The Life and Death of Dr. Robert Atkins

Dr. Atkins was born in 1930 and attended the University of Michigan as an undergraduate.  He received his Medical Doctorate at Cornell University and specialized in cardiology.  Unlike other doctors of his era, he was in support of complementary and herbal medicines for many conditions.  He became famous in 1972 when he published his book, “Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution”.

Dr. Atkins diet was sensational immediately.  It allowed people to eat as much as they wanted of protein, a moderate amount of fat and almost no carbohydrates.  His diet was used by all the Hollywood stars and was read by over 30 million people.  His diet had a great deal of controversy.  Almost all nutritionists of the day supported a lower calorie diet that was higher in carbohydrates and strictly limited fat.  Even so, the diet was very popular in spite of the fact that there were no long term studies on the safety and the effectiveness of the diet.

Many other cardiologists said that Dr. Atkins was wrong.  They believed this diet would ultimately cause a heart attack in predisposed individuals because of the elevation in cholesterol and other fats in the diet.  The problem was that no one could prove that the diet was dangerous so people kept on using it.

Dr. Atkins himself raised a bit of controversy in 2002 when he suffered a heart attack which he said was from having an infection in his heart a few years back.  There were many who doubted this and, in fact, upon his death, his death certificate indicated that he had a heart attack and congestive failure, presumably from bad eating habits and high cholesterol.  He eventually recovered from this event and went back to work at his New York office.

Two years later, Dr. Atkins apparently slipped on the ice in front of his office.  This event, however, happened in mid April of 2003—a time when there would be little chance of having ice on a New York sidewalk.  Some people claimed that he likely had a heart attack and fell at the time.  What the world does know is that he hit his head and sustained brain trauma.  Nine days later, he died of kidney failure at a New York hospital.

Those who didn’t believe in Dr. Atkins were quick to note that the six foot tall doctor weighed 258 pounds at the time of his death.  He was, by all technical standards, obese at the time of his death.  His family, however, maintained that he weighed only 195 pounds upon admission to the hospital but that he gained 60 pounds in fluids due to kidney failure in his nine day hospital stay.  The family declined an autopsy on the diet guru.

Dr. Atkins certainly raised strong opinions when he came out with his diet.  Everything nutritionists say makes a healthy weight loss diet was turned upside down with Dr. Atkins diet.  The major downside of his work was that he never was able to do the kinds of research studies that would convince people that his diet was safe and effective.  Everything he did was based on empiricism.  In fact, there have been no long term studies by others on the Atkins diet that would support its use.  Dr. Atkins health condition and untimely death only served to heighten the controversy.