So OK, I'm new here, but old in real life! I couldn't see a thread to start posting to as they all seemed to be involved already, and my comments stand alone, rather than part of an ongoing argument.
I noticed somewhere here an inference that meat was all early hominids ate, not true, they were hunter-gatherers, the second bit gives a clue, they gathered. Most of our evolution we have been hunter-gatherers, and ample evidence exists that our ancestors ate a widely varied diet, just as our nearest relatives in the wild do still [chimps]. Our digestive system is capable of digesting this range, unlike true carnivores like felines, the only real meat eaters. Canines, on the other hand, are omnivores like primates [us] and will vary their diet to include fruit and vegetables.
When I heard about the Atkins Diet years ago, I thought Atkins was either a deluded idiot or hated people and wanted to get the more intellectually challenged to damage themselves. Of course you lose weight if you stop eating carbohydrates, that isn't because it's carbohydrates that make you fat [simplistic assumption from the challenged] but if the energy food is removed from the diet, the body starts to utilise its energy stores in order to function, yep, that's the fat! Surprise surprise. It therefore works for a short while, but will eventually make you ill. Didn't Atkins die of bowel cancer?
It is actually perfectly possible to live a healthy life without eating meat, vegans are generally very fit people, and surprisingly, you don't see a fat one.
Our digestive system is basically vegetarian as any biologist will tell you. Meat is a short cut to protein, but it is the most inefficient way of producing protein which is why rich countries like America eat so much of it. Which is why so many Americans are clinically obese. But eating meat isn't the whole story, it's quantity that matters, YOU ALL EAT TOO MUCH. That and an inactive lifestyle. The secret of losing weight is to eat less and exercise more, quite simple really.
But this site isn't really about facts, or science. It's clearly a religion. You have all the signs of a cult. Including the fact that anyone questioning your faith is placed in the 'war zone' where those who want clarity in their little minds don't have to be challenged to think. They can safely be reassured by fellow believers, all chanting from the same hymn sheet. All self satisfied in their conviction that they are right.
In the UK, Atkins has been largely abandoned since its momentary popularity with a few dieters, and is now discredited, even ridiculed, although there are almost certainly a few derabged souls still clinging to it. I was therefore astonished to find this community [of the rich and fat] still going strong. Still obsessed with themselves and their bodies, still unwilling to accept that their rich overconsumtion is what has caused their obesity, and what is needed is self discipline.
Carbohydrates are nature's energy food. Many human populations exist almost entirely on carbohydrate with a little of other foodstuffs. They are healthy, active, and rarely if ever fat. They don't have the luxury anyway of diet clubs and website support groups, they just get on with their natural lives. America is eating itself to oblivion, closely followed by the other rich nations such as Australia. Virtually all your health problems are diet and lifestyle related, and usually solved by major surgery or deluging with noxious chemicals.
I eat lots of carbohydrates, am fit and healthy, have never had a major disease nor been in hospital, and lead an active life with dogs. I look at lkeast ten years younger than others my age, especially those who eat a lot of meat.
I think you're all mad.

Hmm...the rest of your info seems to be as ridiculous as this assertion.
On the offchance you are interested, as was made very clear in the media at the time, Dr Atkins slipped on an icy pavement, and died from the resulting head injury.

Rosebud

I'm afflicted

Carbohydrates are not necessary to one's life!
You can't stay alive without proteins or fats but you can without carbs!

Piet have you ever read Dr Atkins book?

i couldn't have said it better.

I think you'll find that the feeling is mutual!

Even cattle aren't vegetarians. They have billions of bacteria in their digestive systems that digest their food for them, producing fat and protein. Bacteria are animals, so even though cows eat plant matter, they absorb animal matter in large part.
Even bunnies don't eat a low protein diet. Vegan sites are thrilled to point out that rabbit milk has more protein than human milk, and if you check out nutrient profiles of parsley, dandelion and other various greens which are the staples of the bunny diet, you'll find that there's usually as much protein as starch. And a lot of that starch is in the form of fibers which are converted into short chain fatty-acids and absorbed in the colon.

cow gets religion This has probably been posted elsewhere, but this is a pretty good place for it.

