In a message dated 97-07-23 10:32:01 EDT, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< although Atkins' diet has been out since the
 mid-seventies, I and no one I know had ever heard of it before I started it
 in January. And it's a tremendously successful diet, by anyone's standard.
  (snip)  So why has
 nearly on one heard of it?  >>

I'd heard of it in the late 1970's.  While YOU may not have, the book was a
big best-seller.

<<Why do all of the low-carb diets remain
 obscured while every new low-fat diet makes such a splash?>>

Atkins and Stillman before him made HUGE splashes.

<<Some of these
 low-fat diets are far nuttier sounding than low-carb, which at least has
 some scientific basis.>>

I never tried the first Atkins diet because the idea (not that Atkins
suggested this) that refraining from fruits & vegetables is our natural diet
strikes me as very nutty.  As nutty as the concept of refraining from eating
flesh.

<<Not only does it help one lose weight, but it usually improves the
 dieter's health, as opposed to the low-fat, low-calorie diets. >>

Actually, Atkins states in his recent book (New Diet Revolution or some such
title) that he has great respect for Dean Ornish.  There is little doubt in
my mind that many people do quite well on an Ornish-type regime (I have known
a few with no vested interests other than their own health), although none of
them are likely to be on this list.

Personally, I would like to see a Firing-Line-style debate amongst Atkins,
Sears (Zone), Ornish, McDougal etc. where they would all have to discuss the
same data and confront each other's success stories.

Kathryn