I'm by no means a huge Atkins advocate, but I get really upset when people base Atkins' death and weight on his
diet plan...
Dr Atkins was a rather healthy 72-year-old person, with a moderate weight (195 lbs). His coma condition and being artificially fed led to an abnormal swelling during those nine days when his life was supported by medical equipment. People who saw him admitted that he was unusually swollen. The liquids given by medical assistance could have been the cause of his growing. Upon admission to the hospital, he was a very healthy 195 pounds - His 60 pounds of weight gain while in the hospital was due to his organs shutting down, and him retaining fluids. After many decades of criticism, Dr. Atkins was finally beginning to receive the recognition he had always deserved, which the rumours swept away...
Three years before his heart attack, Dr. Atkins (69) announced that he had been diagnosed with cardiomyopathy, which may have been responsible for the heart arrest three years later. Also, on his regular heart control, he found that his coronary arteries showed insignificant signs of coronary disease. Given his age, Dr. Atkins was a VERY healthy person.
So, in fact, the idea that Dr. Atkins died of a heart attack is bunk. He died of a HEAD INJURY. He suffered a severe head injury April 8, after slipping on an icy sidewalk yards from his Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in midtown Manhattan.
Atkins underwent surgery to remove a blood clot that formed after his fall, but he remained in critical condition at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center.
I agree completely that the Atkins diet is probably impossible to maintain througout your whole life. Eating a balanced diet is probably the best route for ANYONE to follow - however, it has shown to work for many obese people, when other forms of dieting would not. And for that, I commend Atkins for developing his diet plan, and I encourage anyone that is completely lost in this weight struggle, to give Atkins a try, while reading his books, inquiring as MANY healthy fruits and vegatables into the plan that are allowable. In the end, the plan may turn out to be unhealthy. But so is being morbidly obese.