Can I Get ANOTHER Amen To That?

The praise for livin' la vida low-carb continues to pour in from people who have followed this way of eating and continue to do so despite the constant dribble of misinformation that floods much of the media these days about the Atkins diet.

After posting this wonderful letter from a Pennsylvania woman who nailed the naysayers for their baseless criticism of the low-carb lifestyle, I found yet another letter to the editor from a New Jersey man who expressed his opinion about the Atkins diet to The Asbury Park Press newspaper.

Here's what he wrote:

"A recent letter tried to discredit the late Dr. Robert Atkins, claiming that a consumer group released a medical examiner's report showing that Atkins was overweight and had heart disease when he died ('Diet fads unhealthy,' Aug. 8). The implication was that this was caused by his low-carb diet.

The people who released this report were associated with radical vegetarian organizations and animal rights groups. Atkins suffered a brain injury following a slip on an icy sidewalk. He was in a coma for 10 days as his body slowly failed. In that state, it's normal for a patient to gain significant weight in the form of water. Thirty pounds of water retention while dying does not mean a person was fat.

The claim is made that he had heart disease, insinuating that it was the result of fat from a low-carb diet. His heart disease was not coronary, associated with clogged arteries, but rather an inflammation of the heart caused by a virus. Atkins acknowledged he had this. I saw him on his last interview with Larry King, shortly before his death. I saw a fit, vibrant, 72-year-old, not a sick obese old man.

I learned of the Atkins diet in high school, more than 30 years ago. Today, I'm not obese and weigh 40 pounds less than I did in high school. I owe that success to Atkins. It's the only diet I can stay on because I don't constantly feel hungry. For years, many of us knew how well living on a low-carb diet works. But most of the medical community would rather heap scorn instead of consider that it might just have value.

The folks who want to discredit the diet show plates of food overloaded with steak, eggs and bacon. A more typical low-carb meal is grilled salmon, broccoli, tossed salad, and blueberries with whipped cream. And if the mainstream diets are correct, why, as we were told low fat was the answer and everyone consumed more carb-laden foods, has obesity skyrocketed? And we now have children developing Type II diabetes, something unheard of before.

Chet Hayes

And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. Can I get another amen to that?