The Socialist Diet was Killing Me

Socialists complained that it was not fair that Americans enjoyed more meat, cheese, and eggs than everyone else, thus making Americans taller, smarter, and healthier, which was also not fair, and that Americans must therefore immediately stop eating so much of them, but Americans ignored them.

Then socialists started claiming that it took ten pounds of grain to produce one pound of meat, cheese, and eggs, and that Americans must therefore immediately stop eating so much of them, but Americans ignored them.

Then, purely by coincidence, the government started claiming that meat, cheese, and eggs were unhealthy and that Americans must immediately stop eating so much of them. The government also claimed that fat, butter, and alcohol were bad, and that carbohydrates and margarine were good.

The putatively objective news media backed the pro-carb, anti-meat agenda, and when Dr. Atkins proposed that meat, cheese and eggs make you thin and that carbs make you fat, the media  mercilessly attacked him at every opportunity. I’m sure it was a coincidence that self-proclaimed liberals were the most rabid critics of Dr. Atkins.

That was in the 70’s and the 80’s. Much later, I would learn that several popular diets borrowed heavily from the Atkins diet without crediting it at all.

In 1999 I learned that the margarine the government told me to eat was loaded with transfats made from hydrogenated oils, which were highly carcinogenic and less healthy than the natural fat in butter.

I also discovered in 1999 that my total cholesterol, bad cholesterol (LDL), and triglycerides were high, and my good cholesterol (HDL) was low. So I ate no meat, no cheese, and no eggs for 3 months. I also greatly increased my exercise, and after 3 months, my triglycerides were actually significantly higher, my HDL had not improved, and my total cholesterol was only 10% lower – partially because of the exercise. I did lose 7 pounds though – entirely because of the exercise.

Then a few months later, I read the 1985 edition of Dr. Atkin’s book, which was first written in 1975, and I followed phase one (the induction phase) of his diet for 12 days. The induction phase is the most extreme phase of his diet. I ate mostly meat, cheese, and eggs, and low carb salads – with NO exercise. I ate a lot of calories – more than on the vegetarian diet. I also added one ounce of alcohol each day. I was also taking a drug that reduces bad cholesterol (LDL) by 18%.

My LDL dropped 18% as expected, so the Atkin’s induction phase did not increase my LDL. My HDL went UP 40%, which was excellent! My triglycerides fell from 525 to 150, which was perfect! Recall that my triglycerides actually went UP on the vegetarian diet. I also lost 7 pounds in 12 days – with NO exercise vs. 7 pounds in 3 months on the vegetarian diet – WITH exercise.

Clearly, the socialist diet was killing me, and the capitalist diet saved me.