Who_me? wrote:

The high
incidence of kidney problems alone among those who rigidly adhere to Atkins
should be enough to warn most people off.

I considered a larger point by point reply but the above is all that
really needs to be addressed. There are a handfull of signs that
someone is here just to troll. One is confusing the ketosis of a
successful hunter with the ketoacidosis of a diabetic. One is lying
about Dr Atkins being overweight when he slipped on the ice and broke
his skull. One is mention of kidney problems. One is competitive body
builders or marathoners complaining that a plan that is explicitly not
for them is somehow flawed because it's beneficial for the other 99%
of the population because they think what works for 1% must be good
for the other 99%.

In the 1970s when the Atkins plan well new the AMA went after him about
kidney damage. His defense was simple - Show even one single case of
new kidney damage by a person who did not have previous kidney damage
who followed the directions in his books. Three decades later Dr Atkins
slipped on the ice walking to work, at a weight that was arguably
somewhere between ideal or a bit below ideal for his height and build,
broke his skull, and died as a result of brain damage from that fall.
He died with his medical license current because the AMA never did come
up with a single case. Not one single case in three decades. Your
claim of kidney problems is nonsense.

So I call BS on you two ways. Falsehoods about kidneys. Irrelevancies
about competitive body builders.

In fact plenty of competitive body builders use a cycle process of 5-12
days of lower carb than the Atkins process would have them at and 2
days of reversed low fat low carb. The very low carb because it
reduces body fat without muscle mass loss and because it keeps water
retention low. The very low fat high carb because it promotes new
muscle mass growth at the price of water retention. Some low carb fans
use cycles because cycles work. Some low carb fans disapprove of cycles
because cycles trigger massive carb cravings for many. The intensity of
carb cravings varies widely and that explains the differing views. I
take it most competitive body builders have very weak carb cravings. My
sample space is small - The one competitive body builder who cycled like
that reported no carb cravings during his low carb weeks.