Just had a lecture from my doctor

[MommaRuthie]

Even after my cholesterol dropped again (for a total of 43 points since I began!) My GP still told me that this diet was dangerous!! LOL What a quack!

[Milliesman]

Have some fun with your doctor! Tell him that you are no longer going to do Atkins, but instead you are going to cut out processed foods, flours, and sugars. Tell him that you are also going to cut caffeine and increase the amount of water you drink every day. Tell him that you are going to increase your vegetable and fiber intake and that you will be eating various proteins and then see what he says. If he doesn't recognize this as Atkins, drop him. He's not a doctor, he's the janitor trying to see you naked.

[NewToAtkins]

From a medical standpoint the brain needs very few things. It is made up of water, protein, and fat (and less than 1% of other "stuff"), and to function it needs only one thing - glucose. Your body will take care of making the glucose from what it has available. The number one thing that hinders brain function is actually dehydration. A drop of 5% in hydration levels can cause all sorts of bad things, and chronically dehydrated brains are now being investigated and linked to alzheimer's.

Sorry to lecture...I just got my masters in education and took a bunch of cognition courses.

[NewToAtkins]

Originally Posted by Milliesman

He's not a doctor, he's the janitor trying to see you naked.

Too funny! I guess I should have been a janitor!

[keriann_forgoodthistime]

I'm sorry you have a doctor who doesn't understand - I understand people that DON'T "approve" of atkins mainly because when I was on weight watchers and was a huge advocate of low fat/"good carb" and that "low-carb" was bad - but that was because I wasn't educated on WHY low-carb diets ARE good for some.

MY doctor is actually the one who TOLD me to go on atkins - but for a year I didn't listen to her, and when I finally realized that I was NOT going to be able to lose weight the way I had before, and I HAD to try something different - that's when I finally gave in and listened to my doc...but along the way, I've been educating myself on WHY low carb diets ARE good for some and NOT the way to go for others.

Just remember that your doctor has been taught - as have most people - especially because mainstream media only likes to preach "low fat" - that MOST people, including your doctor, unfortunately, are just "ignorant" to why low-carb is actually good for you and they refuse to educate themselves because most people (like my fiance whom I love to death) are just soooo dang stubborn and will never change their mind.

Just remember - you know that it works and it makes you happy!

[keriann_forgoodthistime]

also - if you read the book "Living the Low Carb Life" by Johnny Bowden (which I'm reading now and getting good info from) - or you can get through the book "Good Calories Bad Calories" by Gary Taubs (which, for me, this one is just too scientific...)

they'll educate you on WHY low carb IS the way to eat for life!

[imagood1]

Have you noticed how Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutri-system, all of them are constantly changing....that's because they don't work! Atkins hasn't changed because it WORKS.

I'm looking forward to the day when doctors all agree that Atkins is he way to go -- but of course I'm also waiting for a lot of other impossible things to happen!! I say do what is good for you - don't let someone else interfere with what works for you. This is the only WOE I've found that has the degree of variety this one has, is easy to stay with and the ONLY one I WANT to stay on. It's what is right for me (and for several hundred people here who also agree!). There is safety in numbers -- and we outweigh them!

Carole

[keriann_forgoodthistime]

Originally Posted by imagood1

Have you noticed how Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Nutri-system, all of them are constantly changing....that's because they don't work! Atkins hasn't changed because it WORKS.

Carole

I do have to disagree with you about them not "working"...per se - because having had lost 60 pounds on weight watchers, it DOES "work" for actual weight loss - what it DOESN'T work for is MAINTENANCE! After I lost the weight - it was sooo hard to keep it off because the body NEEDS fat - and "low fat" diets do not work for long term. I couldn't keep eating such low-calorie, low-fat, high sugar foods. Now that I know better that sugar and carbs are the culprit instead of low fat - but while limiting fat and calories DO work in the short term, one can NOT do that for life. Now that I know better and the body NEEDS fat.

Saying that, I must say, I do absolutely agree with you on how they ARE always constantly changing to make things "better"...because they are always trying to find ways to make it work "for life" - and I know there is NO way I could have continued to count points for life...which some people would say "well, you're counting CARBS"...yeah - I am - but at least on atkins, it is SO much easier because you know what's low carb AND what keeps you satisfied when you actually allow your body what it WANTS instead of having to constantly figure up throughout the day how many points you have left.

Plus - atkins IS actually healthier because unlike all those other diets - it actually DOES teach you how to eat HEALTHY instead of "well, i've got 4 points left...do I eat this very healthy vegetable in a little bit of animal fat or butter? or do I eat this "fake" dessert chock full of sugar because I have a few 'points' left?...

That's actually something I've had to get used to with atkins is yeah, i've got 20 carbs a day - but it's not like i can use them on just anything - i actually have to choose the RIGHT foods to eat and not just allow myself crap because i've got the points allowance for it.

ok, enough of that now. sorry i just had to add my $.02 plus i'm bored on saturday night! hehe.

[rweeks]

I guess its time you switch to a more enlightened doctor.... good luck!

[Asclepius]

Marvid -- what you have is a case of a doc who never figured out biochemistry and basic math in medical school, who now finds it easier to be cognitively lazy. Easier to be a sheep than think.