Atkins diet founder was obese

Dr Robert Atkins, who pioneered the low-carbohydrate diet that bears his name, was clinically obese when he died, according to a pathology report revealed today.

Dr Atkins weighed more than 18st when he died after a fall on an icy footpath in New York last April.

The post-mortem report was revealed in the Wall Street Journal, which received it from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which opposes the Atkins Diet.

The report also revealed that Dr Atkins, who died after suffering head injuries aged 72, had a history of heart trouble, congestive heart failure and hypertension.

His widow Veronica is outraged that his medical records have been made public.

The doctor’s associates joined her in denying that Dr Atkins’s weight was a result of him following his own diet regime.

Mrs Atkins said: “I have been assured by my husband’s physicians that my husband’s health problems late in life were completely unrelated to his diet or any diet.”

Stuart Trager, chairman of the Atkins Physicians Council in New York, said the doctor’s heart problems were related to a disease of the heart muscle, called cardiomyopathy, which could not be related to diet.

He said: “He had no record of having a heart attack.

“My understanding is that he had no true evidence of classical angina.”

But he added: “He did have a history of irregular heartbeats.”

Dr Trager said Dr Atkins’s medical condition led to fluid retention and bloating, which would explain his weight, classed as obese for someone of his height – 6ft.

The New York City Medical Examiner’s Office said the report was sent to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine “in error”.

“They should never have received it because they weren’t treating physicians,” the office said.

The committee advocates a vegetarian diet, at odds with Atkins which recommends reducing carbohydrates while eating more protein, like meat and cheese.

The diet has been criticised because high protein meals can also be high in fat, which can lead to heart problems.

Dr Atkins suffered a heart attack in 2002 but was revived.

There was no full post-mortem, as his family objected, but a medical examiner conducted an “external examination” based on hospital information.

The cause of death was recorded as “blunt impact injury of the head”.