I don't think it's jealousy so much as propaganda, misinformation, and poor understanding of the diets (and a small amount of justifiable concerns, as well).
My first experience with Atkins in my late teens or early 20's was quite unpleasant. I probably would have been fine if I went on to OWL, but the book encouraged prolonged induction if you had a lot of weight to lose (and I did). Before giving up, I should have tried OWL, instead I walked away thinking low carb was indeed dangerous.
In hindsight, I see that my "induction flu" had the same symptoms I now associate with low blood sugar. I suspect that hypoglycemia is as often (if not more often) the cause of induction flu as "carb withdrawal."
Still, my experience with induction was so bad that for the most part, I avoided low carb diets for the next 25 years. I started a few over the years, but as soon as extreme nausea and light-headedness would strike, it would "remind me how unhealthy" the diet was.
I was so prejudiced against low-carb dieting, that I didn't even take my doctor's recommendation to try it, seriously. He suggested that I try low-carb, but warned me not to go too low. I asked him what was too low, and he admitted not knowing. It wasn't until I met a weight loss clinic doctor who had lost nearly 100 lbs herself (and her husband over 100 lbs) on a modified Atkins, that I started to reconsider.
Induction level still makes me ill and too weak to exercise, whether I'm on it for three days or five weeks. So, I don't do induction.
It's taken me a long time to come to terms with low-carb diets being healthy (if done correctly). There are health risks to low-carb dieting. Most people do not get the checkup that doctor Atkins recommends (mainly to catch undiagnosed kidney problems). Low-carb diets can further damage to weak or damaged kidneys. Because kidney damage can go undetected so long, it really is important to get that checked before starting a low-carb diet (but most people just take their chances).
Diets extremely low in both fat and protein can be quite dangerous. The super rapid weight loss that often results can be quite addictive though - and another way some dieters will throw caution to the wind (if they even know the risks they are taking). Most people will abandon the diet when the symptoms become unpleasant (nausea, vomitting, diarrhea), but not long ago there was a woman who advocated a modified Atkins that was extremely low in calories, fat, and carbohydrates. She made a lot of money by advocating SNATT (semi-nauseous-all-the-time). She claimed to have lost a lot of weight on this plan (investigators later proved she was using false after pictures of herself and fictional "clients"). Several of her clients died or became ill. The name of her diet is banned on this site, because of its dangers.
Low-carb dieting can be dangerous if done incorrectly, and unfortunately it's often done incorrectly, or if you have underlying health issues you're unaware of.
The same could be said of many different diets and activities though. Misinformation can be deadly.
And with low-carb diets, there's so much conflicting information, that it's hard to decipher sometimes.
I don't judge people who are anti-low-carb too harshly, because for a long time I was one of them. Sometimes I still catch myself thinking that "this can't be healthy," but the alternative for me surely isn't. Low-carb is really my only option, if I want to lose the weight and keep it off. And as long as my health stats are moving in the right direction, I'll continue with it. If they go in the wrong direction, I'll review my diet and tweak it to see if that helps.
Trial and error is all we've got, until the science of weight loss is at a much higher level than it currently is. In many ways, we're still in the weight loss dark ages. No single diet has ever been proven to be the most successful for everyone - so it's time the researchers start asking different questions. Who is likely to benefit the most from Diet A? Diet B? Diet C?
But that's not the question researched very often. It's still "is Diet A better than Diet B?"
Wrong question in my opinion.
Until we have some of those questions answered, and in general people have a better understanding of basic nutrition, and the risks and benefits of weight loss diets, I think there will still be a lot of prejudices against many specific diets.
Last edited by kaplods; 01-26-2010 at 05:24 PM.
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