Quality Longevity

T. Colin Campbell, PhD
Introduction and the Science of Nutrition and the
interview are by Mark Lovendale

Introduction and the Science of Nutrition

Dr. Campbell is the Jacob Gould Schurman Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University. He received the American Institute for Cancer Research’s 1998 Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Cancer Research. He was cited by Self magazine as one of the 25 most influential people in the U.S. regarding how diets cause disease – one of only three scientists to receive this honor.

He started his career researching ways to increase consumption of animal protein in impoverished countries. In time, he learned that one reason people in these countries are free of many of the diseases that are killing Americans and Europeans is that they consume less animal protein.

Dr. Campbell was the director of the world-renowned China Project. At the time of this study, people in rural areas of China were still consuming traditional Chinese diets that were largely unaffected by American or European diets. These rural areas provided a unique opportunity to study the cause-and-effect relationship between diet and numerous diseases.

Dr. Campbell is the author of the book titled, The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health.

One reason the study was done in China was because arterial disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity and several types of cancer common in the West are largely unknown in rural China. Several smaller studies had already been done that show these diseases are caused by diets high in fat, protein and cholesterol.

The China Project is one of the largest, most influential medical studies ever done that shows how diets cause diseases. It confirmed again that there is one balance of macronutrients that is optimum for all humans, and that is the 10-10-80 balance – around 10 percent of the calories from fat, around 10 percent from protein and 80 percent from complex carbohydrates.

“The Grand Prix ... the most comprehensive
large study ever undertaken of the
relationship between diet and the risk of
developing disease ... tantalizing findings.”

The New York Times

During the early 1980s, a total of 6,500 adults and their families living in 130 villages in rural China were studied for their diet, lifestyle and disease characteristics. In total, 367 items of information were studied. This information was obtained by analyzing the foods eaten and measuring nutrient intakes in each household. In addition, extensive blood and urine samples were monitored. The findings were correlated with 48 specific disease mortality rates previously recorded by the Chinese Ministry of Health. The final collection of facts was published in a 894-page report in 1991.

Highlights of the China Project

The diet in rural China is greatly different from those in the U.S. and Europe. The rural Chinese consume much smaller amounts of fat, protein and cholesterol. The proportion of food from animals is about 10 times higher in the United States and most Western countries than it is in rural China. Dairy products were never consumed in most areas of rural China, yet the rural Chinese have strong bones.

In the U.S. only about 56 percent of the calories come from plants. The plants include cereal grains, refined sugar, added vegetable oils, tubers, legumes, fruit and fresh vegetables. About 44 percent of the U.S. diet is derived from animals; primarily red meat, fowl, eggs, seafood and dairy products. In rural China at the time of the study, about 96 percent of their calories came from vegetables. The breakdown from different plants was about 58 percent from refined white rice, 35 percent from fruit, fresh vegetables, with only 3 percent from added vegetable oil. Only 4 percent of their diet came from animals; primarily chickens, ducks, eggs, seafoods and occasionally some pork. Almost all rural Chinese never eat any dairy products. Thus, Americans get 11 times more of their calories from animal-derived foods than people in rural China.

“... the most comprehensive survey of food,
environment, social practices and diseases ever
made in China and one of the largest
epidemiological studies ever done anywhere.”

Science magazine

The rural Chinese had total blood cholesterol levels that averaged 127 mg/dL. compared to the current average in the U.S of about 210 mg/dL. The occurrence of many degenerative diseases, such as arterial disease (the cause of most heart attacks and strokes), cancer, diabetes and obesity are about 10 times higher in the U.S. and most Western countries than they are in rural China.

The diet of the urban Chinese is now rapidly approaching the diets in America and Europe, and their disease rates are rapidly approaching those in the West.

The China Project demonstrated that a diet low in fat (as low as 6 percent and averaged 14.5 percent of total calories), moderate in protein (averaged 9.6 percent), high in complex carbohydrates (averaged around 76 percent) and low in cholesterol (averaged 74 milligrams a day) prevents obesity and several common degenerative diseases including coronary artery disease. (Campbell TC, et al: “Diet, lifestyle, and the etiology of coronary artery disease: The Cornell China Study” Am J Cardiology 1998;82:18T-221T.)

Even though the rural Chinese ate about 300 more calories per day than Americans for the same body height and 58 percent of their calories came from refined white rice, being overweight was almost unknown. This is because their diet was about 14 percent fat and their lifestyle included regular exercise.

“This landmark study should shake up the medical
and nutrition researchers everywhere.”

Saturday Evening Post

Even though this study has received international praise in the scientific community, it has not been widely used to discredit popular books promoting high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets. Nor has it been used enough to diminish the power of the American food industry or improve the dietary recommendations of the U.S. or European governments.

Dr. Campbell’s research was preceded by well designed diet studies in the U.S. that showed the diseases avoided by the rural Chinese diet could be reversed by a similar diet. In 1981, Nathan Pritikin’s second diet study involved more than 900 people and showed that a diet using the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients reversed heart disease, diabetes, obesity and several other degenerative diseases. (J Cardiac Rehab 1981; 1:99-105.)

The 10-10-80 balance is currently used by nationally renowned doctors, John McDougall, MD, Dean Ornish, MD, Caldwell Esselstyn, Jr., MD, Jay Kenney, MD, Julian Whitaker, MD, and many others to treat people with heart disease and other degenerative diseases. The 10-10-80 balance is one part of the science of nutrition explained in depth in my book, Quality Longevity.

The following video is designed for a broadband connection such as cable or DSL. It will take a while for the interview to begin.

Nathan Pritikin’s Summary Talk (1978)
Introduction and the Science of Nutrition are by Mark Lovendale

Nathan Pritikin was the first person to bring together a broad range of scientific studies that explained how excessive amounts of dietary fat, protein, simple carbohydrates and cholesterol damage health. He then went on to demonstrate that a unique diet could remove plaques from inside the arteries and enable people to safely reduce excess weight. (Pritikin N, Pritikin R, Kern J, Kaye SM: “Diet and exercise as a total therapeutic regime for the rehabilitation of patients with severe peripheral vascular disease” Archives of Phys Med Rehab 1975; 56:558.)

By 1971, Pritikin had gathered 774 medical studies and articles that had a common thread of information that indicated that a diet where the calories are balanced at about 10 percent fat, 10 percent protein, 80 percent complex carbohydrate and less than 80 milligrams of cholesterol a day, (the 10-10-80 balance) could prevent and reverse the broad range of ailments that are the major causes of life-threatening diseases and deaths in the U.S. (Pritikin: The Man Who Healed America’s Heart by Tom Monte with Ilene Pritikin, 1988.) This same macronutrient balance was later shown to bring about rapid, long-term weight loss.

During the 1960s Pritikin had used this 10-10-80 balance of calories to reduce his own total blood cholesterol level from 280 to under 120 mg/dL. As a result he went from having severely blocked arteries to having arteries that were free of blockages. His use of the percentages of calories for the macronutrients instead of grams has become the standard way of measuring foods and defining diets.

He then opened the Pritikin Longevity Center in 1976 to help others and get his message out to the medical community. I met Pritikin in December of that year at a medical conference where he was the featured speaker. After months of listening to his lectures, asking him questions, reading the studies he relied on, interviewing the people going through his program and testing the 10-10-80 balance on myself while also avoiding the foods that killed my white cells, I concluded that the 10-10-80 balance was an important part of the science of nutrition for everyone.

Over the last 26 years I have helped thousands of people incorporate the 10-10-80 balance with the foods that are compatible with each individual’s white blood cells. The positive results far exceeded using either approach by itself, and each approach alone is very impressive. Each person is about the same regarding the amount of fat, protein, carbohydrate and cholesterol that is best for them; however, each person is different regarding the foods that they have delayed allergic reactions to.

With a million people dying each year in the U.S. alone from heart and other arterial diseases, I could see that within a decade several hundred thousand deaths a year could be prevented if the 10-10-80 balance became widely known. I took time off from researching delayed food and chemical allergies to do consulting work for Pritikin to help him get his discovery to the public and health professionals.

Around one hundred people a month began coming to his center for his four-week live-in program to see if the 10-10-80 balance worked for them. They heard Pritikin give a talk five days a week on why the 10-10-80 balance prevents and reverses a broad range of symptoms and diseases, and they ate the foods that provided this health-building balance of macronutrients. During their stay these people saw their health problems become dramatically reduced and often entirely disappear.

Besides stopping chest pain in almost all the people with angina, 83 percent of the people with high blood pressure became free of their hypertension and free of their related drugs. Because excess insulin-blocking fat was removed from their diet, 70 percent of those with type 2 diabetes became free of their diabetes and free of their insulin shots and other drugs for diabetes.

Many people who had been scheduled for coronary bypass surgery and even heart replacement surgery no longer needed surgery after just one month at the Pritikin Longevity Center. After five years enough of these patients continued using the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients so that 81 percent of them did not need heart surgery. These great results and more were confirmed by peer-reviewed medical studies and two specials done by CBS’s “60 Minutes.”

Most concluded that the $8,000 they had spent for their stay was the most worthwhile expenditure they had ever made on their health. Their new diet gave them all the essential fatty acids, protein, and complex carbohydrates they needed for great health and longevity. The only problem people have with this approach comes from them eating foods that are not compatible with their white blood cells. See Quality Longevity for the necessary information on delayed food allergies and the health-building macronutrient balance.

At the end of their stay, Pritikin gave them his Summary Talk containing the highlights from his previous 22 talks. It is important to hear the science behind the 10-10-80 balance before hearing the debate between Pritikin and Dr. Atkins, so that you will more fully understand the issues.

Other researchers had missed the importance of the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients because the benefits do not begin until the fat level is around 10 percent, and the daily cholesterol intake is less than 80 milligrams.

Pritikin is also to be credited with how people today refer to the macronutrients in foods. Prior to Pritikin most people referred to the grams of fat, protein and carbohydrate in foods. Today most people refer to the percentage of calories of each macronutrient. This change was important because foods high in water could look like they were low in fat when they were dangerously high in fat. Cows’ milk is under five percent fat when figured in grams and 47 percent fat when figured in calories. The body draws off the water and then works on the calories.

In the same way Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring, showed that some common pesticides slowly kill birds, Nathan Pritikin’s 1974 book, Live Longer Now, showed that some common foods slowly kill people. The foods that kill people slowly are the ones that are the foundation for low-carb diets.

Fortunately, the use of pesticides such as DDT, dioxin, malathion and organophosphates, which slowly kill birds and damage humans, has been reduced.

Unfortunately, the consumption of the common foods that damage and kill people has increased. These foods are red meats, dairy products, chickens, eggs, vegetable oils and sugars. And, the production of these foods is second only to burning fossil fuels as a source of environmental pollution. A major cause for the mistake of eating these foods in excess is the successful promotion by Dr. Atkins, and many others, of low-carb diet books and high-fat foods.

