Low-carbers beware the breathalyzer

05-21-2007 • The Blog of D. Michael Eades

Here is what happened to a man in Sweden on a low-carb diet: We report a case of a 59-year-old man, body mass index 26.6 kg/m2, who began a weight reduction program, partly because of knee pains but also because he was a glider pilot where weight is important. He used a Swedish textbook on obesity treatment written by S Rössner together with the commonly used Swedish VLCD [very low calorie diet] Nutrilett (Cederroths, Stockholm, Sweden), 5 packets/day for 3 weeks, which is an approved standard regimen. This treatment resulted in a weight loss of 7 kg. During dieting, the man discovered that an alcohol ignition interlock device, installed in an official company car, indicated that he had consumed alcohol and the vehicle failed to start. This was confusing because the man was a life-long teetotaller and was therefore both surprised and upset by the result. As he had been supervising private aviation he had access to a second breath-alcohol analyzer, which indicated a simultaneous