Applauding Atkins

By Joel Beck
Friday, April 25, 2003

Swampscott diet guru Barry Sears remembers his late friend and colleague

When Dr. Barry Sears had dinner with Dr. Robert Atkins in Boston last October, Sears had no idea it would be the last time he would see his longtime colleague. Nonetheless, Sears now finds himself paying his final respects to the man whom he debated many times on the topic of health and nutrition.

Sears, a Swampscott resident and creator of the Zone Diet, was as stunned as many people throughout the country when he learned that Atkins, the man behind the famed Atkins Diet, died last week. On Tuesday, April 8, Atkins was walking from his home to his office when he fell and hit his head, suffering severe head trauma. He died just nine days later.

"It just demonstrates how temporal life really is," says Sears in recalling the untimely death of his friend and colleague, who was 72 years old. Atkins' latest book, "Atkins for Life," was released in January and became the number one New York Times bestseller within days.

Also, Atkins was named one of People magazine's 25 Most Intriguing People at the end of the 20th century and was one of Time magazine's "People Who Mattered" at the end of last year.

Atkins was a cardiologist whose diet theory revolved around controlled carbohydrate intake, a method which challenged conventional medical and nutritional science.

Sears says even thought he didn't always see eye to eye with Atkins, the two always had a mutual respect. In the end, he says, their ideas on nutrition really weren't all that different.

"He had a very passionate belief in trying to improve people's health through diets," says Sears. "We both had a common vision that the obesity epidemic in our country was caused by over-consumption of carbohydrates. We just had different approaches on how to reduce that over-consumption."

Sears says he will remember most how Atkins never backed down on his theories, which were often ridiculed and condemned by people in the medical profession. By sticking to his guns, Sears believes Atkins ultimately paved the way for others to come forward with their own theories on nutrition.

"Most impressive to me is that he stood by his convictions through 30 years of continuing controversy," says Sears. "A lesser man may have said, 'I don't need this.' He had his very passionate beliefs and he stood by them. I think that's a very important lesson for all of us regardless of what we do. If you feel passionate about something, you should basically defend it to the end.

"I really think the world really lost a pioneer who questioned conventional wisdom," he adds. "I know personally, I'll miss him to a great extent."

Source: townonline.com