The following is from a newsletter I receive, I thought it was appropriate for this thread to add it. Some people just seem a little odd to me, or maybe I am the odd one since it made me giggle.
Health Sciences Institute e-Alert
January 29, 2004
".. and another thing
Blinding blinders and the blind people who insist on wearing
them...
I almost got into an argument at my gym last week. Nothing
serious - just a slightly warmed-up exchange of ideas with a
woman who casually commented on the recent news reports that the
Atkins diet had been modified to downplay the fat intake.
I'd just read the New York Times article about Atkins, and the
reply to the article on the Atkins web site, so I told her that,
in fact, the Atkins diet was no different than it ever was.
No, she said - I was wrong. She saw it on TV.
And, I said, no, the TV reports had just picked up the New York
Times misinformation and run with it without checking the
facts.
"Well," she said, "my cardiologist wouldn't let me do Atkins
anyway."
You know I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I pushed it a
little further, mentioning that a Duke University study found
that subjects using the Atkins plan scored equal or higher marks
in all of the heart-health categories when compared to subjects
using the American Heart Association's "Step 1" low-fat diet.
The Atkins subjects had not only lost more weight, but also had
a much larger increase in HDL cholesterol, and a far greater
drop in triclycerides. In addition, neither diet showed a change
in LDL cholesterol.
Now you would think that this information would carry some
weight, right? But the woman responded by saying, "I know. I
read that study."
Well, she had me there! If she read and (apparently) understood
the study, then she already knew that Atkins has not been shown
to do any harm to the heart. In fact, just the opposite!
Nevertheless, her cardiologist wouldn't "let her" do Atkins.
I guess for some folks, blinders are a comfortable fit.
To Your Good Health,
Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute"