Look at this misinformation at this website!

[Democat]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

Great email! I think I'll write one too.

[Lisa M]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

lol..I think in my spare time this evening, that would be after I get home from biology lab, I might feel spunky enough to write off a few e-mails to about the whole lot of 'em and see what happens. I'm feeling PMSy...woo hooo!

[cleochatra]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

Democat and Lisa-- I think that's a positive, especially as we all have different ways of discussing the same thoughts and ideas, and all of them with great respect!

I believe that discounting information where it is warranted not only shows others the other side of the equation, but it is good practice for discussing our woe with others in the world, too.

[womanpraised]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

maybe they could create a white bread , chip and cookie diet for those ppl?

Hey Sadie... I think it is called eating like a "normal American" in accordance to the USDA Food Guide Pyramid

[cleochatra]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

You have to love email! I did get a very polite response from one person.

She wrote:

Dear Jamie
Thank you for your message and your interest in our website. We appreciate your efforts in pointing out your own experiences with the Atkins diet and how it compares to other approaches. Congratulations also on your weight loss and we are glad you have been successful and satisfied with your approach.
Unfortunately, not everyone has had the same experience you have so some of your responses are not necessarily generalizable to other individuals. For example, after some initial lowering associated with the weight loss itself, there is growing evidence of increased elevations in LDL-c levels related to the increased intake of meats and dairy foods long term, especially among men,. so it eventually seems to catch up to them.
We appreciate your interest and if one of our webmasters has further input we will get back to you.
Best wishes on your continued weight loss

My response:

Thanks so much for your response! I truly appreciate it.

I need to reiterate that protein is no more evident in the Atkins diet in the phases after induction than it is in Weight Watchers plan.

My concern is with the fact that the entirety of the Atkins way of eating on the website is judged only through its first 14 days which are the most strict. Afterwards, as you saw in my menu mockup, both WW and Atkins look extremely similar. I'd argue that Atkins, especially in its later phases, is more healthy than is Weight Watchers, and protein, as you saw, is no more prevalent than it is in Weight Watchers; as a result, what could be said for the Atkins dieter could also be said for the Weight Watchers dieter. If Atkins is overly-protein saturated, according to my menu, we would have to say the same for WW.

I don't mean to be a pain in the butt, but it is so easy to discount the Atkins diet as merely being about meat and fat, when the truth is that only the first 14 days are a higher-meat and fat diet.

After the first 2 weeks, this way of eating most closely emulates a Weight-Watchers-style diet and is very balanced.

I hope that perceptions can change through time as we all learn more about the long-term effects of a healthy diet that doesn't necessarily constitute an abundance of meat. I respect your profession and I hope that as time permits you can, sometime, look at how really and truly well-rounded and healthy this way of eating is.

Thanks for your time, and for your positive comments. You are very kind!

[dreamof145]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

Good job, Cleo. Let us know if they reply.

[Sheshy]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

Awesome Cleo. Your original email was great, and the second one really hit the nail on the head!

[cruiser gal]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

Way to go Cleo! Both your emails hit the spot! I think they have already made up their minds about Atkins, and nothing anyone says will make a difference, how unfortunate! Thx for taking the time and trying to educate them!

[Elsie150]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

If you investigate the site further you will find THEIR suggested menus that have a fat percent of approx 26% and the carbs for the day were 55%..protein 19%. I believe they are promoting a low fat diet...and they put down all the others to make theirs look good.

I got to take a survey and here is what I wrote in one part.

I was looking for more useful diet information. It seems to me that you have listed a bunch of common diets under the term FAD. Then you give all the drawbacks but none of the benefits. It makes it look like you are putting down all the others to make your own diet look better. Like your diet, some of those will work for some people and for some it will not. Just like yours. For instance...I have PCOS. It has been recommend to me by my Doctor that I follow a low carb diet due to recent studies. So this site was not helpful to me as I find it bias. This is not what I expected from a University site.
Also I find the race questions extremely offensive!!! So much so that I refuse to answer them.

Not well put together but hopefully they get the point.

FYI...I am a white, blue eyed woman but who cares and WTH should it matter!

[iyamamaschke]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

Oh, man this kind of article burns my But, never once to they mention that you don't stay on that amout of carbs forever. Lord this is the type misinformation is really the heart of Atkins it's all that they show on TV, papers Web sights. I really wish people would do some research. My family is soo misinformed they are like you'll die if you stay on that forever, Lord. I try to explain the WOE but, it's like deaf ears. People wonder why there are those who get sick and bash the WOE, becaue they failed to read the book or decided to do no carbs. WHat's up with that. I ahve so many say Oh, I tried it and got sick. Well then I say did you read the book and follow it the way Atkins is laid out. 99% of the time it's no I got the diet out of a magazine and followed it wrong. never going up rungs never taking viatamin not drinking WATER man this ARTICLE burns me we should all get together an write an informative article on Atkins and how it should be followed and submit it to a high magazine or somehting. I dond't knwo I get soo angy.

Thaks for Sharing that Cleo, it only afferms my suspiciouns that this WOE is so misunderstood and Whacked at it's not even funny. JUST READ the book if you're gunna write an article something this person didn't do.

Sarah

[bizzlekitty]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

For example, after some initial lowering associated with the weight loss itself, there is growing evidence of increased elevations in LDL-c levels related to the increased intake of meats and dairy foods long term, especially among men,. so it eventually seems to catch up to them.

Hmm....if so, why has my LDL dropped pretty significantly since I started Atkins?

Thanks for trying to knock some sense into these people. I read that menu they posted and said to myself, "that's not Atkins!"

[cleochatra]

Re: Look at this misinformation at this website!

Thanks for chiming in to this thread! Reading your thoughts really makes a difference.

I received another email and responded one last time. I can't have a discussion with someone who uses red herrings rather than cogent discussion techniques.

From her:

You might find it interesting to read an article by Dansinger, M, et al, Comparison of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers and Zone Diets for Weight Loss and Heart Disease Risk Reduction: A Randomized Trial. JAMA 2005; 293:43-53. The points you raise are addressed with outcome measures related to weight and risk factors.
It is good to know that data are accumulating to shed further light on this important public health question in a timely way.
Again, best wishes to you and your continued success with your weight control efforts.

From me:

Thanks for the article and for your time.

Herein lie the problems:

This article shows that people who don't stick with any way of eating will show poor results in their health over time. Speaking as soneone who was officially removed from hypertension medications by my doctor months ago, and having a son sugffering from hyperglycemia as diagnosed by a doctor who also benefits from a restricted-carbohydrate way of eating, I can safely say that had I not stuck with this way of eating, I'd be where the patients in the article are today.
"Intervention A total of 160 participants were randomly assigned to either Atkins (carbohydrate restriction, n=40), Zone (macronutrient balance, n=40), Weight Watchers (calorie restriction, n=40), or Ornish (fat restriction, n=40) diet groups. After 2 months of maximum effort, participants selected their own levels of dietary adherence. "


"Conclusions Each popular diet modestly reduced body weight and several cardiac risk factors at 1 year. Overall dietary adherence rates were low, although increased adherence was associated with greater weight loss and cardiac risk factor reductions for each diet group. "

I'm afraid we'll have to continue to agree to disagree about the effectiveness of Atkins, as the article is a bit of a red herring. I appreciate the time you gave to me, nonetheless.