Fat consumption has gone from 38 percent to 33 percent of calories over the last 30 years; however, total grams of fat have actually gone up because the total calories consumed have gone up. A true very-low-fat diet movement has never started in the U.S. in part because of misinformation in books promoting low-carb diets with their dangerously high levels of fat, protein and cholesterol.

Pritikin’s published studies showing reversal of plaques from arteries and corresponding reversal of vascular disease symptoms and diabetes rank his work within the top five medical discoveries in the 20th century. It is hard to find a Nobel Prize for medicine that is more beneficial for mankind than Pritikin’s discoveries.

The Pritikin-Atkins Debate (1979)
Introduction and the Science of Nutrition are by Mark Lovendale

Audio – 1 hour and 40 minutes – streaming MP3 – It is helpful to listen to Nathan Pritikin’s Summary Talk above before listening to this debate.

The historic debate between Nathan Pritikin and Robert Atkins, MD, took place in 1979 at a medical convention at the Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles. Around four hundred medical doctors and other health professionals attended the debate.

Most of these doctors were believers in treating symptoms with large amounts of vitamins and other supplements. Several helped their patients by testing them for delayed food allergies. Many were friends of Dr. Atkins and recommended his diet for weight loss. Therefore, I advised Pritikin to avoid getting into a debate about vitamins and delayed food allergies and to stay focused on how high-fat, high-cholesterol foods cause heart disease and how the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients reverses plaques from the arteries, as well as being the safe way to lose weight.

During the debate you will hear Alan Levin, MD, come to Dr. Atkins’ aid and try to explain what causes plaques to develop in the arteries, before Pritikin explained the causes.

Pritikin supported his very-low-fat, moderate-protein, very-low-sugar, high-complex carbohydrate, very-low-cholesterol diet with numerous peer-reviewed, published medical studies done on his clients and with other medical studies by scientists that show the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients to be optimum for all people. He also showed that there is a straight-line relationship between the amount of fat in the diet and the incidences of several diseases. More fat, more diseases. The Pritikin diet has around 10 percent fat, the typical American diet has 33 percent fat and the Atkins diet has around 55 percent.

Dr. Atkins supported his high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate, high-cholesterol diet by showing the blood tests of a few of his patients. None of these tests showed reductions in total blood cholesterol levels to under 150 mg/dL. And, his antidotal reports are not considered good science.

The studies he referred to that promoted high-fat, low-carbohydrate diets have since then been shown to be defective or came to the wrong conclusion. In fact, there were no scientific studies in 1979 that showed the Atkins diet was effective and safe. And when evaluated properly and thoroughly, there are no studies in 2004 that show the Atkins diet is effective and safe.

Dr. Atkins claimed there is a “U” shaped parabolic curve related to the Pritikin diet, the typical American diet and his diet. He admitted the Pritikin diet worked for some people, acknowledged that the typical American diet did not work for anyone and claimed the Atkins diet worked for some people. However, the benefits claimed for the Atkins diet are transitory and for most blood levels not the type of improvements that are needed. There is no “U” shaped parabolic curve; there is a straight-line relationship, the more fat, protein, sugar and cholesterol in the diet, the more sickness. And, every day a person is on the Atkins diet they increase the chances of having a heart attack, stroke or cancer in the future.

Toward the end of their 1979 debate, be sure to note that Dr. Atkins admits he does not know what the cause of heart disease is and also claims Pritikin did not know. However, Pritikin knew by 1971 from having analyzed 774 studies in his library that the high-fat, high-protein, high-cholesterol foods Dr. Atkins has been recommending for years are the cause of heart disease and many other degenerative diseases.

Most of the doctors at this conference believed that vitamins and supplements could reverse and prevent most diseases. Thus, prior to the debate I recommended to Pritikin that he not antagonize them and stay focused on how excess amounts of fat, protein, sugar and cholesterol causes diseases. He agreed, but could not resist using Linus Pauling’s own study that showed that high levels of vitamin C did not reduce cancer and actually caused health problems in the test animals. Pritikin obtained his outstanding results without using any supplements.

Today, most people believe the right amount of some supplements can be helpful, especially if the person is on a 10-10-80 diet that also avoids the foods that cause delayed allergic reactions.

After their debate, word spread to doctors around the country about what had happened and Dr. Atkins’ office practice in New York City fell off sharply. Dr. Atkins complained bitterly. In an attempt to get Pritikin to stop talking about the health problems caused by his low-carb diet, Dr. Atkins sued Pritikin for libel in 1983.

Unfortunately for the world, Dr. Atkins’ lawsuit about the science of nutrition never got to trial. After a 35-year battle with leukemia that Pritikin developed after treatments with nuclear radiation, which were given him for his skin allergies by his conventional allergist, Pritikin died in 1985 at age 69. Then Dr. Atkins made his comeback. This happened even though the science supporting the 10-10-80 balance was confirmed in several more peer-reviewed studies. When the fat level is under 10 percent and the cholesterol intake is under 80 milligrams per day, every study has shown that the diet is effective and safe for reversing diseases and for weight loss.

In contrast, when accurately studied in depth, all the studies on diets for weight loss and for reversing artery disease show the Atkins low-carb diet to be ineffective for long-term weight loss and ineffective at reversing plaque growth in the arteries. In no studies has a low-carb diet been shown to lower total blood cholesterol levels to under 150 mg/dL, thus causing plaque reversal. This includes the 20 studies that are promoted by the supporters of Dr. Atkins.

Plaques continue to grow on the Atkins diet and even on the American Heart Association diet with half the amount of fat and cholesterol. Only diets that use the 10-10-80 balance stop plaque growth and actually dissolve them from the arteries. Dr. Atkins’ claim that his diet reverses heart disease is not supported by any studies or any known mechanism.

In fact, the Atkins diet and other low-carb diets have been shown to cause the type of health problems Dr. Atkins admitted having before he died at age 72. Some of his symptoms were; high total blood cholesterol of around 200 mg/dL, plaques in his arteries, cardiac arrhythmias, being overweight at 195 pounds instead of the recommended health weight of 170 pounds for a person six feet tall, and impaired ability to fight infection. A year before Dr. Atkins died from head injuries after a fall, he had a severe coronary arrest and collapsed in a restaurant. His life was saved by a friend who knew how to restart his heart.

The Wall Street Journal of February 10, 2004 released a copy of Dr. Atkins final medical records. These records indicated he had significant artery disease, but no autopsy was done to clearly show the extent of damage caused to Dr. Atkins arteries by the Atkins diet. His widow, Veronica Atkins, was angry that the public had learned about some of Dr. Atkins health problems. That same day she tried to put a positive spin on the records by stating that Dr. Atkins “did have some progression of his coronary artery disease in the last three years of his life, including some new blockages of a secondary artery.” Where were these blockages coming from other than his high-fat, high-cholesterol diet? When people become aware of the significance of Veronica Atkins admission, it should help end the “Atkins Revolution” and all other low-carb diets.

The 10-10-80 balance used by Pritikin was, and still is, very upsetting to the authors of most diet books, the meat, dairy and egg industries, the drug industry and most heart surgeons. It is also upsetting to people who want to believe that some people do well on a very-low-fat diet and some people do well on a low-carb diet. Only the very-low-fat, 10-10-80 type diet will give people their desired weight loss and improve their health in the process. All low-carb diets are dangerously high in fat and protein for everyone.

The ideal foods for one person are often different for another person because of differences in their delayed food allergies. However, the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients is the optimum for all people all over the world. Every day spent on the Atkins or other low-carb type diet adds to blockages in the arteries and increases the risk of starting several different types of cancer. See Quality Longevity for the scientific studies that confirm these facts.

Is it worth losing some extra pounds for a few years on a low-carb diet only to discover you have given yourself heart disease, cancer or some other painful, crippling disease? Especially when you could have lost all your excess weight and avoided those diseases while enjoying life far more.

It is easy to make money selling people books that claim it is safe to eat their favorite high-fat foods and then make more money selling them high-fat foods. This only works as long as people do not know the science of nutrition. The facts are also upsetting to people who do not want to admit that some of their favorite foods they have been eating for years are the cause of their health problems.

There are now many doctors and health centers around the U.S. and Europe that are successfully using the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients to reverse arterial disease, weight problems and other health problems.

For information about the work of John McDougall, MD, and the McDougall Wellness Center go to:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/

For information about the work of Dean Ornish, MD, including his debate with the head of Atkins Nutritionals medical board, Stuart Trager, MD, go to:
http://my.webmd.com/content/pages/9/3068_9408.htm

The Lovendale-Vernon-Sanders Debate (2004)
Introduction and the Science of Nutrition are by Mark Lovendale

Lisa Garr hosted this debate on whether the Atkins diet, and other low-carbohydrate diets, cause health problems, and whether they are effective for long-term loss of excess weight. This Introduction and Science of Nutrition section covers important background information and answers questions raised during the debate. The debate aired April 29, 2004 at 1:00 PM, Pacific Coast Time on “The Aware Show” on KPFK at 90.7 FM in Los Angeles and Orange counties and 98.7 in Santa Barbara. The show aired live worldwide on the Internet at http://www.kpfk.org/.

Mary Vernon, MD, is one of three medical consultants working for Atkins Nutritionals. Atkins Nutritionals was set up by Robert Atkins, MD, to sell Atkins products and promote his low-carb diet. Dr. Vernon is also in private practice of bariatric (weight loss) and family medicine in Lawrence, Kansas, where she uses the diet recommended by Dr. Atkins. She is an experienced presenter of Dr. Atkins ideas and is a consultant for The Duke Diet and Fitness Center. Dr. Vernon was the lead author of a study based on the idea that more fat in the diet reduces insulin resistance in people with type 2 diabetics. (Vernon MC, Mavropoulos J, Transue M, et al: “Clinical Experience of a Carbohydrate-Restricted Diet: Effect on Diabetes Mellitus” Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders 2004; 1(3):233-237.) Dr. Vernon claimed that Dr. Atkins’ high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate, high-cholesterol diet is a safe and effective way to lose weight. She also claimed that his diet helps people with diabetes and other diseases. Other Atkins consultants mentioned during the debate are Stuart Trager, MD, and Colette Heimowitz, MS. Heimowitz is the Director of Education and Research for Atkins Nutritionals.

Lisa Sanders, MD, is the author of The Perfect Fit Diet: Combine What Science Knows About Weight Loss With What You Know About Yourself. She is an internist practicing in Connecticut and is on the faculty of the Yale University School of Medicine. In her research and practice, she specializes in the treatment of overweight and obese patients. Before entering medical school, she was an Emmy Award-winning producer at CBS News, where she covered medicine and health. Her widely read Diagnosis column appears monthly in The New York Times. Dr. Sanders took the position that most people are helped by very-low-fat diets, but some people do well on other types of diets.

