Accusation #12:
AtkinsFact.org Makes "Unsupported" Arguments About Bone Risk
This claim is similar to the one made in "Talking About Atkins to Your Doctor," a section of your website which explains that "you may have to educate your health-care provider a bit about exactly what's involved with Atkins." If, for example, a dieter's doctor is concerned that eating too much meat may leach calcium from their bones, you recommend they tell their doctor "This is another myth that has been disproved."[957] Before anyone confronts their doctor, though, they may want to know the whole story.
The truth is that we've known for 80 years that high protein intake, particularly the protein found in beef, fish, and chicken, increases calcium loss through the urine.[958]
In 2002, the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations published the long-awaited report "Human Vitamin and Mineral Requirements."[959] They concluded that animal protein intake has a "major effect" on calcium requirements. Using an equation based on over 200 calcium balance studies, they calculate those who eat 60 grams of animal protein lose the equivalent of hundreds of milligrams of consumed calcium every day. Meanwhile, independent nutritional analyses find Atkins followers eating as much as 140 grams of animal protein a day.[960]
For documentation of what this kind of acid load might do to one's bones see the section on osteoporosis.
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