The trend is spreading, just as quickly as the opposition is making attacks against the Atkins' Diet.

There are three million people currently on the Atkins' Diet, and that number is growing exponentially. However, there are many people who believe that the diet is a scam, and will actually lead to worse physical health in the dieter's future.

"The Atkins' Diet is an imminent public health threat," said Dr. Neal Barnard, President of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, according to a NY Times article from February 11, 2004.

Dr. Robert C. Atkins died in 2003. Dr. Atkins, slipped on ice and fell, the fall left him in a coma for nine days, and he then died because of the severe head trauma he suffered from the fall.

The newest fuel to the anti-Atkins fire was a mistake made by the NYC Medical Examiner's Office. Dr. Richard Fleming, a critic of the Atkins' Diet, requested the medical records and they were mistakenly sent out. It is a federal crime for anyone but next of kin to receive medical records. Dr. Fleming then passed the report along to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

The report stated that Atkins had suffered from congestive heart failure, hypertension, and had a history of heart attack.

However Dr. Stuart Trager, of the Atkins Physicians Council quickly responded to new allegations that Atkins was unhealthy at the end of his life, and maybe even obese.

Dr. Trager said, "Atkins did have cardiomyopathy, a heart muscle disease that was probably caused by a virus, not by what he ate. Atkins was not obese; he gained 62 pounds from fluid retention, during the nine days he was in a coma before he died."

Ellen Strong is the Nursing and Community Educator for the Women and Children's Division at Saint Peter's University Medical Center.

"The truth is we still don't know what the long term effects of being on the Atkins' Diet will be, said Strong, RN, "and sometimes it's even more unhealthy to be obese than to eat less carbohydrates."

One of the major problems people have with the Atkins diet is the fact that for years the medical community has been telling us, that eating only meat more specifically red meat is bad for you, Strong continued.

Laura Monroe, a sophomore at Marist College who has been on the Atkins' Diet for eight months and has already lost 60+ pounds

"There is such a misconception, I think there are people that believe I eat ten pounds of bacon for breakfast, then twenty hamburgers for lunch, and top it all off with a couple giant t-bone steaks, but that's just not true," said Monroe. "I don't eat anymore meat now then I did 9 months ago, I just don't have the bun when I have a hot dog or cheeseburger, and I eat a salad almost everyday. I feel great, I am losing weight, and I am not starving myself."