I explained why the Atkins diet, and all other high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate, high-cholesterol diets, damage health and are not the most effective way to lose excess weight and then maintain optimum weight. Instead, I recommended eating a diet that is truly low in fat (10 percent), moderate in protein (10 percent), high in complex carbohydrates (80 percent) and low in cholesterol (80 milligrams a day or less). This is known as the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients. I also recommended eating foods that are compatible with the individual’s white blood cells. The combination of these approaches is the best way to remove excess body fat and keep it off. This type of diet also removes fat and cholesterol from the arteries that cause blockages resulting in heart disease, strokes and other diseases. The science behind these recommendations and how to achieve them are explained in my book, Quality Longevity.

During the debate Dr. Vernon made many of the same comments in support of the high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that Dr. Atkins made when he was alive. However, one area where Dr. Vernon differed from Dr. Atkins and Atkins Nutritionals regards the history of low-carbohydrate diets. She stated that Dr. Atkins wrote his first book promoting a low-carbohydrate diet in 1972, and that he was not the first to promote a low-carbohydrate diet.

Dr. Atkins often claimed he invented the low-carb diet, and did not mention the low-carb lifestyle ‘invented’ by Dr. Herman Taller and promoted in his 1962 book, Calories Don’t Count. Or the similar ‘invention’ by Dr. Irwin Stillman, promoted in his 1967 book, Quick Weight Loss Diet. Dr. Atkins also did not mention the once popular low-carb diet called “The Banting Diet” invented by Dr. William Harvey in 1863. Atkins Nutritionals’ trademark on many of their products is, “The Original Low Carb Lifestyle.” Many of the people working for Atkins Nutritionals claim that Dr. Atkins invented the low-carb diet and if he said something, it must be true.

During the debate Dr. Vernon stated that randomized controlled trials have shown that the Atkins diet causes “… cardiovascular risk factors to improve tremendously, triglycerides drop in most studies by 50 percent, HDL comes up in most studies by 10 or 11 percent, and those are huge changes.”

Sounds good, but these are just transient artifacts of a carbohydrate-deficient diet. And, these are not the blood levels that are most important to change in order to prevent or reverse heart disease. The most important changes to make are the reduction of total blood cholesterol to less than 150 mg/dL and LDL cholesterol to less than 80 mg/dL. This does not happen on the Atkins diet or any other low-carb diet. On low-carb diets these levels stay about the same or go up. Thus, blockages continue to grow in the arteries.

For a diet to be safe for losing weight and build health, it needs to improve all blood levels over the long run, not just two levels in the short run. Low-carb diets often only improve triglycerides and HDL cholesterol levels in the short run. Low-carb diets do not regularly lower, and sometimes raise, the two most important levels – total blood cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. And, low-carb diets increase levels of uric acid, free fatty acids, blood acidity, insulin and many more.

During the debate you will hear Dr. Vernon put a positive spin on one type of LDL cholesterol by implying that it is not harmful because it is large and fluffy. Medical studies have shown that some LDL crystals are larger than others, and it is presumed that it is more difficult for the large ones to invade the walls of the arteries. However, when the LDL level in the blood is above 80 mg/dL, the small LDL crystals are extremely damaging and the larger, fluffy LDL crystals are possibly less damaging. And, very-low-fat diets, with around 10 percent fat, increase the LDL-particle size without increasing the amount of the other types of blood cholesterol as the Atkins diet does. (Beard CM, Barnard RJ, Robbins DC, Ordovas JM, Schaefer EJ: “Effects of diet and exercise on qualitative and quantitative measures of LDL and its susceptibility to oxidation” Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol 1996 Feb; 16(2):201-7.)

A similar misleading spin was propagated during the 1970s regarding ingested cholesterol. Medical studies had shown that old oxidized cholesterol, such as in powdered egg yokes, caused blockages to grow slightly faster in the arteries when fed to test animals than did fresh cholesterol. Those who wanted to believe that it did not damage their health to eat the customary amounts of foods containing cholesterol claimed that people only had to avoid old oxidized cholesterol and they would not build plaques in their arteries. However, when one consumes more than three ounces of most types of meat or a total of more than 80 milligrams of cholesterol per day, eating old oxidized cholesterol is extremely damaging and eating fresh cholesterol is very damaging.

One fresh egg yoke contains 213 milligrams of cholesterol and this amount consumed each day will significantly increase the LDL cholesterol levels of people who have reduced their level by not eating cholesterol or by eating only small amounts. In a double-blind study done at Harvard Medical School by Frank Sacks, MD, 17 students avoided dietary cholesterol, except from dairy products, for three weeks. The students then added one egg a day to their diet while making no other changes. In just six weeks their LDL cholesterol levels increased an average of 12 percent. (The Lancet 1984; March 24, 647-649) Even more dramatic results would be have been likely if the students had started from a cholesterol-free diet for two months.

When blood tests for fat are done a few hours after a 20 percent fat meal, damaging levels of fat are discovered in the blood. And the more fat, the more damage. Most blood testing is done in the morning before breakfast, which is far enough after dinner for the fat to have been absorbed into the arteries and the fat cells.

The causes of heart disease and stroke are well known by some in the scientific community who study how foods cause disease. Elevated levels of blood cholesterol cause inflammation in the walls of the arteries. And, delayed food and chemical allergies cause inflammation throughout the body. These reactions are the primary cause of a broad range of health problems starting at birth and continuing during the entire lifespan.

Plaques start growing in the arteries when total blood cholesterol goes above 150 mg/dL. The damaging part of total blood cholesterol is its LDL particle. When the LDL particles go above 80 mg/dL, they begin to invade the walls of the arteries. This starts the formation of plaques in the coronary arteries and other arteries throughout the body.

LDL particles are razor-sharp crystals and they begin cutting up the artery walls. The body tries to stop this damage by attacking the LDL crystals with its white blood cells. These cells are unable to destroy the LDL crystals and die trying. Their death adds to the inflammation in the arteries and throughout the body. This inflammation is accelerated by consuming foods and chemicals that kill white blood cells as part of delayed allergic reactions.

As people age, the long-term damage caused by inflammation and eating excessive amounts of all types of fat, protein, sugar and cholesterol accumulates in the arteries causing plaques to block the arteries. These plaques are the major cause of heart disease and strokes.

The growth of plaques is accelerated by the consumption of animal fats and all vegetable oils. These fats leave a sticky coating on the inside wall of the arteries. This causes more LDL crystals to become imbedded in the walls of the arteries.

The only foods with cholesterol come from animals. When these foods are around four percent of total calories, plaque formation is prevented. The way to prevent and reverse this disease process is to have a diet with around 10 percent fat, 10 percent protein, 80 percent complex carbohydrate, and less than 80 milligrams of cholesterol a day. This 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients works for everyone when the individual consumes the foods that are compatible with his or her white blood cells.

One test for discovering a person’s compatible foods is the Prime Test. For information on this test and how to use its results, read Quality Longevity.

The safe daily amount of cholesterol consumption for most people is less than 80 milligrams. The typical American diet has more than 400 milligrams a day and the Atkins diet has more than 800 milligrams. In a peer-reviewed published study by J. C. Larosa, MD, 24 obese men and women who had been on the typical American diet were put on the Atkins diet for 12 weeks. Their average daily ingestion of cholesterol went from 507 to 828 milligrams. Their total blood cholesterol went up on average from 205 to 217 mg/dL for an increase of 12 mg/dL. LDL (‘bad’) cholesterol went up from 127 to 151 mg/dL for an average increase of almost 24 mg/dL. Uric acid went up sharply from 5.9 to 7.7 mg/dL, a 30 percent increase. Free fatty acids also went up sharply, from 547 to 973 mEq/L, a 78 percent increase. Each of these increases in blood levels is so health damaging that the Atkins diet was shown to be unsafe for even 12 weeks.

It usually takes years for the heart to become so damaged by high-fat, high-protein, high-cholesterol diets before cardiac arrhythmias begin; however, during this 12-week study of just 24 people, one person developed a cardiac arrhythmia. The arrhythmia did not stop until two weeks after the Atkins diet was discontinued. (Larosa JC, et al: “Effects of high-protein, low carbohydrate dieting on plasma lipoproteins and body weight” Journal American Dietetics Association 1980; 77:264.) Increased free fatty acids contribute to inflammation throughout the body, and they are part of the cause of cardiac arrhythmias, cardiac arrests, heart attacks and rheumatoid arthritis.

There are two studies often used by Atkins Nutritionals consultants to promote the belief that the Atkins diet is safe and effective. The one I quoted from during the debate was done by Dr. Foster and actually shows the opposite to be true. (Foster GD: “A randomized trial of a low-carbohydrate diet for obesity” N Engl J Med 2003 May 22;348(21):2082-2090.) The other study by Dr. Samaha showed similar problems with the Atkins diet, and one of his low-carb test subject had to be hospitalized with chest pain and another low-carb test subject died. (Samaha FF: “Low-carbohydrate as compared with a low-fat diet in severe obesity” N Engl J Med 2003 May 22;348(21):2074-2081.)

The low-fat diets used in these studies for comparison with the Atkins diet were actually moderate to high-fat diets, 25 percent and 30 percent, respectfully. By the end of these studies the test subjects on the low-fat diets were actually eating 33 percent fat. This is the same level Americans have been on for years. And, small improvements in the Atkins diet, like those in The South Beach Diet, do not solve the deadly problems caused by all low-carb diets.

A major claim made by supporters of low-carb diets is that the diets lower insulin, and high insulin levels are very damaging. High insulin levels are very damaging; however, in a controlled study between the 10 percent, true very-low-fat diet of Dr. Ornish and the 55 percent fat Atkins diet and other low-carb diets, only the 10-10-80 diet recommended by Dr. Ornish significantly reduced insulin levels. Contrary to Dr. Vernon’s study, only the very-low-fat diet made insulin more sensitive. And, his 10 percent fat diet was the only one to significantly reduce LDL cholesterol. (Dansinger ML, et al; “One-year effectiveness of the Atkins, Ornish, Weight Watchers, and Zone diets in decreasing body weight and heart disease risk” Presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, Orlando Florida, November 11, 2003.)

Going from the Atkins diet with 50 percent fat to the Zone diet with 30 percent fat or the South Beach diet with 30 percent fat, is like going from three packs of cigarettes a day to two packs a day. If the Atkins diet were to give you a cardiac arrest, heart attack, stroke or cancer in about 15 years, the other low-carb diets will give you the same disease in about 18 years. Fortunately there is a way to lose weight and lose the chance of having those diseases – and that is a 10-10-80 diet of foods that are compatible with your white blood cells.

Contrary to the claim by Dr. Vernon that low-fat diets have failed Americans, a true very-low-fat diet, with 10 percent fat, is yet to be utilized by the majority Americans. Dr. Atkins and current promoters of the Atkins diet like to have people believe that Americans are fatter today because they are not eating enough fat. Nothing could be further from the truth. They also claim that fat levels have gone from 40 percent of calories to 32 percent during the last 30 years. However, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the actual levels have gone from 38 percent fat down to 32.8 percent of total calories. However, because total calories have gone up, the total grams of fat have gone up.
Click here to view the Centers’ and Atkins’ charts.

