Critics claim the Atkins Diet damages the kidneys, causes high cholesterol, and promotes cardiovascular disease. This may be true in the way that most Americans approach the Atkins diet: they consume vast quantities of bacon and other animal products, which are typically loaded with saturated fats and cancer-causing food additives such as sodium nitrite. They also tend to consume large quantities of cheese and dairy products, which are strongly associated with cardiovascular disease, chronic sinus infections and systemic stagnation.
Yet the true Atkins diet -- as genuinely described by Dr. Atkins -- is a very healthy one. Avoiding processed carbohydrates and added sugar is crucial for experiencing optimum human health. Most people are consuming far too much carbohydrate in their diet; from soft drinks, cookies, breads, pastas, and other similar items. The only carbohydrates people should be eating are those carbs found in nature such as whole grains, fruits, and vegetables with relatively high sugar sugar content such as peas and carrots. These are all allowed under the Atkins diet, contrary to popular belief.
Dr. Atkins deserves tremendous credit for making people aware of the long-term health dangers of consuming high carbohydrate foods and beverages. If people are experiencing kidney damage and cardiovascular disease from following what they think is the advice of Dr. Atkins, they are fooling themselves -- they are really just following a high fat diet, loaded with saturated animal fats and food additives. And Dr. Atkins never promoted such food choice to his patients.