This is the gist of a letter I wrote to Robert Atkins. I'm into
confronting people about their claims.

"Dear Dr. Atkins,

I am a retired neurophysiologist formerly with the Rockefeller University
and NYU Medical School.

I have been following your radio program with interest. I too follow a
diet low in carbohydrates and high in animal food, except that I eat
everything raw, and I have experienced similar health benefits to those
you describe.

Perhaps you are already familiar with the Picower Institute studies on
AGE's, Advanced Glycation Endproducts. These substances, which are formed
non-enzymatically from proteins and lipids that come in contact with
glucose or other sugars in the body and in cooked foods, were thought to
be harmless but have been shown to be toxic and may pose a new risk not
only in complications in diabetics, but in aging. While your patients
enjoy a lowering of blood sugar levels as a result of your diet and may
not form many of these toxic substances endogenously, it is possible that
AGE's could accumulate in their tissues as a result of diets high in
cooked foods, especially cooked meats.

The body of course adapts to toxicosis, and it may take years before
serious disease develops. You have mentioned a number of times that some
of  your patients develop hypothyroidism, yet I have not heard you
correlate this with your diet. My friend Elaine Ullman once telephoned
you, and according to her, you yourself have taken thyroid hormone. Is
this true? As you know, the symptoms of most diseases represent
detoxification events.

The body always has more than one physiological mechanism  for doing
things. When the body needs to detox, the sympathetic nervous system
becomes hyperactive. Epinephrine increase cellular metabolic rate to such
an extent that not as much thyroid hormone is needed to increase the
metabolic rate. The thyroid can become sluggish when there is no
pathology in the thyroid itself, and exogenous thyroid hormone would not
be indicated. People generally go the doctor when they are sick, that is,
when they are having detox symptoms, and may be diagnosed with
asymptomatic hypothyroidism. Upon retesting when such a patient is not
experiencing a detox crisis, the thyroid can be found to be quite
normal. It is possible that your patients who develop idiopathic
hypothyroidism are in a phase of detoxing AGE's or some other toxins.

I realize the damage from AGE's or other toxins in cooked foods could
take many years to
surface, but I am concerned when I hear you use a term such as
"life-long" in recommending your diet. Are you doing follow-up studies on
your patients? If so, I would be interested in hearing your results.

Do you think it might be a good idea to alert your patients to the
potential risks? Perhaps you will look into the new findings with diets
high in raw animal foods. Aajonus Vonderplanitz is getting some exciting
results with a diet high in raw animal fat. People are naturally flocking
to Sushi restaurants, perhaps for good reason.

I look forward to hearing from you and to your continued efforts to help
your patients enjoy better health."

Do you think I'll get a response? He seem to think people who disagree
with him are dumb. Maybe I am. Who knows.

My best, Ellie