'Disease of Kings'

Because of the Henry VIII-style meat load in low carb diets, essentially every single study of low carb diets that measured uric acid levels showed that uric acid levels rose.[186] In virtually every instance in which it’s been studied over the last 50 years, uric acid itself has been tied to cardiovascular disease risk, and may be an independent risk factor by increasing free radical damage or making the blood more susceptible to clotting.[187]

There is also concern that uric acid levels on a meat-centered diet might be forced so high that it could start crystallizing in one’s joints, triggering gout, an excruciating arthritic condition. A March 2004 article published in the New England Journal of Medicine documented the effect of meat intake on gout risk.

Harvard researchers followed almost 50,000 men for 12 years and found that “each additional daily serving of meat was associated with a 21 percent increase in the risk of gout.”[188] In fact, the Atkins Diet has been blamed directly for the rising incidence of this so-called “disease of kings.”[189] Well, Atkins did claim his diet is “fit for a prince or princess.”[190]