Since 1975 the per capita annual consumption of fat has gone up 10 pounds and the consumption of sugars (simple carbohydrates) has gone up 20 pounds. (Brody, J: “Pounds lost on the Atkins diet may quickly return” The New York Times, May 27, 2003.) Both fat and sugar consumption needed to go down dramatically. By mistake, the Atkins diet lowers the consumption of all carbohydrates, not just sugar. Also by mistake, it increases fat from the deadly American diet level of 33 percent to 55 percent.

All levels above 15 percent fat have been shown to cause health problems. The reason for the higher numbers of obese Americans is increased consumption of total calories from simple carbohydrates (sugar) and refined cereal grains, not complex carbohydrates (vegetables) or the reduction of fat in the diet.

Many people do lose weight on low-carbohydrate diets and some keep it off. However, all these people have diminished health and in time are likely to develop painful, life threatening diseases. Triglyceride levels often go down in the short run on these diets, but in time they move back up as carbohydrates are added back into the diet. A diet around 10 percent fat, 10 percent protein and 80 percent complex carbohydrate, known as the 10-10-80 balance, is the safe diet to lose weight on and bring down high triglyceride and glucose levels.

HDL (‘good’) cholesterol works like little garbage trucks; the more fat consumed, the more HDL cholesterol is produced to take the fat to the dump. Eating more fat is not the safe way to increase HDL nor improve vascular health. Higher HDL levels created by eating more fat have fooled the public and conventional doctors into thinking they are not hurting themselves. When it goes up that way, it is not an indication of improved vascular health. Aerobic exercise while on a very-low-fat diet is the safe way to raise HDL cholesterol. And, according to the world-famous Framingham Heart Study, as long as your total blood cholesterol level is less than 150 mg/dL, your HDL level is no longer predictive of improved vascular health.

Patients in a study headed by Dean Ornish, MD, consumed 7 percent of their calories from fat. After one year, LDL cholesterol fell by 16 percent, with no change in HDL cholesterol. Coronary artery blockages regressed in 82 percent of the patients. With the help of regular exercise, an average weight loss of 24 pounds accompanied their very-low-fat, moderate-protein, high-complex carbohydrate diet that was free of cholesterol. There were no nutritional deficiencies detected. (Ornish D, et al: “Can lifestyle changes reverse coronary heart disease?” The Lancet 1990; 336:129–133.)

Diets using the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients are the only ones shown in numerous medical studies to reverse plaques from the arteries. Chapter 8 in my book, Quality Longevity, fully explains the science of nutrition supporting the 10-10-80 balance.

Dr. Atkins claimed, and now his followers claim, that it is the carbohydrates in the diet that cause you to gain weight, and replacing them with fat and protein causes you to lose weight.

However, there is good evidence that it is the reduction of total calories that cause people to lose weight on low-carb diets, not the lack of carbohydrates. A recent analysis of numerous studies (a meta-analysis) of low-carb diets published on April 8, 2003, in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) by Dena Bravata, MD, with help from Dr. Sanders and others, stated that, “Low-carbohydrate diets have been extremely popular as of late, and the lay press has suggested they’re a safe and effective means of weight loss. While these diets are effective in the short term, weight loss results from reduced calories, not carbohydrate restriction.”

Another point of disagreement between Dr. Vernon and me was whether there has been a change in saturated fat recommendations from Dr. Atkins’ original recommendation that less than 27 percent of the calories come from saturated fat, to Atkins Nutritionals new recommendation that ‘only’ 20 percent should come from saturated fat.

The Atkins maintenance diet averages around 55 percent of its calories from fat and Dr. Atkins recommended less than half of that, or less than 27 percent, be from saturated fat. In his 1988 hardcover book, Dr. Atkins’ Health Revolution, he stated on page 230, “As for saturated fats, although I’ve produced plenty of evidence that on a low-carbohydrate diet they’re not a critical issue, I do encourage my patients to eat them at a proportionally lower level than other fats.” And, on talk shows he stated that saturated fats should be less than 27 percent.

The change in the Atkins diet was announced on January 18, 2004 in a New York Times article that stated the following, “Responding to years of criticism from scientists that the Atkins version of a low-carbohydrate, high-fat regimen might lead to heart disease and other health problems, the director of research and education for Atkins Nutritionals, Colette Heimowitz, is telling health professionals in seminars around the country that only 20 percent of a dieter’s calories should come from saturated fat.”

And, not even Atkins Nutritionals is claiming that there is “plenty of evidence” that high levels of saturated fat are not a problem on low-carbohydrate diets. High levels of saturated fat, like high levels of sugar, are a problem for everyone regardless of what the rest of the diet is like.

Because this would mean that Dr. Atkins’ books had been wrong on this important point and would have to come with warnings or be recalled, the Atkins Nutritionals team went to work to discount Ms. Heimowitz statements in her seminars. An Atkins spokesman said “Ms. Heimowitz has been giving these seminars for five years, but they do not represent a departure from the original premise of the diet.” However, this cover-up is not consistent with the facts.

In the April 26, 2004 issue of Forbes magazine it was reported that, “Suddenly there’s a lot of talk at Atkins [corporate headquarters] about the merits of eating vegetables, fruits and brown rice – carbohydrates that is.” Some of the pressure for change is coming from reports about Dr. Atkins heart problems and from competitors claiming their diet is safer because it has more carbohydrates and less saturated fat.

One problem with saturated fat was acknowledged during the debate by Dr. Vernon when she said, “I think it is clear that a diet high in saturated fat has been linked to heart disease.” The Atkins diet, at less than 27 percent saturated fat, or now at about 20 percent, is still the highest in saturated fats of any of the popular low-carb diets. Diets that have been shown in numerous published studies to prevent and reverse heart disease have around two percent saturated fat. Dr. Vernon went on to say that with “… monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats the case isn’t quite as clear.” The Atkins diet is also among the highest in these fats. She apparently did not realize that with these statements she had just discredited the Atkins diet.

Animal fats, most of which are saturated fats, are particularly bad for you if you want to avoid the arterial diseases that cause heart attacks and strokes. Vegetable oils, which are mostly monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fats, are particularly bad for you if you want to avoid most types of cancer.

Another statement Dr. Vernon made was about 20 percent saturated fat being correct “because that is about the ratio saturated fat appears in natural foods.” This belief is not supported by the facts when one understands what the natural foods are for humans. How natural are butter, cheese and other dairy products? And feedlot fed cattle and pigs have far higher levels of saturated fat than range fed animals. These are manufactured and altered foods that are not found in nature. However, they are the foundation of the Atkins diet and other low-carb diets. Most of the foods that make up the Atkins diet are not natural for humans.

Foods that are natural for humans are the ones you can collect by hand when you are out in nature, such as fresh vegetables, fruits, tubers and legumes. Natural foods are not the ones you collect in the market, such as red meat, chicken, dairy products and vegetable oil.

There are many additional documented health problems caused by the Atkins diet. In one published short-term study by Eric Westman, MD, it was shown that the Atkins diet caused constipation in 70 percent of the people, halitosis in 65 percent, headache in 54 percent, hair loss in 9.8 percent, abnormal menses in women in 3.2 percent and presyncope (dizzy when standing) in 2.4 percent. This study was paid for and promoted by Dr. Atkins.

Most people go on the Atkins diet so they can lose weight and look more attractive to other people. However, because their constipation leaves a strained look on their faces and their bad breath drives people away, they are much less attractive.

During the debate I mentioned the research done by T. Colin Campbell, PhD, in China that showed the rural Chinese were free of most of the diseases plaguing Americans and Europeans, including diabetes, and they were not overweight. The Chinese diet was low in fat, moderate (9.6 percent) in protein and high in complex carbohydrates. And, they ate an average of almost 300 more calories a day than we do for people of the same height. (Campbell, TC, et al: “Diet, lifestyle, and the etiology of coronary artery disease: The Cornell China Study” Am J Cardiology 1998;82:18T-221T.)

When Phil Donahue asked Dr. Atkins about the health of the Chinese on his television show on January 30, 2003, Dr. Atkins stated, “If we ate as little food as they do, we would not have obesity. But unfortunately we eat about three times the amount of food, and that’s really the problem.”

Therefore, in reality, we do not “eat about three times the amount of food” as the rural Chinese do; on average they eat 12 percent more calories than we do for people of the same height. And they eat about 75 percent of their calories as efficient, energy providing, complex carbohydrates, and, along with more exercise than us, they do not become overweight.

Dr. Atkins was very good at making up facts to promote his diet. In fact, his, and all low-carb diets are made up of misunderstandings and mis-representations of the facts.

On March 18, 2000, Dr. Atkins gave a talk to promote his book at the Irvine Hilton Hotel in Orange County, California. I asked him why the rural Chinese on average have low blood cholesterol levels of around 127, are free of heart disease and are not overweight while eating the type of diet he claimed was not healthy for people.

Dr. Atkins acknowledged that the rural Chinese diet works for the Chinese, but said it will not work for others. For his claim to be true, the basic nature of Americans’ bodies would have to be different from the Chinese. Are the Chinese closely related to chimpanzees and Americans closely related to dogs? Chimpanzees do great on diets high in complex carbohydrates and dogs do great on diets high in meat. Each person’s needs and tolerances for fat, protein, carbohydrate and cholesterol are about the same.

A study promoted on Atkins Nutritionals website found that the Atkins diet during the first few weeks is about 60 percent fat, 30 percent protein and 10 percent carbohydrate. (Volek JS, Westman EC: “Very-low-carbohydrate weight-loss diets revisited” Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine 2002; 69(11):849-862.) This high-saturated fat, very-low-carbohydrate diet is modified slightly after two weeks to about 55 percent fat, 25 percent protein and 20 percent carbohydrate. The 60-30-10 balance of macronutrients starts causing health problems within a few days and the slight change to 55 percent fat continues these health problems. At 20 percent carbohydrate, it remains a very-low-carbohydrate diet. It is deficient in carbohydrate and thus does not provide necessary glucose for optimum body and brain function. And the diet is deficient in fiber and high in foods that are known to cause colon cancer.

Dr. Atkins claimed in his 1979 debate with Pritikin that his diet was not a high-fat diet. He said, “[Pritikin] mentions or implies that the Atkins diet is a high-fat diet; which it is not.” Dr. Atkins argued that because people ate fewer calories when on his diet and some of the calories came from fat; thus, they were eating less fat, so his diet was a lower-fat diet.

Dr. Atkins admitted on the January 30, 2003 “Donahue Show” that his diet often elevates uric acid levels. A caller stated, “Every time my husband tries to go on the diet he gets gout attacks.” Dr. Atkins replied, “That’s one of the things that can be a problem. We tell people to take allopurinol if they have gout and that solves the problem.” That drug causes numerous common symptoms; such as skin rashes and sores, constipation, diarrhea and drowsiness to the degree it is often not safe to drive. There are about 50 other side effects that are not common.

