MORE NAILS IN ATKINS' PIANO-CRATE COFFIN

"Trend" stories and their damning statistics are now making it official that the backlash has begun against the ridiculous 'low-carb' claptrap promulgated by Atkins & co., and now a judge has cleared the way for "the nation's first anti-Atkins lawsuit, filed by 54-year-old Jody Gorran, who said two years on the diet left him with arteries so clogged that only emergency angioplasty saved his life. Gorran seeks little money, and instead wants the court to force Atkins Nutritionals, the firm behind the diet, to print warning labels saying the diet may be 'hazardous to your health' on its books and products." Such a label would be on-target, according to experts who warn that millions of Americans on a low-carb regimen are missing out on fiber-rich foods essential to healthy hearts. And "popping a fiber supplement won't change that," one adds, "because it isn't just the fiber that helps us--it's fiber-rich foods" - something Atkins' saturated-fat-happy diet has in short supply.

The kicker is that the one thing Atkins is supposed to do well - take weight off - is proven over and over again to be a temporary blip; a low-fat diet works better for keeping weight off, in addition to being much healthier. A study just announced yesterday confirms this. "People who started eating more fat... regained the most weight over time," said Suzanne Phelan of Brown Medical School. So if you want to gain weight while endangering your heart (i.e. increasing your chance of "slipping on the ice"), by all means, go the Atkins route.