Girl dies from high protein diet

[poita]

Hey found this on yahoo


NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Missouri doctors describe the case of an apparently healthy 16-year-old girl who collapsed suddenly and died after spending one to two weeks on a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet.



Electrolyte imbalances due to the diet, and the resulting damage to her heart function, were likely responsible, the physicians who cared for her report in a recent issue of the Southern Medical Journal. The girl had no known illnesses or medical conditions.


The teen had low potassium and calcium levels when she arrived at the University of Missouri Health Sciences Center, most likely as a consequence of the diet, the doctors state in their report. This disrupted the normal electrical function of her heart, leading it to stop and causing her to collapse, they write.


Dietitians and proponents of the Atkins diet, one example of a low-carbohydrate/high-protein diet, say that other weight-loss measures including eating disorders like bulimia or the use of diuretics were far more likely to have contributed to the low electrolyte levels found in the teen's blood.


Dr. D. Paul Robinson, a co-author of the paper, said in an interview that while there might be other explanations for the teen's death, including an abnormal heart rhythm, interviews with her parents did not suggest that she had a history of bulimia or diuretic use. Robinson is an assistant professor of child health in the division of adolescent medicine at the University of Missouri, Columbia.


"Most kids with eating disorders, even if they're able to hide the bulimia, they're constantly talking about being fat or needing to lose weight and exercise," Robinson said. "My indication, from what I understand of the interview with this girl's family, is that none of these things were the case."


Colette Heimowitz, director of education and research at Atkins Health and Medical Information Services, told Reuters Health that the Atkins approach has been used by millions of Americans for 30 years now, and there have been no documented cases of serious reactions or fatalities.


"The actual dietary approaches or practices that this particular teenager followed for days or weeks couldn't possibly account for what (the physicians are) attributing it to," said Heimowitz. She noted that the irregular chemical levels detected during the autopsy could be associated with drugs emergency medical personnel and doctors administered to resuscitate the teen, or with other weight-loss efforts.


Robinson disagrees. "I don't think there is any way the resuscitative drugs would have affected (the teen's electrolytic balance)," he said, noting that when the teen came in, she had low potassium levels.


Very high-protein/low-carbohydrate diets result in a condition called ketosis. In ketosis, the body has used up its preferred fuel reserves, glycogen derived from carbohydrates, and instead burns fat. This generates substances called ketone bodies, which can be smelled in the breath.


Wahida Karmally, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, told Reuters Health that these diets can cause muscle breakdown, weakness, nausea and dehydration. They limit the intake of entire categories of food that provide certain nutrients, such as potassium, she explained. "These effects can happen right away," she said.

"It is a worrying set of circumstances when kids die suddenly," Robinson said. "The whole point of writing the paper is to ask clinicians to keep their eyes open. If kids come in with sudden death and they're on this kind of diet, we really have to start paying more attention to it."

SOURCE: Southern Medical Journal 2002;95:1047-1049.

[str8flexed]

first off, there is no proof that the diet caused this...
2nd-I highly doubt a 16 year old girl was following the keto diet properly
3rd-she may have been bulemic or anorexic
4th-did she use drugs?
5th-how much water was she drinking?
there are too many variables...to say a high protein diet killed a girl it just stupid.
Peace

[amusclehead]

Originally posted by str8flexed
first off, there is no proof that the diet caused this...
2nd-I highly doubt a 16 year old girl was following the keto diet properly
3rd-she may have been bulemic or anorexic
4th-did she use drugs?
5th-how much water was she drinking?
there are too many variables...to say a high protein diet killed a girl it just stupid.
Peace

word. i was going to say that, but i didn't want to seem unsympathetic, lol

[poita]

just thought people would be intererested i wasnt agreeing with the article.Do you think what they say about the keto is true how it causes muscle loss

[KaOs]

Originally posted by poita
just thought people would be intererested i wasnt agreeing with the article.Do you think what they say about the keto is true how it causes muscle loss

if you know what your doing, then you shouldnt have any problems while on the diet. Its the people that dont do research on stuff and just assume they know it all, that end up getting hurt in the end. A keto diet is very effective, IF you know wtf your doing.

[Lonny]

Originally posted by poita
just thought people would be intererested i wasnt agreeing with the article.Do you think what they say about the keto is true how it causes muscle loss

You don't lose muscle, you do lose a lot of water weight, muscle and liver glycogen, and strength. I never notice a loss of muscle although i do look flat.

I also find a keto diet to be very effective. It also takes a lot of will power, and EC is almost essential.

