Robert C. Atkins - Atkins for life: the complete controlled carb program for permanent weight loss and good health

You probably bought this book either because you want to slim down or you want to stay slim forever. Both are admirable goals, and I trust that Atkins for Life will help you achieve them. Atkins and successful weight loss are virtually interchangeable. Millions of peopleperhaps you are one of themhave experienced just how effective doing Atkins can be.

But millions more have not yet gotten the message. The most recent figures released in October 2002 by the Journal of the American Medical Association reveal that the number of Americans who are overweight has jumped from 55.9 percent in 1994 to 64.5 percent in 2002. Of those, 30.5 percent are now considered obese (defined as 30 percent or more above a healthy weight), compared to 22.9 percent just eight years earlier. According to the Surgeon General, each year an estimated 300,000 deaths in the United States are associated with obesity. Despite this crisis of obesityand although it may sound surprising coming from meto focus only on weight is to miss the proverbial forest for the trees.

There is another vitally important reason to read this book and follow its advice. Although I am often regarded as a diet doctor, in reality, over the last thirty-five years I have specialized in complementary medicine, which requires me to handle a full spectrum of health conditions. It also allows me to use all the healing arts and not only drugs but also natural treatments. At The Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in New York City, we see patients with unstable blood sugar, diabetes, syndrome X, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, arthritis, hormonal imbalances, and osteoporosis, among other conditions. I have always been struck by how many of these health issues come from or are exacerbated by excessive insulin production, which is likely the result of excessive carbohydrate intake.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, the diagnosis of diabetes among American adults increased by a staggering 49 percent between 1990 and 2000. (I should note that part of this jump is the result of changes in the survey methodology.) About one-third of persons with diabetes are unaware they have the disease, meaning the severity of the epidemic is even greater. Moreover, according to a panel of doctors representing several mainstream medicine groups, one-third of Americans are insulin resistant. Also known as syndrome X, this condition means a person is incapable of managing his or her insulin balance, increasing the risk of diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, polycystic ovary syndrome, and perhaps some cancers, including colon and ovarian cancer.