| In his essay,
"Confessions of a Closet Carb Fiend," Dave Barry shares
his thoughts on how people did "dangerous" things years
ago such as drinking water straight from the tap and eating as many
carbohydrates as they pleased without any guilty feelings.
Barry explains that "back in the old days," carbohydrates
weren’t perceived as evil as they are today. He notes the rapid
increases in a variety of low-carbohydrate products that are now
widely advertised such as beer, "denture adhesives, floor wax
and even life insurance."
Barry also says in the days of his youth when people wanted to
lose weight, they would simply switch to a low-calorie diet and
eat "inedible" foods like celery and grapefruit. He claims
Dr. Atkins’ amazing carbohydrate discovery led to people drastically
cutting carbohydrates out of their diets and resorting to eating
excess amounts of cheese, bacon, lard and pork rinds without hesitation.
Initially, as Barry points out in his article, Dr. Atkins was confronted
by a lot of skepticism and sometimes moments of hostility. However,
Atkins pressed on and followed his dream, which was "to help
the human race by selling 427 million copies of his diet books."
Barry says that although the Atkins diet continues to help millions
of Americans lose weight, as a whole, we are heavier than ever.
Miami
Herald March 28, 2004
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