WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- A businessman sued the promoters of the Atkins Diet and the estate of founder Dr. Robert Atkins, alleging that the low-carb, high-fat meal plan clogged his arteries and threatened his health.
The suit by Jody Gorran, filed Wednesday in Palm Beach County Circuit Court, seeks $15,000.
Gorran, 53, said Thursday he started the diet in May 2001 because his weight had risen from 140 to 148 pounds. In two months, he said, his cholesterol rose from a normal 146 to an unhealthy 230, and by October 2003, he needed heart angioplasty to clear his arteries.
"I came very close to dying, and this is from a diet I thought was marvelous," said Gorran.
Atkins Nutritionals said in a statement that it stands by the science that has "repeatedly reaffirmed the safety and health benefits of the Atkins Nutritional Approach."
The company questioned the motivation of a Washington-based advocacy group that helped Gorran with the suit. The group, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, promotes a vegan diet banning meat, fish, dairy and egg products.
"We should not let the real issue, providing people with a scientifically validated nutritional choice in the face of a worldwide obesity and type 2 diabetes epidemic, be manipulated by this extremist animal rights vegan group," Atkins Nutritionals said in a statement.
For years, doctors and nutritionists have debated the Atkins diet, which advocates meat, eggs and cheese, frowns on bread, rice and fruit, and allows up to two-thirds of calories from fat, more than double the usual recommendation.
The diet doctor, who died last year at 72 after falling on an icy sidewalk, argued that carbohydrates generate too much insulin, which makes people hungrier and encourages them to put on fat. His books, including the best-selling "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution," have sold 15 million copies and attracted millions of followers.
The advocacy group said Gorran's suit is the first to recently question the merits of the Atkins diet. In 1979, a New York jury rejected an elderly, overweight woman's lawsuit claiming that the Atkins Diet caused her heart disease.
Gorran, who owns a company that makes solar panels for swimming pools, said he believes Atkins products should warn of a risk for developing health problems when eating meat and other foods that are endorsed by the diet and are high in saturated fat.
"For 21/2 years, I extolled the virtues of this diet to anyone who listened because I was losing weight and I felt great. But when I started, I had no idea I was making a deal with the devil for trying to keep a 32-inch waistline," he said.
What do I say ? That man could have lost 8 pound on 3-4 works of smart eating and excercise. He a blooming idiot and his case should be thrown out and him publicly flogged for being an idiot.
8 pounds ??? thats all ???? Heck, I think most of lose that when we do the daily in the morning, LOL !!!
BTW, I'v been on the Atkins for about a year now, lost about 35# and basically I'm somewhat back to eating what I want...and thru excercise and a little restraint on now much I eat, I am holding my weight at one level.
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It' s a dog eat dog world, and I' m wearing Milkbone underwear
He has got to be kidding me!!! He went from 140lbs to 148lbs at 53 years old and needed a DIET (Unless he is a midget)!! What is his target weight 95lbs... I am 5'4" and have weighed 150lbs for the last 10-15 years. After hunting season this year (Feb.) I went up to 163lbs. I exercised and watched what I ate (somewhat) and I am back down to 150. What is this guys problem?
What do I say ? That man could have lost 8 pound on 3-4 works of smart eating and excercise. He a blooming idiot and his case should be thrown out and him publicly flogged for being an idiot.
This makes two times that I absolutely agree with your. Can't we argue some more soon?
congratulations Sswpriz! that is something to be proud of! i am majoring in nutritional sciences right now and i can't tell you have many people go on a diet, lose the weight, and then go back to eating what they ate before... a diet is not a temporary thing, it is a change in lifestyle, that most people give up on... congratulations to you for keeping up with it! as for this guy going on the diet for 8 pounds, he should have done his research, the atkins diet is only for people with normal cholesterol and who need to lose lots of weight and quikly... it is also only a way to lose weight, not to keep it off. after the weight is lost, he should have started eating more healthy and excercizing! anyways, that's my two cents...
Aught Six - You're a Liberal, kerry lovin, Chrisitan, crossbow shooting, atv riding baby killer, aren't you ?
I was prepared to take that in jest, but being called a Kerry lover is too much to bear. Let the battle begin! [>:][>:][>:]
Seriously, this guy is an idiot, and I have no tolerance for idiots and their frivolous lawsuits. It's interesting to note that he was on it for two months. Now, of course, Dr. Atkins marketed the diet as a permanent lifestyle change. But even a month of high-protein eating can cause keto-acidosis, not to mention the high cholesterol he suffered from. Both are very damaging to the cardiovascular system, and just about any doctor or nutritionist will warn you about the risks.
good point Aught-Six, you are oviously well informed to know about Ketosis...
I've had juvenile diabetes for eleven years now; it kind of comes with the territory. I don't want to end up half-dead because I didn't bother paying attention to my eating habits, if you know what I mean. I'm a couple weeks shy of 25, and I know people much younger than I am who are losing hair, teeth, blood circulation, and who knows what else because they don't take this stuff seriously.
Anyway, I guess I'm going off on a tangent. But it just floors me how people can be so ignorant of their health and then want someone to pay for their problems later. Idiots.
damn you Atkins diet