[str8flexed]

Originally posted by poita
just thought people would be intererested i wasnt agreeing with the article.Do you think what they say about the keto is true how it causes muscle loss

your body needs glucose...
if glycogen is not presant then it wil synthesize glucose or glucose fragments from another source...one of these sources is protein... protein is found in muscle tissue.... you do the math.

[amusclehead]

Originally posted by str8flexed
your body needs glucose...
if glycogen is not presant then it wil synthesize glucose or glucose fragments from another source...one of these sources is protein... protein is found in muscle tissue.... you do the math.

is it true a keto diet causes your body to actually eat away at your heart? don't know much about keto diets, but i can't imagine that'd be true

[str8flexed]

Originally posted by amusclehead
is it true a keto diet causes your body to actually eat away at your heart? don't know much about keto diets, but i can't imagine that'd be true

No, I seriously doubt the body would catabolize muscle tissue from it's most vital organ to fufill it's energy requirements. In addition skelatal muscle is much different than cardiac muscle... and i'm sure the enzymes which breakdown muscle tissue know the difference...enzymes are extremely specific.
Peace

[dez\null]

eh amusclehead i think your in dire need of a personal trainer man.

btw ontop of that note your info sux

[ugotme]

haha, I didn't like being on a keto diet. I initially lost about 10 lbs of water but every workout sucked, and I didn't feel that the carb up days really did anything for my workouts later in the week. I'm seeing good results on a regular lower carb, upped protein diet.

[amusclehead]

Originally posted by dez\null
eh amusclehead i think your in dire need of a personal trainer man.

btw ontop of that note your info sux

lol, this coming from you

like i said, i know **** about keto diets and don't believe in them, so please take your head out of your ass

[John Henry]

Originally posted by amusclehead
lol, this coming from you

like i said, i know **** about keto diets and don't believe in them, so please take your head out of your ass

If you know nothing about it, how can you say you don't believe in it?

[amusclehead]

Originally posted by John Henry
If you know nothing about it, how can you say you don't believe in it?

i know a bit about them

i believe you should cut in moderation, none of this crap about cutting carbs *almost* down to 0. That, imho, is stupid. Why not just go load up on hydroxocut and save more time.

i'm allowed to have my beliefs

[John Henry]

But get the facts first.

[Abdominator]

Carb cycling is what I usually do 14 days prior to a competition.

When I deplete, I normally eat more fibrous carbohydrates, like broccoli, green beens, corn, asparagus, spinach, etc., along with protein sources like chicken or tuna.

When I load, I normally eat more starchy carbohydrates, like rice, potatoes, breads, etc., also with chicken or tuna.

I carb deplete for 3 days, then load for 4. I do that twice, primarily so that I can come in as "shrink-wrapped" as possible without using a diuretic.

The philosophy behind it is that by depleting my carbohydrate intake, I can reduce the amount of glycogen in my muscles as I exercise. Then when I carb-load again, the glycogen will go back into the muscles and take with it water from the surrounding area. This is all contingent on whether I've increased my potassium:sodium ratio. If the ration is 2:1 or higher (potassium to sodium), more water to be stored in the muscle cells. If Sodium is winning in the ratio, more water will be kept under the skin, giving the muscles a blurry and washed out appearance on stage.

Cycling your carbo-hydrates is something that can be done occassionally, but don't extend the depletion phase for too long. Your body is designed to have a full and balanced meal plan, and things like the "Atkins Diet" wipe out an entire segment of foods, which is not healthy in the long run.

- Skip

[Pro]

That girl should have took a multivitamin.

[weltall]

Originally posted by amusclehead
lol, this coming from you

like i said, i know **** about keto diets and don't believe in them, so please take your head out of your ass

please go talk to fitnessman about ketogenic diets or read up on some studies about how they work. don't bash something that you don't even know about

[Arniefan]

Originally posted by str8flexed
first off, there is no proof that the diet caused this...
2nd-I highly doubt a 16 year old girl was following the keto diet properly
3rd-she may have been bulemic or anorexic
4th-did she use drugs?
5th-how much water was she drinking?
there are too many variables...to say a high protein diet killed a girl it just stupid.
Peace

i agree

[tygersol]

Originally posted by Pro
That girl should have took a multivitamin.

thats the next thing there gonna say someone died from... sad taht the girl died but she really didnt die from that...maybe she had an abnormal illness family history of health conditions who teh hell knows but they just wanna sell papers etc...**** em my .02 big bump on layne's post

[Big Daddy Shane]

Keto is extremely unhealthy, followed for long periods at a time.