Kidney Disease

I am sure I read in the new edition of Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution (it was
and updated version of the new one put out in the early 90's) that Dr.
Atkins said his diet was safe to go on if your creatinine level was 3.5 or
lower and that if it was higher than that a special high-fat version of the
diet could be constructed. Does anybody know where I could get more
information on that particular subject? Thanks, John

"Mason" wrote:

I am sure I read in the new edition of Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution (it was
and updated version of the new one put out in the early 90's) that Dr.
Atkins said his diet was safe to go on if your creatinine level was 3.5 or
lower ...

Safe as long as there's no previous existing kidney disease.
There's never been a single case of kidney damage from going
on Atkins the way it is written in the book (and claims of new
kidney damage are a way of figuring out that a person is so
clueless about diet they can't tell a banana from a roast
chicken). But that doesn't address folks who have existing
kidney damage.

and that if it was higher than that a special high-fat version of the
diet could be constructed.

I recall in the book saying you need special extra medical
supervision to go on Atkins. That said I think you should
consider other low carb plans that aren't ketotic. South Beach
Diet or Carbohydrate Addicts Diet perhaps.

Since Atkins already is high fat as it is written in the book if
you eat the foods suggested and follow the directions and
then do your counts, I think you mean low protein.

Does anybody know where I could get more
information on that particular subject?

There's at least one regular poster Dawe A, who reversed
kidney damage with low carbing. That says it's possible but
no way I'll suggest you do it on your own. Have very
careful medical supervision.

On the high fat version, the numbers aren't hard to work out.
Look up a good minimum protein (Protein Power by Drs
Eades has a chapter on that) and try to stay at that minimum.
Use the Atkins 4 phases to determine CCLL and CCLM and
use those as carb targets. Fill the rest of with fat.

My target weight as listed in insurance charts is 170
therefore my ideal weight in reality is 180. Using a common
calorie guideline I should target 1800 calories per day. My
Atkins CCLL is a very common 50 to lose, 100 to maintain.
In round numbers 100 grams of protein is good for me. So
let's do the arthmetic -

1800 calories total - (100 grams carb * 4) carb calories = 1400

1400 calories except carbs - (100 grams protein * 4) = 1000

1000 calories of fat / 9 = 111 grams of fat.

That's how the arithmetic works out without even going low
protein and anyone with a history of doing low fat dieting
will think that's high fat. For the same total calories, more
fat and less protein works better for loss so I could trade
another 400 calories of protein (going to 200 grams, 800
calories) for 400 calories of fat (going to 78 grams, 600
calories) keeping my total calories the same. That starts
to push low fat ranges. Somewhere in between those two
sets of numbers it's easy to do so that's what my
maintenance food looks like when I'm doing well.

But the exact same arithmetic works if you get perscribed
a low protein plan by your doctor. Do the arithmatic -
Look up a total calorie value, subtract out the calories
from your desired protein, subtract out the calories from
your desired carbs, and the result is the calories from fat
you'll need. Not difficult to figure.

Going that low protein and that high fat isn't going to be
natural in the foods you eat so it will take a lot of getting
used to. Make absolutely certain you work these issues
out with your doctor first. *No* roll your own plans that are
based on Atkins for someone with existing kidney damage.