Zorba Paster: Some Thoughts On Dr. Atkins And Dr. Oz

Dear Dr. Paster: Once again you drank the Kool-Aid of anti-Atkins trolls. I’m talking about the Atkins Diet.

If you truly knew television’s Dr. Oz (and you claim that you do), you’d have seen him debunk the same type of slanderous attacks you make on Dr. Atkins’ name. You try to guffaw your way out of the facts, buddy, but e-rumors are just what the word says: rumors.

The Atkins family was there when he died. They claim he was a genius, and they should know — they’re his family. You claim that he died, in part, because of what he ate. Bunk!

And, by the way, Dr. Oz always speaks the truth — not like you. Start reading more and talking less; maybe you’ll learn something.

– Unhappy radio listener
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Dear Unhappy: First up, thanks for listening.

As for your rather scathing letter — I love it. I love all letters because they give me a chance to think about what I say and write. And, believe it or not (and I suspect you’re in the “not” category), I do change.

It’s clear to me that when I attack Dr. Atkins, I’m pulling your chain.

Let’s start with the “Atkins family should know” idea.

Let us not forget that they own the Atkins name and, thereby, the Atkins Candy Co.

Of course, it’s not really called a candy company, but read on and you’ll see why I label it this way — some of their products are candy, plain and simple.

Let’s Google the “Dr. Atkins Caramel Chocolate Nut Roll,” for example. It clocks in at 190 calories, a bit less than a Snickers candy bar, my favorite treat when I feel like some junk food. It only has 2 grams of sugar — about as much as is in a sugar cube, and far less than a Snickers bar. It also has 7 grams of protein, along with 15 other ingredients that make it clearly an industrialized product.

Now, here’s how I see it: The nut roll is touted as low-carb and, yes, this is no doubt true. It has fewer carbs than a Snickers; if you’re a low-carb person, this is a candy option.

It’s also touted as healthy because, among other things, it has protein. Well … there’s not a lot of protein; 7 grams is as much protein as 1/7th of a cup of peanuts. That’s pretty slim pickings.

And then there are the calories. Eat an Atkins bar and you’d need to walk 45 minutes to burn it off.

So I think I have a point here: This is a candy bar. If you’re on a low-carb diet, then it’s the candy bar for you.

But label it as a candy bar and take away the cloak that it’s somehow a healthy candy bar — it is not. It’s just a different kind of candy bar.

Making this food seem healthy is misleading and does not help our obesity epidemic.

I think many people eat the Atkins’ products just like candy but don’t know the truth.

If you want a sweet, go to Mother Nature — it’s called fruit. If you want protein, also go to Mother Nature and eat any bounty of protein-rich foods.

And if you want to jump on the Dr. Atkins’ bandwagon, by all means do it — but the data show that two years down the line, only 1 in 20 people on the Atkins Diet will have kept off the weight they might lose.

So, I’ll stick with my opinion.

When Dr. Atkins died at the age of 72, he weighed 258 pounds. Now, he was a tall guy, but if he wanted his Body Mass Index to be in the normal and not obese range, he would have had to be 7-foot-2.

He died fat; he was obese. You have to ask why that happened. Why didn’t the diet work for him? Hmm …

Now, what about Dr. Oz? I’ve met him several times. He is brilliant sometimes, not so brilliant other times.

Let us not forget that he’s a talk-show host first, a doctor second. He uses his mantel of medicine to tell us good things but also to sell lots of Kool-Aid.

It’s such a problem that Congress asked him to testify before a committee about some of the things he was saying about weight-loss products. Since that time, he has scaled back a number of his claims but I do, frankly, find him a bit disappointing.

In the end, my friend, keep up the conversation. Keep up those letters.

I am a proponent of the great University of Wisconsin motto: “The great state University of Wisconsin should ever encourage that continual and fearless sifting and winnowing by which alone the truth can be found.” Stay well.