The late Dr. Atkins met his end last year-he slipped on some ice, hit his head, and slipped into a coma (from which he never recovered). He was 72 at the time of his death…now there are reports that he was suffering from heart disease and was overweight.
This prompts a few questions:
-did the good doctor follow his own advice (about eating a low-carbohydrate diet)?
-and, if he was folowing his own diet, was he harming himself?
Who owns the rights to the Atkins Diet empire now? As far as I know Dr. Atkins had no heirs.
The article I saw on that report had Dr. Atkins’ personal physician stating that he was 198 lbs. at the time of his injury and that he gained 60 lbs. from retaining fluids while in a coma, and that his heart disease was not related to his diet.
Furthermore, the group that released the report–the Physicians’ Committee for Responsible Medicine–is funded by PETA. Their motives in this case are probably a bit less than honorable.
The Atkins institute has a statement regarding this fiasco.
Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine advocates a vegetarian lifestyle and is, in effect, a PETA mouthpiece.
You should not consider them an unbiased source of information.
I look after a lot of palliative and heart patients. I would call it impossible to retain an extra 60 pounds of fluid in eight days. Was he drinking a gallon of water a day and not peeing? Didn’t someone think to slow down his IV?
Indeed, Dr Paprika, indeed.
I smell a rat regarding this story. According to this site… http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,8662827^28737,00.html - a rather well written article in Australia’s leading national newspaper, it seems Dr Atkins died within a week of his initial injury.
For a human being, in a coma, on life support and IV medications to gain 60 pounds in just 7 or 8 days? Nope… no way… I totally am NOT buying that story.
My opinions on dieting etc are my own. However, the claim by the Atkin’s family that his weight gain of 60 pounds was a totally explicable and natural result of coma induced medications in just 7 to 8 days? That’s an insult to my intelligence, people.
Why have we not seen a picture of such a well know figure? Maybe he was shy- or fat.
But the Atkins circle (the doc, et al) should be considered unbiased?
There’s a lot at stake here, including the hopes of all those who wish to gorge on fats and meats.
Peace,
mangeorge
Biased as they might be, it would hurt their credibility (read: income) a lot if they were found to be lying. 60 lbs. in eight days is a lot–I guess the truth will come out somehow.
The obligatory Snopes link.
From that link:
60 pounds in 9 days? That would be about 25 litres of fluid. They’re lucky he didnt burst…
Looks like the Atkins camp is lying. And no wonder - they have books to sell…
One more link of interest: an article from USA Today stating that Dr. Atkins was not obese at the time of his injury.
There are photos of him around. Check the USA Today article posted above. To me, he doesn’t/didn’t look particularly fat, but I’m not sure how good I am at guessing people’s weight. 
I would just like to point out, the Atkins program is not a “license to gorge on fats and meat.” In the beginning stage (2 weeks) you’re supposed to eat protein, high fiber veggies, and limited cheese, avoiding processed foods including processed meats. Later you add more different types of veggies and fruits that are low on the Glycemic index, plus more cheese and dairy, while still losing weight. When you are done losing weight you maintain your loss by eating whole foods including whole grains, and avoiding refined flour and sugar. Excercise is stressed throughout.
At no point are you supposed to “gorge” on anything. Atkins is usually misrepresented in the media.
No, the media tends to agree with you. The Atkins diet is usually misrepresented by it’s proponents, who jump at the chance to gorge on fats and meats. Ever notice how popular this diet is among men? 
Funny thing is, the Atkins people do little to dispell the misunderstanding.
It’s the “Golden Egg” thing, I guess.
While 60 lbs does seem out of line, it might not be as far out of line as you think. My mother was in a car accident in January, and the hospital weighed her a couple of days after she initially came in. According to her, she’d put on 12 pounds since she was admitted. And she’d done nothing since the accident but lie in a hospital bed and sleep, mostly. Sadly, I don’t know exactly how many days it was after the accident that she was weighed, but it couldn’t have been more than 3 or 4 (she was only there a week, after all). So some weight gain might be expected, but 60 does seem excessive. Perhaps they mean a sum total of weight gain from all his hospital trips (which I was thinking were pretty recent), not just the week immediately before his death?
Snicks
Well, if one thing that comes out of this controversy is that some people stop to critically consider the news they get, whether those that supplied the information, or the news source that carried it - regardless of the story, I will be happy.
Estatically happy.
I think it’s pretty obvious, but you can’t gain weight from just bloat. You have to take in somethinf, be it water or food. If you swell up, that’s just fluids moving around in your body. Fluids that were already there. Or maybe gas.
At any rate, the body can’t make mass out of thin air.
Personally, I think the guy simply got old and tired of being so careful of his diet and developed a jones for maple nut ice cream. Or something. Cool 
, IMO.