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Readers weighed in with varying opinions on the effectiveness of low-carb diets in promoting "Health for Life," the subject of our Jan. 19 cover package. Although staunch Atkins supporters were glad to see Dr. Robert Atkins "given his due," they worried that the diet is too often viewed only as "all about meat, butter and cheese." Some wished we had cast the net wider. "What about South Beach or Weight Watchers?" asked one. "Different body types require various diets." Others were more skeptical of calorie-restriction diets as a means of prolonging life. An eating-disorder survivor remarked, "The few years [calorie restriction] could possibly add to life are irrelevant if it is causing one to feel deprived, hungry and cold all the time." Another reader, tired of weight-loss trends, said, "My diet book would be two pages long. First page: 'eat less'; second page: 'exercise.' Problem solved."

We agree with Dr. Walter C. willett and Patrick J. Skerrett that Americans needn't go on an extremely low-carbohydrate diet to manage their weight ("Going Beyond Atkins," Jan. 19). However, people don't need to go to the extreme of choosing carbohydrates based on their "glycemic index" to slim their waists, either. Overweight Americans need to do what registered dietitians have been advocating for decades: adhere to weight-reduction diets that are designed to meet their individual, unique medical needs and health goals; control calorie intake, and eat adequate amounts of a wide variety of foods rich in both carbs and satiety-producing fiber such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Unfortunately, according to the latest data from the USDA, the American public hasn't been following this advice. Its daily caloric intake has increased by approximately 300 on average since the mid-1980s, which is theoretically equal to a weight gain of more than 25 pounds annually.
Joan Salge Blake, Clinical Asst. Prof.
Roberta Durschlag, Clinical Asst. Prof.
Boston University
Boston, Mass.

I strictly believe that everything should be eaten in moderation and that no food group should be restricted from one's daily diet. I have followed this regimen all my life. You can have your white rice and cornflakes if it is balanced with other types of food and exercise. Eating in moderation and exercising is the solution to living healthy. If everyone followed this regimen, the Atkins diet would be unnecessary.
Raha Moussavi
Canton, Mass.

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Your cover story rightly criticizes Atkins for his "bad idea" of eating unlimited beef, sausage, butter and cheese. But in heralding the difference between "good carbs" and "bad carbs," it fails to give credit to the Pritikin Program, which has been saying exactly that for years. It drives me nuts to see friends endangering their health with the Atkins monomania, when Pritikin offers a safe and sane alternative: whole foods, not refined; fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish rich in omega-3, limited low-fat meats, limited salt and sugar, no saturated and trans fats--and exercise. The program addresses not only weight but such issues as blood pressure, diabetes, cancer prevention and longevity. After hearing lecturers deliver this gospel during 10 years of annual visits to the Pritikin Longevity Center, in December 2002 I finally decided to sincerely try it. In the last year I lost 67 pounds on Pritikin. Nathan Pritikin and those who carry on his work are the true heroes of modern nutritional theory.
Roger Ebert
Film critic, Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago, Ill.

The Florida citrus growers would like to clarify that the glycemic loads (GL) of 100 percent orange juice (GL 13) and grapefruit juice (GL 11) do fit within the glycemic-load range--low teens and below--recommended to low-carb dieters. Your chart "Separating the Good Carbs From the Bad" is misleading in implying that grapefruit juice is a "bad" carb, while "good" carbs include foods with glycemic loads of up to 18. Whole fruits may carry lighter glycemic loads than juices, but orange and grapefruit juices are perhaps the healthiest, most nutrient-dense natural beverages available. They provide numerous vitamins, antioxidants and phytochemicals--many of which are documented in scientific research to help prevent serious diseases. Citrus juices are perfectly suited for any diet.
Bob Crawford, Executive Director
Florida Department of Citrus
Lakeland, Fla.

You write that your article "You Will Start to Feel Very Sleepy..." was based on an article published by Harvard Medical School. How ironic (and unfortunate) that medical doctors force their interns and residents to do without sleep on a regular basis. Research shows sleep is essential for mental ability, yet those performing the most vital tasks are often too sleep-deprived to do their best.
Lisa M. Gotkin
Skokie, Ill.