Dr. Atkins also admitted that pregnant or nursing women and people with kidney disease should not go on his diet. This should also include any woman who might become pregnant. All of the above conditions are ones that the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients is the best for.

The Atkins diet has also been shown to significantly worsen many other blood levels such as blood urea nitrogen (BUN), uric acid, and free fatty acids. People also suffered from dehydration, kidney damage, kidney stones, liver, brain, and eye damage and death by following high-fat, high-protein, ketogenic diets. (Stern L, Iqbal N, Seshadri P, Chicano KL, Daily DA, McGrory J, Williams M, Gracely EJ, Samaha FF: “The effects of low-carbohydrate versus conventional weight loss diets in severely obese adults: One-year follow-up of a randomized trial” Ann Intern Med 2004 May 18;140(10):778-785. / Yancy WS Jr, Olsen MK, Guyton JR, Bakst RP, Westman EC: “A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-fat diet to treat obesity and hyperlipidemia: A randomized, controlled trial” Ann Intern Med 2004 May 18;140(10):769-777. / Larosa JC, Fry AG, Muesing R, Rosing DR: “Effects of high-protein, low-carbohydrate dieting on plasma lipoproteins and body weight” J Am Diet Assoc 1980 Sep;77(3):264-70.)

Dr. Atkins stated in his 1979 debate with Pritikin that his diet was for people who are overweight, and was not for people who were thin or well conditioned athletes. He said he would put well-conditioned athletes on high-carbohydrates diets before they compete. In fact, we all should be well conditioned and always taking advantage of a high-complex carbohydrate diet.

If a diet’s macronutrient balance is known to cause just one disease, you can be sure it is not the natural macronutrient balance for humans. And, you are clearly warned that the diet is likely to cause other diseases. The Atkins diet and all low-carbohydrate diets cause numerous diseases and they are not the fastest way to lose weight. The macronutrient balance that has around 10 percent fat, 10 percent protein and 80 percent complex carbohydrate causes no diseases and reverses many. And, it is the fastest safe way to lose excess weight.

By every analysis the Atkins Diet is also deficient in fiber. Atkins Nutritionals is now selling a fiber supplement to try and correct this deficiency.

On the same “Donahue Show” Dr. Atkins claimed that the Atkins diet is a 70-year diet. If people stayed on his 55-percent fat diet all their life, it is unlikely that they would live 70 years. Dr. Atkins previously claimed that his diet is similar to the original Eskimo diet. Those Eskimos lived an average of about 45 years because of having severe osteoporosis caused by their high-protein diet. And, who wants a 70-year diet?

In 2001 the severely defective traditional American diet, with help from huge medical bills, gave a life span of 74.4 years for men and 79.8 for women. The average life span was 77.2 years. However, Seven-Day Adventists, who had a lower-fat, much lower-cholesterol diet for at least half of their lives, lived about 13 years longer than those on the traditional American diet. (Ruckner C, Hoffman J: The Seventh-Day Adventist Diet New York: Random House, 1991.)

Living to 90 is just a hint of what is possible. A 10-10-80 diet that also avoids foods that kill white blood cells and thus does not cause delayed food allergies may give people an average life span of good to great health for far more that 100 years.

Most doctors doing studies using the Atkins diet claim they did not harm people because the diet did not increase their patients’ total blood cholesterol, HDL cholesterol or LDL cholesterol. An example of this is a study promoted on Atkins Nutritionals website that was headed by Dr. Hays. He found that “High-density lipoprotein (HDL) and LDL concentrations were unchanged.…” (Hays JH, DiSabatino A, Gorman RT, et al: “Effect of a high saturated fat and no-starch diet on serum lipid subfractions in patients with documented atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease” Mayo Clinic Proceedings 78(11), 2003, pages 1331-1336.) When total blood cholesterol and the LDL levels start out dangerously high and stay dangerously high, it is not a sign of winning the battle against heart diseases and strokes with a high-saturated-fat diet.

A study was done in 1970 at the world-famous Cleveland Clinic on men under 40 years old to see if just total blood cholesterol levels correlated with the amount of artery blockage in their hearts. The men were given angiograms, an expensive and dangerous procedure that gives an x-ray picture of the inside of the arteries. The results were dramatic, on average, the higher the total blood cholesterol level was above 150 mg/dL; the more the coronary arteries were blocked. There was a straight-line relationship, and total blood cholesterol alone predicted their amount of artery blockage. (Welch CC, Proudfit WL, Sones FM Jr, Shirey EK, Sheldon WC, Razavi M.: “Cinecoronary arteriography in young men” Circulation 1970 Oct;42(4):647-52.)

One reason most health professionals are confused about blood cholesterol levels and diets is if you have been on the traditional American diet, you can dramatically increase your dietary cholesterol and cause only a slight increase in your blood cholesterol or even a small decrease. You can even cut your dietary cholesterol in half and see little change in your total blood cholesterol level. This happens because most people’s digestive tracts become saturated between 200 and 400 milligrams of dietary cholesterol a day. The traditional American diet has around 500 milligrams a day. If a person adds a dozen eggs to their daily diet, they would be adding around 2,500 milligrams of cholesterol a day; however, they would still be absorbing between 200 and 400 milligrams a day because most people’s digestive tracts cannot absorb any more. (O’Brien B: “Human plasma lipid response to red meat, poultry, fish and eggs” Am J Clin Nutr 1980; 33:2573. / Mattson F: “Effect of dietary cholesterol on serum cholesterol in man” Am J Clin Nutr 1972; 25:589. / Connor W: “The interrelated effects of dietary cholesterol and fat upon human serum lipid levels” J Clin Invest 1964; 43:1691.)

Because the traditional American diet has around 500 milligrams of cholesterol, eating more than 800 milligrams while on the Atkins diet does not significantly change most people’s total blood cholesterol or their LDL cholesterol levels in the short run. The goal of any diet should be to get total blood cholesterol under 150 mg/dL and LDL cholesterol under 80 mg/dL. If authors do not know where the goal line is, it’s hard for them to recommend a health building diet.

The only diet to reduce blood levels of cholesterol in many people to under 150 mg/dL has a very-low level of saturated fat of around three percent of calories and an overall 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients. This type of diet also provides lasting loss of excess weight.

When the awareness of delayed food allergies and resulting food addictions is added, the new lifestyle can be maintained and provide levels of health rarely seen in the general population. (Randolph TG; An Alternate Approach to Allergies 1980, Harper and Row)

A new study by Northwestern University on more than 4,000 men and women ages 40 to 59 from the U.S., Great Britain, Japan, and China has shown again that Dr. Atkins’ main belief was wrong. The study stated that the thinnest people on Earth eat the most carbohydrates and the people who eat the most protein are the heaviest. Study leader Linda Van Horn, PhD, RD, said, “Without exception, a high-complex-carbohydrate, high-vegetable-protein diet is associated with low body mass. High- [animal] protein diets were associated with higher body weight.” (WebMD News March 5, 2004)

Dr. Vernon stated she regularly helped type 2 diabetics control their blood sugar levels with the Atkins diet. This can happen because they were deprived of carbohydrate-type foods that are readily turned into desirable glucose for energy. However, the way to truly help type 2 diabetics is to enable them to get their insulin working properly so it brings down their blood sugar levels naturally. The way to do that is with a diet that has about 10 percent fat, not the Atkins diet with 55 percent fat. In some people even moderate fat diets block insulin from functioning properly. The Atkins high-fat diet actually causes insulin to be less effective, and this often forces the body to produce more insulin. High insulin levels are well known to damages health.

In fact, high-fat diets are the best way to cause type 2 diabetes. Long ago Dr. Sweeney put healthy people on high levels of fat and then gave them the glucose tolerance test for diabetes. All became diabetic within two weeks. He also put people on high-sugar, very-low-fat diets, and none became diabetic. His discovery was confirmed by James Anderson, MD, an internationally renowned diabetes researcher and professor at the University of Kentucky Medical Center. (Sweeney JS: “Dietary factors that influence the dextrose tolerance test” Arch Int Med 1927; 40:818-30. / Anderson JW: “Effect of high glucose and high sucrose diets on glucose tolerance of normal men” Amer J Clin Nutr 1973; 26:600-607.)

Type 1 diabetes is usually caused in children and adults as a result of an allergic reaction to cows’ milk that spreads to the pancreas and destroys its ability to produce insulin. (New England Journal of Medicine 1992; July 30.) This discovery was confirmed by a follow-up study of 402 people. Another follow-up study done in Europe and published in The Lancet (1996; October 5) reconfirmed that allergic reactions to dairy products are a major cause of type 1 diabetes. All parents should know about this before they start feeding their children dairy products.

Dairy products are one of the most common causes of food reactions that kill white blood cells and thereby cause delayed allergic reactions. Chapter 6 in Quality Longevity explains many additional health problems caused by eating dairy products. The Atkins diet is very high in dairy products.

A recent meta-analysis on low-carbohydrate diets by Shane Bilsborough, MSc, and Timothy Crowe, PhD, was published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition (“Low-carbohydrate diets: what are the potential short and long-term health implications?” 2003; 12(4). One study they analyzed showed that children developed major health problems when put on a diet similar to the Atkins diet for an extended time in an attempt to treat their severe epilepsy. When referring to their low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet, the study stated that, “Common adverse events attributed to the diet included dehydration, gastrointestinal symptoms, hypoglycaemia, as well as carnitine and vitamin deficiencies. Cognitive effects, hyperlipidaemia [elevated cholesterol levels], impaired neutrophil [white blood cell] function, urolithiasis, optic neuropathy and osteoporosis have also been reported to occur in some patients following ketogenic diets. In addition, elevation of blood uric acid levels is a well-recognized side effect of ketosis.”

Dr. Atkins thought that being in ketosis was the best way to lose weight. The Atkins diet depends on people staying in ketoses until they have lost their excess weight. When this works, it often takes years. In fact, Dr. Atkins never got down to his recommended weight. He was six feet tall and weighed around 195 pounds for most of his life, instead of his recommended weight for good health of 170 pounds.

For the body to function properly, it needs to burn glucose and fat in the proper ratio so that no damaging toxins are produced. When there is a deficiency of glucose and an excess of fat in the blood, their burning causes a toxic residue to develop. Some of these toxins are called ketones. As the ketones build up, the blood becomes more acidic.

This is a common problem for people with Type 1 diabetes. This diabetic disease condition is called “diabetic ketoacidosis” or DKA. People with diabetic ketoacidosis are very sick. Before the discovery of insulin, they all died.

When people are on the Atkins diet, their build up of ketones and acidity could be called “Atkins ketoacidosis” or AKA. All the people with Atkins ketoacidosis do not die, many lose weight and then die sooner than if they had lost their excess weight using the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients. Coming down with “Atkins Disease” to lose weight is not smart.

