Loading ...Jessica Simpson: ‘Atkins messed me up’
Wonderful! Not that Self Magazine is a paragon of journalism, nor Jessica Simpson a paragon of nutrition, but unfortunately celebrities to have influence over a large group of people. It seems Simpson was “messed up” because she couldn’t get through the 2-week induction part of the diet and so had to cave to all the temptations around her. I’m not sure how this is getting “messed up.” I think instead it shows that Simpson has little self-discipline, or who knows, maybe she was just doing a creative version of Atkins that was 80% fake carb products, with a bunch of low-fat food thrown in? We have no idea mainly because there’s just not enough info presented. You hear rumors of various celebs doing one diet or another but few are outspoken advocates who trumpet their own experiences. I think a couple of exceptions here would be Marry Lou Henner and Suzanne Summers, but those are the only two I can think of.
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MARIAN on 
Gina on 
June 2nd, 2004 at 4:47 pm
More and more news comes out every day about the negative long-term effects of the Atkins diet.
June 2nd, 2004 at 4:52 pm
PIMME, um, what “news” would that be? What I keep seeing is studies that are confirming its long-term safety. If you are referring to publicity stunts that radical vegan groups like PCRM employ, that is hardly “news”!
August 18th, 2004 at 9:59 am
I do wonder how long term PIMME thinks is long term.
After all I have doen the low carb life for 11 months now and am certainly much better in health than before I started. And I have the Doctor’s tests to show it.
January 3rd, 2005 at 1:53 pm
THE ATKINS DIET SUCKS!!!! I’M WITH JESSICA ON THAT ONE 100%….IT MESSED ME UP TOO. I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND IT OR GO BACK TO IT. PLUS, IT IS SOOOOOO BAD FOR YOU
January 28th, 2005 at 7:20 pm
After years of starting Atkins then being terrorized into quitting because everyone kept telling me it would kill me, I moved and had to change doctors. The first question I had for him was what’s the best way to lose weight. I almost fell off my chair when he (bless him!) said Atkins! Since going back on Atkins, for life this time, I have not only lost weight and lots of inches, I have more energy, my bp and tryglicerides have finally fallen into the normal range and I feel great! Interesting that the above visitor didn’t bother to tell how it “messed them up too” or why it’s “soooooo bad for you”. Obviously a comment by the uninformed.
February 4th, 2005 at 2:25 pm
I would not recomend the atkins diet to anyone
I followed it to a T and never lost the weight and when i finally stopped and just started simply eating healthy I ended up weighing more than when I started. Plus noone telly you that
exercise is a main issue with it because it takes away from your muscle mass.
February 4th, 2005 at 2:32 pm
Kimberly, can you give us an example of what you ate on the diet? My sense is if you think that the diet “takes away from your muscle mass” then you have some real misconceptions that may indicate other misunderstandings about the diet. Please give us a typical day’s meals that you ate. Also, how long were you on it, how overweight were you when you started?
March 1st, 2005 at 3:06 pm
I have been on atkins and it works for me. But since then i have found the Blood type Diet and since i’m a type “o” its very similar.
Type “a” are completely different according the ” Eat Right 4 your Type” book and thus some people could react negatively to the Atkins plan if they are a sissy blood type “a”
December 28th, 2005 at 5:55 pm
For all of you “Atkins Bashers”…go do your own research.
Diabetics have known for DECADES what a reduced-carb, protein-centric diet can do: save their lives. This is nothing new-doctors have recommended this diet to diabetics for 40 years.
If this diet were so bad, why do so many diabetics live longer, healthier lives because of it?
I know first hand the difference-being hypoglycemic (a disorder which is effectivley the precursor to diabetes), when I changed my diet to one recommended for diabetics my world changed.
I now feel good most of the time, sleep better, control my own weight VERY simply, and can eat whatever I want, so long as I balance the Big 3-carbs, fat, protein.
February 28th, 2006 at 10:54 am
I have done the Atkins diet in the past when I was considered to be a healthy (slightly overweight) person. I was muscular, only very slightly overweight, like by maybe 5-8 lbs and have problems with water retention mainly. I am 5′6″ female, 28 years old and weigh about 150 lbs sand Im solid. I went on the Atkins diet about 2 years ago and lost at most 21 lbs and I felt horrible, shaky and weak all the time, I couldnt focus on my University work and all I wanted to do was do anything to not stay still so I wouldnt end up falling asleep, which was funny casue I couldn’t sleeep for more than 3 hours at a time and my breathing was starting to be affected, my eyes were bloodshot, and my breathe and butt stank. I did the diet the old fashioned way, meaning not using the Atkins suppliments you can buy adn sticking to the 4 phases and not buying any type of marketed Atkins product. I stayed on the induction for three weeks instead of 2 and even went through cheat periods where I would even drink the diet colas they tell you to stay awa from. I WENT from 155 lbs to 133 lbs on my large boned 5′6″ frame and I was a size 3. From a size 9 to a size 3 and I was compact and tight but I ended up losing so much muscle mass after I lost the fat (there wasnt too much to begin with - but I got hooked). ANYWAYS, I dont recommend the diet to anyone with a few pounds t lose but only maybe if you are obese. Also the diet messes up your T3 levels - these are the chemicals that actively convert T3 into T4 in the thyroid gland. T4 maintains equillibrium of your body’s ability to maintain its size adn burn at the same rate metabolically.
March 6th, 2006 at 6:17 pm
Sabrina, please provide studies which show that a low-carb diet “messes up your T3 levels.” I’m sorry, but while you may feel like the diet wasn’t useful for you, that doesn’t mean that everyone has the same experience. This very set of comments shows that some people don’t seem to have good results on it. Although to be honest I feel like part of why some people fail is because they don’t quite understand how to eat. They don’t quite read the book, but just figure it’s a diet that means you can eat all the meat you want, and no veggies. Some may even not know what carbs are, and so they still eat plenty of them in addition to the additional protein and fat. I was only on Atkins for a couple of weeks before switching to Protein Power, which emphasizes veggies more and takes a more scientific approach, and I’ve now been on it for about five and a half years. It hasn’t “messed me up” in any way and I feel healthier in a lot of ways then I did six years ago. As far as who to recommend the diet to, well, I would recommend a low-carb lifestyle (not diet) that includes lots of veggies and zero processed foods (be they low-carb or not) to just about anyone. But it is true that some people do fine with higher amounts of carbs and so if they feel good, aren’t significantly overweight, and all their test numbers look fine, why change what you’re doing?
November 17th, 2006 at 2:31 am
The long term numbers still aren’t in. What we need is a regularly sampled longitudinal study of a statistically significant number of people.
This whole notion of doing “diets” is rather bizarre. There is nothing magical about food. Although, I’ve got to admit that the Atkins diet, which I have done, provides a very unique way of powering the body. If you’re familiar with nutrition and a bit of biochem (Kreb’s/tca/citric acid cycle), you’ll know that it doesn’t use glycolysis.
The question remains: What change in the cardiovascular and endocrine systems, if any, would we see in Atkin’s Dieters from the norm?
I’ve heard a lot of speculation from people who can’t back up their guesses. The difficulty is: The Ornish Diet actually shows good numbers but you have to convert to Veganism.
While I SAY I’d like to live an additional five years, I’m not sure that I’d like to do it THAT way.
November 29th, 2006 at 7:13 pm
i am a atkins and the atkins diet does to work my dad and mom made the book and the atkins diet and it really does work i lost 50 pounds! so there eat that!!!