In a state of semi-starvation, people close down physically, mentally and spiritually ("Starve Your Way to Health"). We know this from studying starving populations, eating-disorder patients and the classic Minnesota Starvation Study of 1944-45. It's a survival factor, a way of "banking the fires" to defend life until conditions improve. Physically, starvation effects include dizziness, depression, slowed heart rate and risk of sudden death. Emotional and spiritual effects can be equally distressing. There's no evidence that semi-starved people live longer; on the contrary, observations are of high death rates. But even if some do, what is the value in humans' existing like this, whether for 90 or 140 years?
Frances M. Berg, Adjunct Prof.
Univ. of North Dakota School of Medicine
Hettinger, N.D.

As the adult child of late-life parents, I was interested in your article "A New Generation Gap." I was born when my mother was 41 and my father 49. Both were professionals with master's degrees who intended to provide me with all of life's advantages. Unfortunately, when I was 18 months old, my father died of cardiovascular disease. I do not remember a time when I did not feel different from, and inadequate to, my peers. It is difficult to describe how weird it felt to have a mother who was a contemporary of my peers' grandparents. Moreover, it provided my classmates with possibilities for bullying. I was different and therefore inferior. Even teachers and administrators participated in stigmatizing me. By the time I reached high school, I was alienated and suicidal. Today I am in my early 40s, with a good job and husband, but I feel that my parents, while well intentioned and intelligent, used poor judgment in deciding to have a child at such a late stage in life. It is my wish that older couples considering parenthood think about how it will affect the child in question.
Elizabeth Mannering
Madison, Wis.

My entire life I've experienced the shocked faces I get when I tell people how old my father is. Or their response: "You mean grandfather?" I'm 17, my mother is 54 and my father is 87. I never found my father's age nor my parents' age gap to be anything out of the ordinary until I started going to school. But I wouldn't have it any other way. My relationship with my father makes me feel unique in a world where sometimes that can be hard, especially if you're a teenager. People you love can be gone in an instant, and my father's age makes that chance much greater. Keeping that in mind, I try to live each day with him like it's the last. He doesn't look or act his age and he's in good health, and I thank God for that. And like 78-year-old Jack Metcalf, the older dad whom you profile, my father's wish is to walk me down the aisle when I get married. Thank you for printing this article. It's nice to know that others have the privilege of having older parents. I strongly believe it shapes one into a unique kind of person who lives each day to the fullest.
Jenn Lupo
Hartford, Conn.

I agree wholeheartedly with Peg Tyre's article "In a Race Against Time." At 60, I still play 5-on-5, full-court basketball. My newest thrill is working out two or three hours per week with a former NBA player, learning the game as the pros play it. The exhilaration and sense of well-being from these exhausting workouts stay with me throughout the week. And it's great fun. I encourage readers to find a coach and a workout regime tailored to them. Then let them learn new skills and find strengths they didn't know they have.
Christopher Turner
Dallas, Texas

Left, Right and Active

As a Harvard junior, a writer for The Harvard Crimson and a Democratic activist, I thought that Beccah Golubock Watson's article mischaracterized Harvard undergraduates' interest in the presidential race ("At Harvard, Skeptics Rule," Jan. 19). I am personally working on the John Kerry campaign, but I've paid attention to my fellow students' views and have had plenty of conversations with them about the 2004 race. Countless numbers of students, representing nearly all the Democratic candidates, have been traveling since early fall to New Hampshire to canvass voters. I know people who went to Iowa for the caucuses, and the College Democrats are sending an entire busload to South Carolina to spend our post-exam break campaigning before the Feb. 3 primary. Students who aren't involved in the campaign ask me about it constantly. I'm disappointed that Watson's piece reflects so negatively on Harvard's students. I attended events that John Edwards, Kerry, Al Sharpton and Wesley Clark did exclusively for undergraduates and I can assure her that I never saw anyone yawn.
Nick Smyth
Cambridge, Mass.