The problems caused by ketosis are becoming better known, thus Atkins Nutritionals has come out with a diet pyramid that adds more carbohydrates to the Atkins diet. The new diet will not cause people to go into ketosis. However, people will not get the same rapid but health-wrecking weight loss. Atkins Nutritionals’ new diet pyramid will still cause heart diseases, strokes and cancers at even higher rates than the traditional American diet.

Dr. Vernon stated that cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeats) is not a symptom of the Atkins diet. However, it is a common risk factor in all high-protein diets. A popular weight-loss product that was very high in protein was taken off the market in the late 1970s because 41 people had such severe cardiac arrhythmias that they went into cardiac arrest and died.

The Asia Pacific study has inspired governments in Australia to warn people about the dangers of all high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets. Similar warnings are being made in England. Some of the problems caused by the high-protein part of the diets are life threatening. During the debate I mentioned a 16-year-old girl who had recently gone on a high-protein, low-carb diet and died. The case was reported in a peer-reviewed medical journal. It stated that resuscitation attempts failed even though the girl had been eating high levels of protein for only two weeks. (Stevens A, et al: “Sudden cardiac death of an adolescent during dieting” Southern Med J 2002;95:1047-1049.)

With all the accurate, comprehensive published research showing that low-carbohydrate diets damage health, any doctor who recommends an Atkins type diet is risking being sued for malpractice by grieving relatives.

Near the end of the debate, Dr. Vernon states that I was wrong when I said Dr. Atkins had heart disease caused by his diet. She claimed that his heart disease was caused by a virus, saying, “Mark, that is absolutely not true, because Dr. Atkins is known to, and what his cardiologist went on “Dateline” and said, he had a viral cardiomyopathy and they knew when he contracted it. He lived on his diet for 40 years and didn’t have arrhythmias. Arrhythmias are not an issue with the Atkins diet and leaching of minerals isn’t an issue.”

Dr. Atkins stated on “Larry King Live” on January 6, 2003 that the cardiac arrest that almost killed him was caused by an arrhythmia and he thought his arrhythmia was caused by an un-named virus. Larry King said, “I know you had a cardiac arrest a year ago.… What was it that happened to you though?” Dr. Atkins replied, “We don’t know, but I had an infection in my heart and it caused an arrhythmia. So it must have been an arrhythmia that sort of took off and that was it.” At a later time he said he thought he had caught his virus infection in his heart in Turkey two years before.

Cardiomyopathy often results from coronary artery disease, inflammation of the heart muscle, metabolic disorders, drugs or genetic mutations and rarely from viral infection. Coronary artery disease and inflammation of the heart muscle caused by high-fat, high-protein diets account for almost all cases of cardiomyopathy. Viral cardiomyopathy is sometimes caused by open-heart surgery, but it is not common and often takes decades to cause heart problems. Why Dr. Atkins thought he had any type of cardiomyopathy is unknown, and how a virus might have caused his cardiomyopathy is unclear. His self-diagnosis of a virus infection as the cause of his cardiac arrest or heart attack did cover up a common danger of the Atkins diet.

When he had his cardiac arrest or heart attack, his symptoms were the same as those that kill more than a half-million people a year in the U.S. Those symptoms have been proven to almost always be caused by the traditional high-fat, high-protein, high-cholesterol American diet. And the average American diet is lower in fat, protein and cholesterol than the Atkins diet.

Dr. Atkins’ self-reported total blood cholesterol level was high, at around 200 mg/dL. Such levels are a well-known cause of the type of cardiac arrest or heart attack he had. In addition to this, Dr. Atkins’ claim that he had been on his diet for 34 years increases the probability of his heart having clogged arteries and mineral deficiencies.

Dozens of well-done long-term medical studies have shown that diets as high in protein as the typical American diet are a major cause of mineral deficiencies and cardiac arrhythmias. The mechanisms are well known. Excessive protein in the typical American diet is a major reason for the epidemic of osteoporosis in the U.S. The Atkins diet has even more protein.

After Dr. Vernon’s statement that “leaching of minerals isn’t an issue” on the Atkins diet, she went on to state there was one study that showed eating more protein increased bone strength.

Actually, there are two short-term studies that state more protein improved bone strength. It is not clear yet if there was a defect in these studies or if some short-run circumstance altered the common result of less bone strength. (Dawson-Hughes B, Harris SS: Am J Clin Nutr 2002;75:773-9, and Heaney RP: Am J Clin Nutr 2002;75: 609-10.) In medical science there are often a few studies that come to the opposite conclusion of the overwhelming body of evidence. In time, the error or unknown factor in the studies that came to the uncommon conclusion are usually found.

Dr. Vernon claimed she has not seen mineral loss in her patients. It cannot be seen unless it is tested for, and the test is very complex and difficult. To test for a negative mineral balance, the total amount of minerals in the foods and beverages has to be measured, and then the total amount of minerals in the stool, urine and sweat has to be measured. Fortunately, these tests do not need to be done because there is research that gives us a better way to know if there is a negative mineral balance. The way to know if there is a negative mineral balance is to know the total percentage of protein in the diet.

Protein is made up of amino acids. These acids turn the blood slightly acidic. When amino acids are consumed for energy they leave an acid ash residue in the blood, which further increases acidity. The body neutralizes a high acid level in the blood by leaching calcium from the bones and leaching other trace minerals from the soft tissues. (Lemann, J: “The importance of renal net acid excretion as a determinate of fasting urinary calcium excretion” Kidney Int 1986; 29:743.)

Dr. Linkswiler did a study with 20-year-old men. When 16 percent of the calories came from protein, or 95 grams in a 2400-calorie diet, all the men went into a negative mineral balance, even though their diet was high in minerals. At 100 grams of protein consumed per day, the urinary output of calcium doubled.

At University of Wisconsin, Drs. Bekha and Linkswiler studied young adult men on a standard calcium intake of 500 mg/day. At 47 grams of protein consumed per day, calcium retention was 31 mg. At 92 grams of protein consumed per day, there was a calcium loss of 58 mg. At 142 grams of protein consumed per day there was a calcium loss of 120 mg. The calcium loss was measured in the urine. About 30 percent of the calcium consumed is absorbed; thus, over decades this loss is significant from the skeleton. (Linkswiler, HM, et al: “Calcium retention of young adult males as affected by level of protein and of calcium intake” Trans NY Acad Sci 1974; (Ser II) 36:333-340.)

There is a direct straight-line correlation between protein intake and the excretion of minerals in humans. Professor Margen tested over 2,000 UC Berkeley students; as protein increased from 0 to 90 grams of nitrogen per day, there was a 900 percent increase in calcium excretion, regardless of calcium intake, which varied from 100 mg to 2,300 mg. per day. They found that excess protein from animals and vegetables caused the same problem. (Margen, S. et al: “Studies in calcium metabolism: The calciuretic effect of dietary protein” Am J Clin Nutr 1974; 27:584-589.)

The only safe way to have strong bones and the vital trace minerals needed by the heart muscle, and all other muscles, and for the immune system to work properly is to have a diet with around 10 percent of its calories from protein. More protein consumed, more mineral loss. Taking mineral supplements, regardless of type, will not help if the diet is too high in protein.
The minerals that are lost are calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron and all the other vital trace minerals. With everyone having a net mineral loss at 16 percent, and some people having it at 14 percent, and none having it at 10 percent, you can see why the safe, health-building level is around 10 percent protein. The Atkins diet is around 25 percent protein.

If your diet is over about 13 percent protein, it is likely to cause you to go into a negative mineral balance. If you are not eating any foods that cause delayed allergic reactions, this may not be as big a problem because these reactions cause the body to become acidic which further increases the loss of minerals.

The following conclusions of studies published in medical journals give empowering insights into the problems caused by the excess protein in the Atkins diet and all other high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets. “Osteoporosis is caused by a number of things, one of the most important being too much dietary protein.” (Science 1986; 233:4763.) “Dietary protein increases production of acid in the blood which can be neutralized by calcium mobilized from the skeleton.” (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1995; 61:4.) “Even when eating 1,400 mg of calcium daily, one can lose up to 4% of his or her bone mass each year while consuming a high-protein diet.” (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1979; 32:4.) “Increasing one’s protein intake by 100% may cause calcium loss to double.” (Journal of Nutrition, 1981; 111:3.) “There is no significant association between teenaged milk consumption and the risk of adult fractures. Data indicate that frequent milk consumption and higher dietary calcium intakes in middle aged women do not provide protection against hip or forearm fractures … women consuming greater amounts of calcium from dairy foods had significantly increased risks of hip fractures, while no increase in fracture risk was observed for the same levels of calcium from nondairy sources.” (American Journal of Public Health 1997; 87.) “Calcium intake demonstrated no protection in preventing bone fractures. In fact, those populations with the highest calcium intakes had higher fracture rates than those with more modest calcium intakes.” (Calif Tissue Int 1992; 50.)

The above studies and many more like them have led to the following conclusions. “The average man in the US eats 175% more protein than the recommended daily allowance and the average woman eats 144% more.” (Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health 1988.) “Countries with the highest rates of osteoporosis, such as the United States, England, and Sweden, consume the most milk. China and Japan, where people eat much less protein and dairy food, have low rates of osteoporosis.” (Nutrition Action Healthletter 1993; June.) “Research shows that calcium losses are increased by the use of animal protein, salt, caffeine, and tobacco, and by physical inactivity.” (Understanding Health, Neal Barnard, MD, Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine, 1999; December.)

If Dr. Vernon knew the science of nutrition instead of what Dr. Atkins told her, I believe she would immediately stop putting her patients on the Atkins diet and use a diet with the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients.

Diets high in fat increase fatty acids in the blood, and these acids are well documented as causing inflammation of the heart, cardiomyopathy and contributing to cardiac arrhythmia.

If Dr. Atkins, or his followers, wanted the public to know that his diet had not harmed his heart or given him a stroke before he fell, would they not have arranged for an autopsy? If Dr. Atkins’ doctors believed that some unknown virus had caused his cardiac arrest or heart attack, you would think they would have required an autopsy to discover the mystery virus. They claim no autopsy was performed.

Contrary to his followers’ wishes, some of Dr. Atkins’ medical records were released after his death. These records stated he had the type of heart disease typical of a person in their 70s who had regularly consumed a high-fat, high-protein, high-cholesterol, low-carbohydrate diet.

If Dr. Atkins had admitted that his cardiac arrest or heart attack was caused by his diet, the Atkins diet would have died, and the low-carb mistake would have been on its way to the trash heap of history.

The opposite has happened. We are currently suffering the worst plague of incompetent diet books in our history. These books have two things in common. First, they promote low-carb diets. Second, all their authors admit they did not do a controlled study on a large group of people to see if their diet reduced total blood cholesterol to under 150 mg/dL. They also did not test to see if their diet caused other diseases. This flood of incompetent books started in 1961 with Calories Don’t Count by Dr. Taller. Other big sellers in this flood include all of Dr. Atkins’ books, starting in 1972 (16 million copies in print), Enter the Zone in 1995 by Dr. Sears, Sugar Busters in 1995 by Leighton Steward and associates, Protein Power in 1996 by Drs. Eades, and the South Beach Diet in 2003 by Dr. Agatston (7.4 million copies in print).

During the debate Dr. Sanders mentioned that there might be problems with low-carb diets because they are too high in protein. Problems with too much protein were recently confirmed in the American Journal of Kidney Disease (Aug. 2002). The study concluded, “Consumption of a low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet for six weeks delivers a marked acid load to the kidneys, increases the risk of stone formation, decreases estimated calcium balance, and may increase the risk of bone loss.”

During the debate Dr. Sanders put what is true very clearly, “Eating a very-low-fat diet is very good for you.”

Unfortunately, she also claimed that some people do better on other types of diets and that as long as you feel good on your diet and your weight is under control, you are fine. It is possible to feel fine on your diet right up to the time when your doctor says “you have cancer” or you have a cardiac arrest, heart attack or stroke. There is no credible evidence that some people are designed so differently by evolution that they are not damaged by every low-carb diet.

Dr. Sanders also stated that both very-low-carb and very-low-fat diets are hard for most people to stay on. This is true; however, when people hear the actual science of nutrition from their doctors, health consultants, teachers and diet books, and the low-carb hype is long gone, it will be easier to stay on a very-low-fat diet. It is also much easier and rewarding to stay on a very-low-fat diet if the diet does not have foods in it that cause delayed allergic reactions. The main reason people have trouble staying on very-low-fat diets is they have delayed allergic reactions to some of the foods. When people begin to experience the results of the very-low-fat lifestyle that is free of delayed allergic reactions, they discover it is not only possible to stay on the health building 10-10-80 balance, it is health building and enjoyable.

One area of confusion I did not have time to explain during the debate involves the glycemic index. Refined simple carbohydrates can cause health problems for everyone; however, contrary to the glycemic index hypothesis, almost all vegetables and fruits are not a problem. The previously mentioned James W. Anderson, MD, had his patients follow a 10-10-80 diet for two weeks before eating the test meals to establish the glycemic index. This enabled their insulin to begin to work properly. He stated to me on the phone that his patients had blood-glucose responses that were around 20 percent lower than the people in the regular glycemic index studies. This moves carrots and almost all other fruits and vegetables into the so-called safe range of less than 80 percent.

The popular glycemic index levels need to be completely redone with people using the 10–10–80 balance for two weeks before the testing is done. This will give the glycemic index some value. All diets that are based in part on the current glycemic index are fatally flawed.

Dr. David Katz of Yale University recently stated that diets based on the glycemic index, like the Atkins, Zone and South Beach diets, are “so utterly wrong as to be insane” and lead to health damaging food choices such as eating ice cream instead of carrots, and French fries instead of baked potatoes.

One reason for the popularity of the low-carb diets is most Americans like the taste of meat, dairy products, and eggs more than they like to eat fresh vegetables. Great chefs and recipes can solve this problem.

Another reason low-carb diets are popular today is because almost all medical doctors received no valid education in medical school regarding the science of nutrition. Thus, conventional doctors often do not know how to evaluate diet studies. This has left the public vulnerable to a flood of low-carb diet books and other health books that have little or no science behind them. Not all carbs are the same. Simple carbs are sugars and sugars are hard on your health and add weight; complex carbs are what your body is designed to run great on.

As of June 2004 there were 20 new short-term, one-year long medical studies where the conclusions somewhat supported the Atkins low-carb diet. However, the actual findings of these studies, when evaluated correctly, showed that the Atkins 55 percent-fat diet damaged the health of the people in the studies.

By 1971, Nathan Pritikin had gathered 774 medical studies and articles that indicated the optimum diet had 10 percent fat. Since then hundreds of additional peer-reviewed studies in respected medical journals have confirmed that a 10 percent-fat diet is the only one that prevents and reverses numerous degenerative diseases.

Many healthy people around the world today, including the rural Chinese, eat a diet that derives about four percent of its calories from animals and the rest from vegetables. Heart diseases, strokes, diabetes, osteoporosis and most common cancers are almost unknown among these people. Since 1945 the traditional American diet has derived about 40 percent of its calories from animals. Each year in the U.S. alone, this excessive consumption of foods from animals is the primary cause of more than one million deaths. The Atkins diet and other low-carb diets derive almost 70 percent of their calories from animals. If this health disaster continues, in about 10 years there will be a sharp increase in these and many other diseases.

The low-carb mistake has been so heavily promoted by Atkins Nutritionals and others that the controversy has made it to the cover of the May 3, 2004 Time magazine. Time tried, but their writer did not have the necessary understanding of the science of nutrition to expose low-carb diets for the health disaster they are.

One common but serious mistake in the Time article is the assumption that type 2 diabetes is caused by eating sugar. It is caused in virtually all cases by eating a diet with more than 10 percent fat, and then eating sugar. As shown by Sweeney, Pritikin, Anderson, McDougall and others, the moderate and high-fat diets keeps some people’s insulin from working properly and that causes their ingested sugar to push their blood sugar up.

The article did reveal that after one year, two out of three people who had tried a low-carb diet had abandoned it. The reasons were not given; however, some probably quit because the low-carb diet had made them sick, some because they read how dangerous it is and some because their excess weight did not keep going down or it even went back up.

Time did expose how many food manufacturers, restaurants and book publishers have been fooled by Dr. Atkins, Atkins Nutritionals and many others who promote low-carb diets. According to Time, in 1999 there were 15 books pushing the low-carb mistake, there are now more than 140 and by the end of this year there will be more than 191.

Dr. Atkins books have been on the New York Times best-sellers list for nearly seven years. The similar South Beach Diet has been on the list for over a year. Look for books that explain the 10-10-80 balance and ones that explain the importance of delayed food and chemical allergies.

Diets that are half as bad os the Atkins diet, with 25 percent fat, or worse like the South Beach Diet that starts at over 50 percent fat, goes to 44 percent fat, and ends at 30 percent fat, are almost as deadly as the Atkins diet. Only the very-low-fat diet with 10 percent fat works for everyone. This true very-low-fat diet has never really gotten started in America. When the low-carb diet bubble bursts, the very-low-fat diet will have its chance. People will be far healthier and they will be enjoying their lean longevity weight.

The Atkins diet, with 55 percent fat and around 800 milligrams of cholesterol, is so much worse than the typical American diet, with 33 percent fat and around 500 milligrams of cholesterol, why is it that the damage does not show up in blood levels more clearly in short-term? Remember, most people can only absorb between 200 and 400 milligrams of cholesterol a day. Thus, around half of the 800 milligrams of cholesterol pass through most people’s digestive tracts without being absorbed. And, it takes decades for the arteries to close and the body to become deficient in essential trace minerals. It can take more than 40 years for much of the damage caused by the Atkins diet to show up, unless an autopsy is done.

One part of the Time article ended on a positive note. Dr. Judith Wurtman, a brain researcher at M.I.T., is quoted, “The diet-industrial-complex is now pushing low carbs full steam ahead. It may take a long time, but 10 years from now, people are going to look back on this and say, ‘Boy, we were really stupid.’”

Dr. Atkins is to be credited with pointing out some of the health problems caused by eating sugar and cereal grains. However, in the short and in the long run, the foods he recommended in their place do even more damage.

Dr. Atkins also worked to increase the awareness of delayed food allergies. In fact, many of the improvements in how some of his followers feel and some peoples’ improved blood levels come from avoiding common delayed allergy causing foods like wheat, corn (including corn fructose), other cereal grains and sugar. When people feel better on the Atkins diet it is not because they are eating more fat and protein and less complex carbohydrate, it is because they are avoiding foods that kill their white blood cells.

Many of the reported benefits attributed to the Atkins diet actually come from avoiding cereal grains that cause delayed allergic reactions. This gives some insight into the health improvements obtainable when all the foods that kill white blood cells, and thus cause delayed allergic reactions, are removed from the diet. As an example, when properly tested more than 70 percent of people with health problems are found to have delayed allergic reactions to dairy products. Unfortunately, the Atkins diet increases the consumption of dairy products.

It was an exciting time during the 1970s when the cause of the Western world’s major killer diseases – heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, excess weight and most common cancers – were shown by several scientists to be caused by the excessive consumption of fat, protein and cholesterol. Unfortunately, this discovery has been slow getting to the public and the medical community. If communication had been better, low-carb diets would be extinct.

Do not be surprised if some of the Atkins people vigorously defend the Atkins diet and Atkins Nutritionals 160 different food items. Their agenda is not health but keeping sales growing. According to Forbes magazine, last year Atkins Nutritionals sold $148 million worth of high-fat, high-protein, low-carb foods, up 225 percent from the previous year. After Dr. Atkins died, his estate sold 80 percent of the company for a reported $533 million dollars. With that kind of money on the line, you can be sure they are pumping up the low-carb bubble as fast as they can. This year alone they are spending $35 million on advertising, with emphasis on children and Hispanics. And, they attack those who speak out and explain the science of nutrition and the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients.

Diet books help some people to lose weight because the people reduce total calories to under 1,500 per day. Thus, it is eating less calories that works, not some hidden benefit from eating more fat and protein.

Randall Thomas, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, did a study recently that showed as the low-carb diets have increased in popularity during the last five years, Americans ate more fat and cholesterol, and became fatter. He warned that if this “troubling trend” continues, Americans could suffer more heart disease, already the number-one killer in America. This and several other studies that came to the same conclusion were presented at the American Heart Association, March 2004, annual conference on preventing heart disease.

Heart disease is the number-one killer of Americans; however, by using the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients, it becomes the number-one preventable killer disease.

For 42 years, ever since Dr. Taller wrote Calories Don’t Count, the Atkins type of weight-loss books promoting low-carb diets have dominated diet-book sales. These books range from Atkins’ books recommending 50 percent fat to Enter the Zone with 30 percent fat and The South Beach Diet with 30 percent fat. The net effect of these diet books has been to obscure the actual science of nutrition from most of the public and conventional doctors. This is a big part of the reason why 65 percent of Americans are now overweight or obese. And, this is also a major reason why heart disease, stroke and cancer are still the major killers of Americans and Europeans. A wider understanding of the importance of the 10-10-80 balance and delayed food allergies will begin to reverse years of misinformation.

The improvements in a few blood fat levels that are caused by low-carb diets are not the ones that are most important, and the most important ones stay dangerously high. The Atkins diet revival and expansion can be traced to a few poorly done and poorly analyzed short-term studies. Those who understand the “Atkins Error” and the health problems caused by low-carb diets need to work together to expose and end this growing epidemic.

Every day the low-carb craze continues, people on high-fat diets are starting new cancers and increasing the blockages in their arteries. The only positive aspect of this current bubble in fat, protein and cholesterol consumption is that scientists and doctors who know the science of macronutrient balancing are coming forth and showing why the low-carb diet’s benefits are a myth and the Emperor had no clothes.

