My Support Forums - View Single Post - To Fish re: diet/food (from: i would appreciate an opinion)

fishsandwich · Jun 17, 2012, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by costello

Yeah, that's the second edition. The first edition (1972) was even more poorly written.

Maybe for the third edition, they could pay me to copy-edit it.
Then I would have money to buy all this blasted meat!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by costello

One of the oldest that I know of was from th 1860's there in London - William Banting's Letter on Corpulence: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Banting. He was the dieter, not the doctor.

I adore Banting! There's an exhibit about him and his diet at the Wellcome Institute (a big medical research charity that also runs a museum). Did you know that before ANYBODY said "dieting", they said they were "Banting"?? The Wellcome Institute has all these pictures of flappers and their "Banting" meals.

Quote:

Originally Posted by costello

Do you know they dragged [Dr. Atkins] in front of a Congressional hearing to justify himself in the 1970's?

I'm starting to detect huge political overtones in his book, too. I know corn subsidies are a huge issue in the US -- as a Canadian/European, it's not something I've ever been directly affected by.

Quote:

Originally Posted by costello

To me low carb diets are the equivalent of the anti-psychiatry approachs to sz. If a person recovers from sz and feels that sz was some kind of spiritual experience, maybe others can learn from his experience? Or should we roll our eyes and says, "But it's not scientific."

My problem with Atkins is not necessarily that he's unscientific, it's that he's illogical/makes contradictory assertions. Maybe he wasn't actually illogical about his diet at a "higher" level, but the chattiness of his book means he often contradicts himself -- I think probably, as you say, as a practical response to how people are used to eating.

Quote:

Originally Posted by costello

Yeah, his products are a separate issue. I never use them. His cookbooks are the same way. Half the recipes call for special Atkins products. Doesn't detract from the central message for me.

I get the feeling his personal wealth manager or similar decided on the products. I'm not really fussed about them and don't plan to eat them (actually, I'm not even sure they're sold in the UK any longer).