As a Harvard undergraduate, I disagree with Beccah Golubock Watson's claim that our campus lacks political passion. Today's Harvard students may not storm administrative buildings as regularly as in years past, but that's not because we fear voicing our opinions. We've simply learned that the radicalism prized by Watson and her fellow liberals is not the only way to draw attention to our views. Plenty of moderate and conservative students aspire to change the world through political action. Few groups on campus are as vocal as the Harvard Republican Club or Harvard Right to Life, a pro-life organization that generates some of the school's most controversial debates. Liberals like Watson ignore conservative messages at Harvard and lament the lack of activism on campus. Apparently, political passion counts in their book only when it comes from the left.
Allison Rone
Cambridge, Mass.

Does Iowa Matter?

Jonathan Alter objects to the attention given to the Iowa caucuses because they don't predict who will be nominated ("Who Cares About Iowa?" Jan. 19). The United States suffers from an excess of democracy. Voters decide issues without spending the time and effort to understand them. For example, the California budget debacle arose from direct democracy as ballot propositions require expenditures but limit the taxes to pay for them. Caucus goers are far better informed about issues and candidates than the average voter. Caucus results give strong direction to delegates in subsequent conventions. The solution to the "problem" of the caucuses is for more states to hold them instead of primaries.
Tom Hess
Lafayette, Ind.

Jonathan Alter calls the Iowa caucuses "heartwarming examples of local democracy... but dumb as a guide to who should be the next president." He mentions the Hawkeye State's "dismal" role in predicting future presidents or even the eventual nominee. Other critics would say Iowa is too white and too old, and its caucus rules too ridiculous. Iowa may not rubber-stamp the favorite candidate, but do we really want the presumed nominee to cruise through the early political competitions untested? Don't we want the first true national test to come from a state that encourages its voters to meet the candidates face to face, look them in the eye, ask questions, debate the issues with its neighbors and possibly offer platform ideas and thoughts? Iowans are asked to not only vote but to participate in the very grass-roots level of government. Heartwarming? Yes. Dumb? Hardly.
Brett Dolan
Tucson, Ariz.

Fighting Against the Odds

I read with interest Nick Kurzon's courageous article about dealing with cancer and how he used his knowledge of poker to overcome his fear of dying ("A Poker Player's Guide to Beating Cancer," my turn, Jan. 19). As a physician, I am obligated to inform my patients of the possible complications and consequences of their diagnoses and treatments. But medicine, like all things in life, is a game of numbers. Like Kurzon, I encourage patients to focus on the chance that things will go right rather than the (usually) much smaller chance that they will not.
Paul Carbonaro
Voorhees, N.J.

Nick Kurzon's sensitive essay brought tears to my eyes. My wife was given two and a half months to live after her first brain-tumor operation. She lived 26 months. Although her death has left a gaping hole in my life, I am grateful for the extra time we had together. I am also grateful that her neuro-oncologist, who, unlike Kurzon's, was a woman of great compassion and wisdom, provided my wife with comfort and good medicine. I wish Kurzon a long and healthy life, and I thank him for sharing his experience.
Leon M. Salter
Los Angeles, Calif.

Cancer survivor Nick Kurzon says, "Oncologists, by design, are almost impossible to read. They have to be." Why do they have to be? If Kurzon is comfortable with a bland mechanic at his side, that's up to him. But how about a doctor who connects with the patient--smiling, explaining, encouraging? Recently a cardiologist told me he didn't have time for my questions and that I would have to make another appointment to get them answered. I do not appreciate being turned over to some unknown doctor when I am at my sickest and hospitalized. We need to quit accepting offhand or chilly medical care, no matter how good the eventual outcome.
Star Lawrence
Chandler, Ariz.

Martha Isn't the Criminal

Martha Stewart is not a threat to society nor to the sanctity of the New York Stock Exchange ("Martha's Makeover," Jan. 19). The New York federal prosecutors, on the other hand, are. They will waste millions of taxpayers' dollars on this trial, and their actions have already driven down the value of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia stock, costing ordinary investors much of their savings. They have acted like bulls in the proverbial china shop and caused irreparable damage. I hope that Martha is exonerated and the federal prosecutors are reassigned.
Kenneth Lee
Raytown, Mo.

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