PSA- please read

[ebonlock]

I just found out from my sis what happened to our cousin. It wasn't a heart attack as we'd first thought, rather a condition I'd never even heard of before called ketoacidosis. What it basically means is that she poisoned herself to death by taking in way too much protein. For a detailed description of the condition check out:

Ketoacidosis ...
The Menace Of The High Protein Low Carbohydrate Diet

Please, anyone even considering doing the Atkins diet, read this information and take it to heart. There is no diet in the world worth losing your life over.

Comments

[tyee.livejournal.com]

Yes. The problem is that most people who write articles on the Atkins diet wouldn't know the citric acid cycle if it walked up and bit them on the ass. Most people writing about diets in general only extrapolate from individual experience. I'm on the Atkins diet, and I'm still ok so it must be safe for everyone under all circumstances! Go logic! The Atkins diet is helpful to some people, but if you are on it you need to have your blood sugar checked first and then make sure to drink a lot of water and watch for signs of ketone buildup. Sadly all of the publicity about how the risks are all lies keeps people from actually learning information they need to know. And your cousin is an example of the tragic consequences. I'm terribly sorry for that.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

I did Atkins for a while, and I am pretty sure that the Atkins book discusses ketoacidosis and the need to drink lots of water. At least, this was not unfamiliar to me.

[tyee.livejournal.com]

The Atkins book probably does; I don't know because I haven't read it. The problem is, neither have most of the people who try the "Atkins" diet. And most of the publicity in the form of articles etc. either ignore that there are some important health factors to consider, or else erroneously state that concerns about the health risks are false attempts to discredit the diet or whatever.

[ebonlock.livejournal.com]

The Atkins book probably does; I don't know because I haven't read it. The problem is, neither have most of the people who try the "Atkins" diet. And most of the publicity in the form of articles etc. either ignore that there are some important health factors to consider, or else erroneously state that concerns about the health risks are false attempts to discredit the diet or whatever.

I actually saw a lot of the latter in the articles I read on the subject. It was like there was some weird pro-carb conspiracy out to persecute the Atkins faithful or something. I think it's fair to say that a lot of folks who get on the diet, or any radical diet, don't tend to understand that there are detrimental health effects involved unless you really know what you're doing. And most of the people in this world can't be bothered to read the instruction manual for their VCR let alone an entire diet book.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

People are idiots. Every diet thing I've ever seen or read says that if you're intending to lose a lot of weight (and that's what it would take to get ketoacidosis, unless there's some freaky metabolism thing going on) that it should be done under medicial supervision. Right there, off the bat, should warn them that there are health factors involved with dieting.

If they 'go on Atkins' without reading the literature, they're dumb.

But, for as tragic as all this is, there is also the arguement that being that overweight can be just a big a health risk as the ones extent in any diet. Speaking from personal experience as both a clinically obsee person *and* someone who has done Atkins.