may be a little jealous of your success.
asugar

Asugar,
Hey that's a good one, These are such good statements to point out. I hope I remember them all.
Actually I do remember hearing something about putting butter on a burn , but I don't I've ever tried it, I always used aloe.
And yes she's over weight but isn't doing a thing about it most of the time, and eats mostly carbs. Plus she seems drop dead tired most of the time. I think maybe she is a little frustrated because of the carb addictions. And my father in law does eat alot of low fat but it seems he keeps gaining weight. I don't see why they can't swallow their prides & try doing the low carb way for at least a few weeks.
Oh well, may be oneday I'll be taken seriously.

Josie

Is that eating low fat causes Gall stones. Which would explain what I went through last year & the DR. told me to eat a very low fat diet. Because fat causes gall stones, that's why you see it in over weight women , who are usually in their 40's. Well when they removed my gall bladder they said that I had 10 stones. Which is probably from all the dieting I had been doing. And btw I was only 32 yrs old when I had my gall bladder removed. And this as you can see has been going on for years, beause of the amount of stones that I had. Jeeze, it's easier to find the damages of low fat diet then the damages of low carbs diet. I wonder why.

Josie

Josie, I had my gallbladder taken out when I was only 22 years old, and I had NEVER been on a low fat diet! I was always told it was due to the rich, *high-fat* foods why a person got gallstones. That is what my family ate, meat and potatoes and gravy were almost at every meal, high fat sausages, meats, high fat and high calories! I had been having troubles since I was seventeen, and the dr. blamed it on gas... stupid *%$(%#* doctor, I know what gas feels like!!! The dr. who took out my gallbladder told me that is probably when it started and if I'd have started taking medications then, I would not have had to have it removed. I had two stones, but they was big ones.. about the size of a banty hen's eggs... let's see,for all you ppl who have no idea how big that is, yet alone what a banty hen is... that is about the size of when you make a circle with your thumb and forefinger, about 5" in diameter or thereabouts.. *youch*

Here is from atkins website:

http://atkinscenter.com/Archive/2001/12/18-292461.html

Fallacy: Atkins is high in fat, and we all know that fats cause gallbladder disease.
Fact: There is now overwhelming scientific evidence that gallstones (responsible for more than 90 percent of gallbladder disease are formed when fat intake is low. In a study that examined the effects of a diet that provided 27 grams of fat per day, gallstones developed in 13 percent of the participants9. The reason is that the gallbladder will not contract unless fat is taken in, and if it doesn't contract, a condition called biliary stasis develops and the bile salts crystallize into stones. Our gallbladders need to be kept active to prevent stone formation.

It is not uncommon to find gallstones in people who are obese, although the gallstones may not be causing discomfort. People with existing stones may, however, have trouble with high-fat meals. If you are one of these people you may have to slowly increase the level of fat you eat according to your own tolerance—meaning, how you feel. Remember, gallstones are not formed overnight. So anyone who tells you they started doing Atkins and two weeks later developed gallstones doesn't fully understand the medical situation.