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The Atkins Spousal Syndrome: Partners of Low-Carb Dieters Suffer
from the Wall Street Journal... here it is.
The Atkins Spousal Syndrome: Partners of Low-Carb Dieters Suffer By KATY MCLAUGHLIN Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL Alfred Gingold, a 56-year-old writer in Brooklyn, has never been on the Atkins diet. Nevertheless, his doctor blames Atkins for the uptick in Mr. Gingold's cholesterol level. The culprit: Mr. Gingold's wife, Helen Rogan -- who was on Atkins for several months this summer. She followed the high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, and as a result the family dinner table groaned under the weight of dishes like fried pork chops and "beer can chicken" with lots of crispy skin. Though Mr. Gingold wasn't on Atkins, he was eating all that additional meat and fat -- and still chowing down on items the diet forbids, like spaghetti and bread. As a result, his cholesterol jumped about 10 points. Add a new complaint to the various beefs about the controversial low-carb diet: Atkins Spousal Syndrome. With Atkins and similar plans gaining adherents, doctors and nutritionists say the diets are having an unintended, and often unpleasant, impact on people who live with a dieter but who aren't dieting themselves. The problems range from rising blood pressure to halitosis, a common side effect of low-carb diets. "This diet is the best form of birth control," says Dayna Zizis of Bay Shore, N.Y., who says her dieting husband's breath can be a turnoff. But while a major recent study showed that a strictly low-carb diet can be healthy, spouses of dieters sometimes find themselves eating the new foods that are appearing on the table -- like more beef, cheese and butter -- and also eating the potatoes, bread and snack food that their significant other is avoiding. Atkins itself warns people not to do the diet halfway by continuing to eat carbohydrates while also adding in more meat and fat. "That's the deadliest combination," says Colette Heimowitz, education and research director at Atkins Nutritionals, the company that markets the Atkins diet. For a nondieting family member, this spells trouble. "It's kind of like second-hand smoke," says Amy Lanou of Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a group that recommends a vegetarian diet. Pork-Rind Dip, Anyone? WSJ.com - The Atkins Spousal Syndrome: http://online.wsj.com/article_print/...321800,00.html (1 of 3)9/21/2003 3:24:44 AM WSJ.com - The Atkins Spousal Syndrome: While any diet of course can bring tensions into the home, Atkins can have a particularly big impact because it inspires such fervor. It has spawned hundreds of low-carb Web sites, where passionate fans sometimes praise the diet in what might be called low-carb-speak. An excerpt from Atkinsfriends.com: "LC is the best WOE for me. Even my BF says I am sweeter when I LC." Translation: "A low-carb diet is the best way of eating for me. Even my boyfriend says I am sweeter when I low-carb." Also common online: Snapshots of brides cutting low-carb wedding cakes, and recipes for treats like pork-rind dip. "They're like a cult," says Ms. Zizis, who adds that her husband follows her around the kitchen gabbing about carbs. "It's pretty annoying." Low-carb diets can have other side effects on loved ones above and beyond bad breath (which is caused by certain chemicals being released in the breath, as well as the urine, as the body burns fat). They include constipation (due to a lack of fiber in the diet's early stages) and even a full-blown case of the grumps. Judith Wurtman, who studies the link between diet and emotion at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says her research shows that a lack of carbohydrates can create a depressed mood. Credibility Boost The Atkins diet, invented in the 1970s, got a major boost in May, when the New England Journal of Medicine published a study showing that strict adherence to it can be quite effective for weight loss and doesn't have a significant effect on bad cholesterol. Since then, Atkins- type diets have enjoyed meteoric success. Today, nearly 2% of the U.S. population is on some kind of low- carb diet, according to NPD Group. The diet is so ubiquitous that fast-food restaurants are putting "protein meals" on the menu, and supermarkets are rolling out contradictory-sounding foods like "low carb" pasta. Much of the medical establishment believes that the Atkins diet and others like it are dangerous even when properly followed. The American Heart Association and the American Dietetic Association warn against adopting the diet, saying that there hasn't been enough long-term study proving that it is safe and effective. Breath Mints Atkins Nutritionals says studies show that mood can actually improve on the diet, and that cholesterol and blood pressure don't go up when carb intake is controlled. It also says bad breath and constipation are likely to occur only during the first two weeks, when carb intake is strictly limited; the solution is to use a sugar-free breath mint, drink plenty of water and eat fiber-rich vegetables. After the diet's initial phase, a spokeswoman says, it becomes completely healthy even for nondieting members of a household, since it includes many whole grains and vegetables. Doctors point out that many people get into trouble when they jump on the bandwagon without really understanding how the diet works. "They seem to think that the Atkins approach legitimizes eating unlimited sausage and bacon," says Tom Barnard, a general internist in Leamington, Ontario. In spite of the potential for marital distress, the Atkins diet remains wildly popular mostly for one http://online.wsj.com/article_print/...321800,00.html (2 of 3)9/21/2003 3:24:44 AM WSJ.com - The Atkins Spousal Syndrome: reason: Lots of people lose lots of weight on it. But that, too, can be hard on some spouses. For Sharon Stine, a homemaker in Conowingo, Md., Atkins Spousal Syndrome kicked in when her husband lost weight on a low-carb plan while she remained overweight and pregnant, to boot. "It really made me feel like I was this giant cow," says Ms. Stine. By contrast, her husband had suddenly become "kind of a hottie," she says. --Jane Spencer contributed to this article. Write to Katy McLaughlin at 3 URL for this article: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1...321800,00.html Hyperlinks in this Article: (1) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1...858300,00.html (2) http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1...219304,00.html (3) Updated September 18, 2003 Copyright 2003 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Printing, distribution, and use of this material is governed by your Subscription agreement and Copyright laws. For information about subscribing go to http://www.wsj.com http://online.wsj.com/article_print/...321800,00.html (3 of 3)9/21/2003 3:24:44 AM http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap030724.html Lift well, Eat less, Walk fast, Live long. |
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