Eating excessive amounts of food derived from animals pollutes the inside of the body, and producing food from animals pollutes the environment.

Every day the low-carb-diet craze continues, excessive levels of pollution are created. Feeding animals to make food for humans creates massive amounts of excrement. This is polluting fields, streams, rivers and oceans. Also, trees are being cut down around the world to provide grazing land for cattle. It takes 24 calories of vegetable products to produce one calorie of meat from beef. In America there is one cow for every three people.

All low-carb diets contribute to numerous diseases, pollution and food shortages around the world. When you follow the flow of food resources from poor countries to wealthy countries, you see that as more people in wealthy countries go on low-carb diets, more people in third-world countries will starve.

People who care about the environment need to know that all low-carb diets create immense amounts of pollution because of the factory farms production of excrement. This happens where cattle are raised, dairy products are produced, hogs are raised, chickens are raised and eggs are produced. And, eating large amounts of fish accelerates the near extinction of fish in the oceans around the world. Environmentalists need to get this awareness out to the world to help pop the low-carb bubble.

The CEO of Atkins Nutritionals, Paul Wolff, stated at the Nutracon Expo on March 4, 2004, that he was working to spread the Atkins low-carb diet and their related products to people around the world. Wolff said, “Our aspirations for the company are as large as our vision to change the way the world eats to promote good health.” To the degree Atkins Nutritionals succeeds, American’s high rate of killer diseases – cardiac arrests, heart attacks, strokes, type 1 and type 2 diabetes and numerous types of cancer – will be exported to the rest of the world.

One thing that Atkins Nutritionals is doing right is warning people about allergic reactions to wheat, soy and dairy products. On their newer packages, such as their pasta Elbows & Cheese item, they print, “Allergy Statement: Contains Wheat, Soy and Milk Ingredients.” However, they claim this high-carbohydrate item of highly-allergenic foods becomes healthy for you when you pour vegetable oil on it! Their low-carb chocolate bar has 150 calories with 12 grams of fat. A similar sized chocolate bar has 150 calories and 10 grams of fat! Chocolate causes delayed allergic reactions for most people, as do wheat, soy and all dairy products.

If you are wondering how Atkins Nutritionals can pay for all the advertising they are doing, look at the prices they charge for their products. That pasta Elbows & Cheese item sells for $3.99 for 4.7 ounces, not including the vegetable oil. Similar items from others sell for less than a dollar. And, if you are avoiding foods that are not organically grown, you have another reason to avoid Atkins Nutritionals items because their ingredients are grown with pesticides and chemicals that you may be allergic to and that are toxic to everyone.

The Atkins approved Subway sandwich averages 450 calories, with 225 calories from fat, which makes it 50 percent fat. And 49 of its fat calories are from saturated fat. Subway’s regular, healthier sandwich average 250 calories, with 27 calories from fat, thus 11 percent fat. Whenever you see the Atkins Nutritionals’ scarlet letter A on a menu item or on a product in the market, you are warned of health problems to come.

One sure way to slow down the low-carb diet mistake is for people to sue the Atkins Empire for the damage done to them by the Atkins diet. This approach was effective with the Tobbacco Empire. The following news report was filed by CNN on May 27, 2004.

Man sues Atkins over heart problems
Diet company stands by plan

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) — A businessman sued the promoters of the Atkins Diet and the estate of founder Dr. Robert Atkins, alleging that the low-carb, high-fat meal plan clogged his arteries and threatened his health.
The suit by Jody Gorran, filed Wednesday in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, seeks $15,000. Gorran, 53, said Thursday he started the diet in May 2001 because his weight had risen from 140 to 148 pounds. In two months, he said, his cholesterol rose from a normal 146 to an unhealthy 230, and by October 2003, he needed heart angioplasty to clear his arteries.

“I came very close to dying, and this is from a diet I thought was marvelous,” said Gorran.
Atkins Nutritionals said in a statement that it stands by the science that has “repeatedly reaffirmed the safety and health benefits of the Atkins Nutritional Approach.”

The company questioned the motivation of a Washington-based advocacy group that helped Gorran with the suit. The group, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, promotes a vegan diet banning meat, fish, dairy and egg products.

“We should not let the real issue, providing people with a scientifically validated nutritional choice in the face of a worldwide obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic, be manipulated by this extremist animal rights vegan group,” Atkins Nutritionals said in a statement.

For years, doctors and nutritionists have debated the Atkins diet, which advocates meat, eggs and cheese, frowns on bread, rice and fruit, and allows up to two-thirds of calories from fat, more than double the usual recommendation.…

“For 2 1/2 years, I extolled the virtues of this diet to anyone who listened because I was losing weight and I felt great. But when I started, I had no idea I was making a deal with the devil for trying to keep a 32-inch waistline,” he said.

If you want to sue Atkins Nutritionals for the damage done to you by the Atkins diet or food products, you had better hurry. Atkins Nutritionals has spent a huge fortune on advertisements, and when the science of nutrition reaches the public, it is going to be severely over extended and faced with bankruptcy. The Atkins estate is flush with cash and will be the major target for damaged Atkins dieters and their grieving relatives.

How was Dr. Atkins able to fool so many doctors into running bogus studies on the Atkins diet? Most doctors have almost no training in how foods affect health and Dr. Atkins was a great salesman with money to give to doctors if they would follow his instructions in setting up their studies. The doctors emphasized the least important blood levels of triglycerides and HDL cholesterol and minimized the important factors. In the studies Dr. Atkins financed there is no accurate explanation of the most important blood factors, such as total blood cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, should be. When these levels do not go down dramatically, the diet being studied is a failure and an incompetent diet because it causes the most common deadly diseases.

When the studies were done, many important tests were not done or done and not reported. Between two and ten hours after an Atkins meal immense damage can be seen in the blood. These changes deprive the cells of oxygen as circulation is blocked by fat particles from the meal. This causes immense damage throughout the body. Most blood tests done during the pro-Atkins studies were done before breakfast when the dietary fat from the day before had cleared out of the blood. Test for mineral loss were not done or not reported.

Dr. Atkins required test subjects to take fish oil and other supplements that make his low-carb diet look less deadly. The apparent positive changes in the blood are superficial and caused by starving the person from needed complex carbohydrates and unneeded simple carbohydrates.

Also, Dr. Atkins knew about delayed food allergies. When people came to his office he used to test their white blood cells to perform the original cytotoxic test. If he did the test at all accurately, he knew that most people had delayed allergic reaction to wheat and some other cereal grains. By taking people off those foods he would have caused them to feel much better and lose additional weight because of the loss of allergic edema. Others doctors mistakenly thought that the weight loss was caused by some magical result of eating more fat and protein. The removal of delayed food allergies also causes some people to have a dramatic drop in their total blood cholesterol. (See Quality Longevity, chapter 8.)

Another food most people have some delayed allergic reactions to is cows’ milk and all other dairy products. Apparently Dr. Atkins did not see any inconsistency in recommending high-fat dairy products to the public in his books and then telling his private patients to avoid them because of delayed allergic reactions and physical additions.

By June 2004 there were 20 published short-turn studies from the last few years that were financed or controlled by Dr. Atkins or Atkins Nutritionals. Each has conclusions that claim the Atkins diet is safe and effective for weight loss. If the studies had been done properly, reported accurately, and run for a significant length of time, all would have something like the following for their conclusion. “This study demonstrates again that the Atkins diet did not cause the most important blood levels to improve significantly or became worse. The blood levels that did improve had artificial changes that do not predict by themselves long-term disease prevention. These diets continue the progression of numerous degenerative diseases and common cancers.

Using ketosis to lose weight causes damage not unlike smoking cigarettes to reduce appetite or using drugs or surgery to lose weight.

Using the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients and avoiding the foods that kill white blood cells is still the only effective and safe way to lose weight. A national and worldwide campaign needs to begin to expose the health problems caused by all low-carbohydrate diets. It also needs to be stressed that the weight loss obtained is, in most cases, temporary.”

Another cause of Dr. Atkins success is the old-boy type agreement that says, “Doctors do not criticize other doctors.” Also, there is a type of blind belief in doctors so most of the public does not question whatever a doctor says. This is puzzling to some degree because most doctors get no more accurate schooling in the relationship between food and diseases than does a freshman in high school.

A few days may pass before the low-carb bubble is popped. But there is hope, because by reading this and listening to the interviews, talks and debates referenced herein and reading Quality Longevity, you will have the needed pin.

When you add the information from this introduction and debate to the information in my book, Quality Longevity, you can detect the hype the low-carb diets are based on and be free of the dietary mistakes being made by so many others. It is possible to lose unwanted fat from your body and your arteries for good and thus lose the probability of having several painful and deadly diseases. Eat the foods that are compatible with your white blood cells and thereby reduce inflammation and eat the foods that keep your arteries free of fat and cholesterol.

We are in exciting times because there is now a way to lose unwanted weight and keep it off while improving your health and life expectancy. When the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients is combined with avoiding foods that kill the white blood cells, most people, if they start soon enough, are able to add 15 or more years full of great health to their lives. The new science of nutrition enables people to become free of excess weight and free of the high probability of suffering with a long list of diseases. If you know someone who is on any of the low-carb diets and is thereby dying to lose weight, let them know about this website.

I have yet to find a person who has read Quality Longevity along with this information from PreventiveCare.com and listened to the audios and videos on the website and still believes the Atkins diet, or any low-carb diet, is either safe or effective for anyone.

The above debate was recorded on March 24, 2004. Since then a new article has come out that supports many of the statements I made during the debate and in this introduction. The article is by Dean Ornish, MD, and is titled, “Was Dr. Atkins Right?” It is in the April 2004 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
Click here for a PDF copy.

For more than 30 years, John McDougall, MD, has consistently had the necessary understanding of the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients and the courage to speak out against other doctors who do not have a clue about the science of nutrition. He has successfully debated Barry Sears, PhD, the co-author of the Zone diet books and promoter of the deadly 30-30-40 balance of macronutrients at several medical conventions. On May 30, 2004, Dr. McDougall finished his exposé of Dr. Atkins beliefs. You can read his excellent article at:
http://www.nealhendrickson.com/McDougall/2004nl/040500.htm

One organization that has been successful at exposing the “Atkins Error” is the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM). They have more than one hundred thousand members and their president, Neal Barnard, MD, has spoken nationwide on the health problems caused by low-carbohydrate diets. The link to their website is:
http://www.pcrm.org/

For long-range studies and pictures showing that heart disease can be arrested and reversed without drugs or surgery by using the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients, go to the website of Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD, of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
http://www.heartattackproof.com/

For additional information about the 10-10-80 balance, check out the other information, audios, videos and links on this web page. For more information about the 10-10-80 balance of macronutrients and information about delayed food allergies, order the book, Quality Longevity, by clicking on the “Order the Book” button.