- Robert Atkins (nutritionist)
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For other people named Robert Atkins, see Robert Atkins (disambiguation).
Robert Coleman Atkins, MD 
Born October 17, 1930
Columbus, OhioDied April 17, 2003 (aged 72)
New York CityKnown for Atkins Diet and Ketosis research Spouse Veronica Atkins (1986-2003) Parents Norma Atkins (neé Reuters) Robert Coleman Atkins, MD (October 17, 1930 in Columbus, Ohio – April 17, 2003 in New York City) was an American physician and cardiologist, best known for the Atkins Nutritional Approach (or "Atkins Diet"), a popular but controversial way of dieting that entails close control of carbohydrate consumption, emphasizing protein and fat intake, including saturated fat in addition to leaf vegetables and dietary supplements.
Contents
Life
When Atkins was aged 12 his family moved to Dayton, Ohio, where his father owned restaurants.[1] Atkins graduated from the University of Michigan in 1951 and received a medical degree from Weill Cornell Medical College in 1955. He had internal medicine and cardiology residencies at hospitals affiliated with the University of Rochester and Columbia University,[1] then specialized in cardiology and complementary medicine, opening an office in the Upper East Side in New York in 1959.[1] He married his wife Veronica when he was 56.[2]
After suffering a cardiac arrest in April 2002, Atkins stated that it was due to a chronic infection,[3] and Dr. Patrick Fratellone, Atkins' personal physician and cardiologist, concurred, saying "We have been treating this condition, cardiomyopathy, for almost two years. Clearly, his own nutritional protocols have left him, at the age of 71, with an extraordinarily healthy cardiovascular system." According to CNN reports at the time, Dr. Clyde Yancy, a cardiologist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and a member of the American Heart Association's national board of directors, said: "Despite the obvious irony, I believe there is a total disconnect between the cardiac arrest and the health approach he (Atkins) popularizes."[4]
Death
On April 8, 2003, at age 72, a day after a major snowstorm in New York, Atkins slipped on icy pavement, suffering severe head trauma. He spent nine days in intensive care, before dying on April 17, 2003 from complications from his head injury.[5]
Work
In 1963, when Atkins weighed 100 kg (224 pounds) due to a diet of junk food, he read "A New Concept in the Treatment of Obesity" by Edgar S. Gordon, Marshall Goldberg, and Grace J. Chosy, a study of a low-starch diet in the October 5, 1963 issue of JAMA based on the work of Alfred W. Pennington[1] and successfully lost weight by following it, which was repeated with 65 of his overweight patients. He appeared on the Tonight show in 1965, and his diet became known as the 'Vogue diet' after a 1970 Vogue article on it.[1] He published Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution in 1972, which soon sold millions of copies.
He founded the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in Manhattan, which had 87 employees in the 1990s,[6] and where he said he treated over 50,000 patients,[7] and founded Atkins Nutritionals in 1998 to promote his low-carbohydrate diet, with revenue of $100 million.[3][8] He published Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution in 1992, which again became a best-seller.[1]
Atkins suggested that "carbohydrate is the bad guy" through extensive research, that it causes the body to overproduce the hormone insulin, a condition called hyperinsulinism,[9] which metabolizes blood glucose and thus makes people feel hungry.[2]
Books
- Atkins, Robert C. The Essential Atkins for Life Kit: The Next Level Pan Macmillan, 2003. ISBN 0-330-43250-8
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' Diet Planner M. Evans and Company, 2003 | Vermilion, 2003. ISBN 0-09-189877-3
- Atkins, Robert C. Atkins for Life: The Next Level New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003. ISBN 1-4050-2110-1
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution New York: Avon Books, 2002. ISBN 0-06-001203-X. | Vermilion, 2003. ISBN 0-09-188948-0
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution M. Evans and Company, 2002.
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' Age-Defying Diet St. Martin's Press, 2001, 2002
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution: Nature's Answers to Drugs Simon and Schuster, 1997
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' Quick & Easy New Diet Cookbook Simon and Schuster, 1997
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' New Carbohydrate Gram Counter. New York: M. Evans and Company, 1996. ISBN 0-87131-815-6
- Atkins, Robert C, Gare, Fran Dr. Atkins' New Diet Cookbook M. Evans and Company, 1994 | Vermilion, 2003. ISBN 0-09-188946-4
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution M. Evans and Company, 1992
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' Health Revolution Houghton Mifflin, 1988
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' Nutrition Breakthrough Bantam, 1981
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' SuperEnergy Diet Cookbook Signet, 1978
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' SuperEnergy Diet Bantam, 1978
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' Diet Cookbook Bantam, 1974
- Atkins, Robert C. Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution Bantam, 1972
Biography
- Rogak, Lisa (2005). Dr. Robert Atkins: the true story of the man behind the war on carbohydrates. Robson. pp. 230. ISBN 186105887X. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=8D17uXmwieIC.
References
- ^ a b c d e f Martin, Douglas (April 18, 2003). "Dr. Robert C. Atkins, Author of Controversial but Best-Selling Diet Books, Is Dead at 72". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/18/nyregion/dr-robert-c-atkins-author-controversial-but-best-selling-diet-books-dead-72.html. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
- ^ a b Leith, William (April 19, 2003). "Robert Atkins: Diet guru who grew fat on the proceeds of the carbohydrate revolution". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2003/apr/19/guardianobituaries.williamleith. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
- ^ a b "Dr Robert Atkins: Apostle of protein gluttony as a passport to health, wholesomeness and the perfect figure". The Times. 18 April 2003. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article858658.ece?print=yes&randnum=1151003209000. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
- ^ "Atkins diet author home after cardiac arrest". CNN. 25 April 2002. http://articles.cnn.com/2002-04-25/health/atkins.diet_1_atkins-diet-cardiac-arrest-cardiomyopathy?_s=PM:HEALTH.
- ^ McCool, Grant (April 18, 2003). "Low-carb diet pioneer dies at 72". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2003/apr/18/2. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
- ^ Kaufman, Michael T. (6 March 1993). "The Maze of Alternative Medicine". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1993/03/06/nyregion/about-new-york-the-maze-of-alternative-medicine.html. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
- ^ Witchel, Alex (November 27, 1996). "Refighting The Battle Of the Bulge". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/27/garden/refighting-the-battle-of-the-bulge.html. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
- ^ Fishman, Steve (March 15, 2004). "The Diet Martyr". New York Magazine. http://nymag.com/nymetro/news/people/features/n_10035/. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
- ^ Leith, William (February 9, 2003). "What the doctor ordered". The Observer. http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2003/feb/09/foodanddrink.shopping. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
External links
- Atkins Nutritionals
- Larry King interview
- BBC Obituary: Dr Robert Atkins 17 April 2003
- Snopes on Doctor Atkins' death
- The Smoking Gun on Robert Atkins Medical Examination
- Robert Atkins at Find-A-Grave
Categories:- 1930 births
- 2003 deaths
- American cardiologists
- American health and wellness writers
- American nutritionists
- American physicians
- Cornell University alumni
- Diet and food fad creators
- Low-carb diets
- Accidental deaths from falls
- University of Michigan alumni
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