Atkins Health Risk – Doctors Launch Campaign, Warning Of Possible Health And Legal Risks.

The nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine is launching a provocative new campaign about the potential medical and legal risks of high-protein diets.

A consumer ad, Got a Beef with the Atkins Diet, will debut on Yahoo.com. An ad targeting primary care physicians—with the headline Could Prescribing a High-Protein Diet Put You at Legal Risk—will debut the following week on The Journal of Family Practice's Web site. Additional placements will follow. Both ads can be viewed now at the campaign's site, http://www.AtkinsDietAlert.org.

Central to the new Web site is an online registry with which PCRM will track adverse health effects from high-protein diets. Anyone who has been on a high-protein diet and believes he or she developed health problems because of it—or anyone who has just begun one of these diets—is invited to register.

Studies show that the foods consumed on meat-heavy, high-protein diets are linked to osteoporosis, heart disease, colon cancer, and renal disease, and have particular complications for people with diabetes.

PCRM is also concerned about legal liability—both from the physician's perspective and that of patients. The site, which features both a consumer and a physician advisory, counsels doctors that liability could be an issue and explains to consumers that they may have legal recourse.

Given the health problems associated with high-protein diets, doctors who prescribe them may be assuming serious legal liability, says PCRM's president Neal Barnard, M.D.

PCRM hopes its campaign convinces physicians and patients to be wary of high-protein diets. There's no need to put yourself at risk when there are safer and healthier alternatives, especially low-fat, plant-based diets, says Barnard. Not only are vegetarians, on average, 10 percent lighter than omnivores, but they enjoy dramatically lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, and several forms of cancer.

About The Author:

Haley Corda is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.atkins-diet-plan-n-recipes.com. Information about the Atkins diet plan and low carb cooking for long term weight loss.