SC - getting rid of the gamey taste in meat...

[Susan Fox-Davis]

Margali and others,

PLEASE be espescially careful of the atkins at those other hi-pro, low carb
diets. I, too went on Atkins, and lost a goodly amount of weight (all of
which is back on, now, btw...). The reason for this caution is more serious,
however.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, I had small fibroid tumors and then developed
endometriosis, and I developed ampant PMS (which I knew about---who could
miss that?). Fibroid tumors are mostly experienced by women , are usually
benign but cause a lot of internal problems, for the curious out there. At
any rate, the Atkins diet seemed perfect for me to shed those pesky pounds,
since I could eat what I liked the best---fat, grease, meat of any kind, and
it was easy to be a SCAdian on the diet without too much sacrifice.

It's what I didn't know that got me, however. There were some extrememly
important facts I needed before starting that diet, ones that the GP didn't
understand before giving me the go-ahead.
First and foremost, animal fats are the preferred storage place for estrogen
and other hormones. Those hormones (many of which are given to cattle so
they will weight more at market or will produce more milk), esp. estrogen,
caused the fibroids to grow quickly, and caused the endometriosis to quickly
worsen. Carbohydrates, which act as a mood soothers, were mostly missing in
my diet and so those agressive PMS tendencies exploded. Those of you who
know me but haven't heard this story are probably now saying "Oh! That's why
she was such a rampant b**ch," because I rarely talk about it, and it's true
that I was not nice to be near for quite a while. The long and the short of
it is this: I have to live with a belly that is the size of a woman who is 4
months pregnant. That's permanent unless I opt for surgery, though once off
the diet and after some hormone therapy that has stopped it's rapid
increase. The agression came under control by quitting the diet and taking
Prozac for a while (hormone therapy worked here, as well, and that was the
end of the mood altering substances, thank god). Hormone therapy and minor
surgery helped with the endometriosis. I'm still struggling with all these
things, which were present in a MINOR way before the diet, but they were
agravated and shoved out into the forefront of my life by that damned diet.
PLEASE don't follow it for too long.

My apologies to those who are a bit squeemish about female issues, but most
doctors now agree that the effects of that diet are woefully understudied
and that it's probably dangerous to follow for any length of time. I was on
it 8 months. I'll regret it for the rest of my life. There are worse things
in life than extra pounds.

My personal advice: This diet is not for you if you are female and haven't
reached menopause (at which point the endometriosis and fibroids are mostly
non-issues). If you're a female and fertility is valuable to you, run away
from this diet as fast as your legs will carry you. If your endocrine
(thyroid, etc.)system is even remotely wonky, run away. If you go on this
diet and notice increased agression (many people, men and women experience
this), run away!

Aoife, trying weight watchers now, and having a modicum of success, but
feeling much healthier.

Margali Wrote:
>Well, as an atkid I can snack on macadamia nuts, cracklings, cream
>heese based 'fudge', eggs ... anything low in carbs and in >moderation.
>[teasing] I have recipes for low carb fudge and low carb mint ice >cream