I know three people in real life who've had surgery for their weight. Two of them have regained pretty much every pound. There are at least two on this site who've had the surgery and regained. So, it doesn't "solve" it.

Why don't you go read the Success forum.

You sound like Ball.

Piet, your diatribe is very hard to read in more ways than one. Why don't you put space between your paragraphs? Just a suggestion if you actually want people to read what you write.

I happen to eat with a vegan everyday for lunch. She is a wonderful person and is very respectful as to the way I eat. As I am to her. But guess what?

She IS overweight and she DOES have HIGH CHOLESTEROL!! Over 300 total as a matter of fact.

I say nothing because she will not listen to anyone's idea of diet either.
So be it!!

Enjoy your way of life, and I will enjoy mine.

Look! Another random drive by troll.

It has been a long time since I've read quite so many sweeping and incorrect generalisations in one place.
I don't intend to address all of them, but there are a few that I would like to clarify.
First let me say that I am from the UK, and am following Atkins. I am not intellectually challenged, in fact I have both an Astrophysics degree and a Law degree.

Piet said - Meat is a short cut to protein, but it is the most inefficient way of producing protein which is why rich countries like America eat so much of it. Which is why so many Americans are clinically obese.

No, the reason many Americans, and people from other developed countries are obese is the over consumption of sugar and refined carbohydrates which have little or no nutritional value and do not stop the body from feeling the need for more nutrients. The consumption of meat is not the cause of the world's obesity problems, by any stretch of the imagination.

Piet said - In the UK, Atkins has been largely abandoned

Not true. albeit it is not as strongly followed as in the US, but we are a smaller country after all. In fact there was an article just a couple of weeks ago in The Times newspaper which had done a comparison between various diets and Atkins had come out on top.


Piet said - that isn't because it's carbohydrates that make you fat [simplistic assumption from the challenged] but if the energy food is removed from the diet, the body starts to utilise its energy stores in order to function

I think you'll find it hard to find anyone on here who would say that carbohydrates "make you fat" and even fewer who would disagree that the reason that Atkins works is because the body has to burn its own fat...that is what we are all stiving for on here after all, so I struggle to see why you think that it is the "intellectually challenged" who make that assertion! It seems that you are just being rude for the sake of it without any background or reasons.

But, Piet, I have a question for you. Why do you care anyway? What motivates someone to go to the hassle of registering on a site just to post an abusive, rude, incorrect and generally unsubstantiated argument? Why does it affect you if I chose to eat meat rather than sugar, and vegetables rather than white processed bread? It just seems strange that a person with a fulfilled life would go to that trouble. Just my observations - which leads me to your last comment....and I have to say that I think you should take a look at yourself before making judgments about others.

This isnt a cult, its a source of SUPPORT. We are all human beings, with faults unique to each person. To blame all obesity on "rich over comsumption" is so idiotic. Many people turned to this way of eating because nothing else works, diets on Weight Watchers, or whatever, are for some physically draining. Others gained weight from physical problems such as thyroid dysfunction, and even emotional issues. Don't fault us because we are trying to do something about it. I have never felt better physically, emotionally or intellectually than I have on a low carb way of eating. I feel GOOD that I am able to ignore fatty foods and sugars because this way of eating stabilizes feelings of 'hunger' and cravings.

Many have OVERCOME these issues with a LC diet. Most on this site advocate doing whats best for each person, not abiding by some strict set of rules. Once carbs are increased, and a way of life established, most allow ourselves more breads, fruits and more veggies, just the GOOD ones, not the processed carb laden fillers that many did actually become fat on. Try going to a fast food restaurant and ordering a meal with no carbs, you will have a hard time, you may only have the hamburger patty! Yet go and try to have a meal with no meat, you may have the whole menu! Bread, fries, shakes, sugar, carb, carb, carb. And you're saying that we eat too much meat and that's why we are obese?

Think about what you're going to post before you actually expose it and before you decide to put down someones way of eating. You sound uneducated.

ya'll are feeding an uneducated troll... < it isn't worth it