Atkins Company
Bankrupt
Aug 11, 2005
The company founded by the late Robert Atkins has filed
for bankruptcy in New York, according to an article
in the Pretoria News by Andrew Buncombe of The Independent.
How is this possible? Millions of people all over
the world, including in South Africa, are ardent adherents
of the Atkins low-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat
diet. The last thing one would expect, is that the organisation
that controls the Atkins Empire would run into financial
problems.
Mega-company
Starting with the publication of the first book 'The
Atkins Diet Revolution' in1972, the Atkins Empire encompassed
a vast network of money-making ventures. They published
many books on the Atkins Diet, and manufactured high-protein,
low-carbohydrate foods.
People who were frantically searching for a solution
to obesity spent millions of dollars on Atkins products.
So how did things go wrong?
As a dietician who has spent many years trying to warn
the public about the potential dangers of low-carbohydrate,
high-protein, high-fat diets, I was amazed to read about
the demise of this 'old enemy'.
It is hard to believe that an empire endorsed by celebrities
like Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt, Gerri Halliwell and
Minnie Driver could be a failure and lose money.
Possible reasons for the demise
So what caused this amazing decline in the Atkins Company
fortunes? There are a variety of possibilities.
Atkins' example
When Dr Robert Atkins passed away after a fall in which
he injured his head two years ago, this messiah of weight
loss, weighed 120 kg. With a BMI of 37,4, Atkins was
seriously obese.
Critics of his diet had a field day publicising
the fact that Atkins had himself not benefited from
the diet regimen he propounded for more than 30 years.
This negative publicity may have rubbed off on his empire
and his products.
Competition
Many new diet fads like the South
Beach Diet, and local variations such as 'Die Dieet
Waarvan Almal Praat' climbed on the Atkins bandwagon
and initiated vigorous advertising campaigns.
The competition may have undermined Atkins' supremacy
as the only proponent of high-fat, high-protein diets.
Negative effects
Then there are the negative effects associated with
the Atkins
diet that may have started to influence public perception.
On individual level, dieters who stay on the diet experience
negative effects such as constipation, foul breath,
gout, nausea, gallstones, raised blood fat levels, deficiencies
and kidney disease.
If these side effects don't put them off, many dieters
find that they just cannot sustain eating only protein
and fat for long periods. Once they stop using the Atkins
diet, they tend to regain most of their hard-lost fat,
and often gain even more than they lost in the first
place.
Lawsuits
More public expressions of dissatisfaction with the
side effects of the Atkins diet have also been well
publicised.
Last year, the BBC reported that Jody Gorran, of the
USA, was intending to sue the estate of the late Dr
Atkins for $28,000, claiming that the Atkins Diet had
caused his cholesterol levels to rise to dangerous levels.
Dr Gorran started using the Atkins diet in 2001 to
lose weight. After two months on the diet, Gorran's
cholesterol levels rose from a healthy 146 mg per decilitre
to 230 mg per decilitre, a level that is considered
dangerous.
By 2003, Gorran was experiencing chest pain and went
for a medial examination. Doctors found that one of
his major arteries was nearly completely blocked and
performed an angioplasty.
When Gorran stopped using the Atkins diet and went
back to eating a balanced, varied diet, his cholesterol
levels dropped down to the normal value of 146 mg per
decilitre again.
Gorran, who is of the opinion that the Atkins diet
should carry a health warning, took the matter to court.
The American Heart Association did not comment on the
lawsuit, but stated, "Eating large amounts of high-fat
foods for a sustained period raises the risk of coronary
heart disease, diabetes, stroke and several types of
cancer".
Cumulative effect
If we consider the combined bad publicity of Dr Atkins'
massive weight at death, the lawsuits, pressure from
competition and dieters' individual experiences, it
is understandable that the Atkins Empire is crumbling.
What now?
So what should the public do now? I would hope that
anyone who wants or needs to lose weight would turn
to sensible diets and exercise to shed kilos. But many
people still want a quick fix. Modern dieters are often
not prepared to be patient and to put some effort into
weight loss. They want results and they want them pronto.
I imagine that dieters the world over will be trying
out the latest crazes, the latest diets that promise
them instant weight loss, and the latest pills
and potions that seductively lure them into spending
large amounts of money while they run after the phantom
of quick weight loss.
If you are a disillusioned Atkins dieter, please be
sensible this time around. Use a varied, energy-reduced
diet that includes all the food groups, and combine
it with regular aerobic exercise to lose weight. You
may lose slowly, but the weight you lose will stay off
and you will avoid getting trapped in the vicious cycle
of 'yo-yo dieting'. – (Dr Ingrid van Heerden,
DietDoc)
Source: http://www.health24.com
|
