The Life Of Dr. Atkins

Dr. Atkins, also known as Dr. Robert Coleman Atkins MD, was a doctor and cardiologist from the United States. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1951 and received his medical doctorate from Cornell Medical College in 1955. He specialized in cardiology and learned the art of using herbal supplements instead of pharmaceutical medications, including those conditions such as acne, depression, cancer and carpal tunnel syndrome.

Dr. Atkins is the best known for his Atkins Diet Plan, a popular but very controversial method of dieting that employed the use of low carbohydrate, high fat and high protein foods. He wrote a number of best selling books, most notably the 1972 book, "Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution". This book was contrary to the recommendations of most nutritional experts of the era.

Dr. Atkins felt that an individual can lose weight by eating fat and by not restricting calories. His followers believed he was a pioneer and his book was followed by other best sellers. His detractors said that his diet was dangerous. In response, Dr. Atkins told CNN in January of 2003, "See, that's a big mistake ... to tell people to restrict calories." "They lose the weight, they feel fine, then they get to their goal weight and they still have 60 more years to live, and are they going to go hungry for all 60 years?"

Dr. Atkins was also a source of controversy when he suffered a cardiac arrest in 2002. His spokespeople listed the cause of the cardiac arrest as not being related to his diet. Dr. Atkins apparently suffered from cardiomyopathy of an unknown cause (an enlarged heart). In addition, his death was controversial. He died in April of 2003 after slipping on some ice outside of his office in New York. He developed a blood clot on his brain that eventually resulted in his death. When his autopsy report was released, the findings showed that Dr. Atkins himself would have been considered obese at the time of his death. The family stated he didn't weigh that much at the time of the fall but that he had retained fluids while in the hospital.

Dr. Atkins' company, Atkins Nutritionals, founded in 1989, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2005. The company was suffering by the fading popularity of its namesake and by the adoption of high protein, low carbohydrate diets by other diet plans. The company came out of the bankruptcy in 2006 with a different strategy which focused more on its diet bars and other nutritionals. The low carbohydrate diet has been emphasized less by the current company.

Dr. Atkins' diet plan remains controversial in the thirty years since it was first introduced. There are some who feel that there is too much cholesterol and triglycerides in Dr. Atkins' diet and that it isn't a particularly balanced diet. Those with elevated lipids in their blood would suffer from a higher risk for heart attack because of the elevated lipids. Dr. Atkins' diet is still felt to be dangerous for these kinds of people especially. The diet's popularity has waned considerably in the last decade or so.