Accusation #11:
AtkinsFacts.org Engages in Selective Citation
A number of objectionable statements appear on the AtkinsFacts.org website regarding Atkins...
* Cancer Risk. You selectively refer to articles to support your claim that the ANA [Atkins Diet] can increase the risk of cancer. Interestingly, this is something you accused Dr. Atkins of doing at page 6 of your site. In fact, studies you omit from your discussion contradict your conclusions.
The tobacco industry similarly accused former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop of "selective reporting" when he argued that smoking caused cancer.[871]
What does C. Everett Koop have to say about your diet? "People need to wake up to the reality," the former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop wrote in December 2003, that the Atkins Diet is "unhealthy and can be dangerous."[872]
The American Cancer Society also condemns both the products of the tobacco industry and the Atkins Corporation for their potential to cause cancer. "A low-carb diet," they write in their official position paper, "can be a high-risk option when it comes to health."[873]
To avoid any risk of selective citation, let us jump right to the most comprehensive report ever published on diet and cancer in history.[874] The "AICR/WCRF Expert Report, Food, Nutrition and the Prevention of Cancer: a global perspective" took over four years to complete, reviewed 4500 studies from thousands of researchers across the globe, and became a landmark scientific consensus document written by the top cancer researchers in the world. Their #1 recommendation was "Choose a diet that is predominantly plant based, rich in a variety of fruits, vegetables, nuts, and beans with minimally processed starchy foods."[875] In other words, essentially the opposite of the Atkins Diet.
The 2004 World Health Organization guidelines are consistent with the AICR/WCRF Expert Report in calling for limiting the consumption of saturated animal fats[876] and "increasing the consumption of fruits, vegetables, legumes [beans, peas and lentils], whole grains and nuts."[877]
As documented in the Cancer section, it is no wonder the American Institute for Cancer Research and the American Cancer Society go out of their way to discourage low-carb diets.
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