The Atkins Diet

The Atkins diet is popular and can also help reduce our weight, but Atkins, is a popular but controversial high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet.

It was popularized by Dr. Robert Atkins [1930]- [2003] in a series of books, starting with Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution in 1972.

It has been astonishingly popular in recent times because of his revised book, Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution, in which he updated some of his ideas but remained faithful to the original concepts.

Dr. Atkins argued that many eating disorders are the result of hyperinsulinism, or excessive secretion of insulin which comes through eating too many carbohydrates.

According to Atkins, this causes food cravings and unstable blood sugar levels, which can cause mood swings, depression, and sleeping problems. Atkins claimed that his Atkins diet stabilizes insulin and blood sugar levels, eliminating cravings and often reducing appetite.

He claimed there are two main unrecognized factors about Western eating habits, arguing firstly that the main cause of obesity is eating refined carbohydrates particularly sugar, flour, and corn syrup high-fructose corn syrups; and secondly that saturated fat is overrated as a nutritional problem, only trans fats from sources such as hydrogenated oils need to be avoided.

Consequently, Dr Atkins rejects the advice of the food pyramid, instead telling us the tremendous increase in refined carbohydrates is responsible for the rise in metabolic disorders of the 20th century, and the focus on the detrimental effects of dietary fat has actually contributed to the obesity problem by increasing the proportion of insulin inducing foods in the diet.

The Atkins diet seems to provoke extreme reactions, to the point where even just discussing it can be a problem. Dr. Samuel Klein, of the North American Association for the Study of Obesity, has reported encountering anger from academicians simply for daring to present data on the Atkins diet.

Nature of the Atkins diet

While most of the emphasis in Atkins is on the diet, nutritional supplements and exercise are considered equally important elements.

Atkins diet involves restriction of the intake of carbohydrates in order to switch the body's metabolism from burning glucose to burning fat chiefly stored fat. This process called lipolysis begins when the body enters the state of ketosis as a consequence of running out of carbohydrates to burn.

Although Atkins claimed that ketosis helped the body burn fat more easily, nutritionalists are quick to point out that the body will burn stored fat for energy whenever the calories taken in are less than those burned.

Atkins diet restricts "net carbs", or carbs that have an effect on blood sugar.

Net carbohydrates can be calculated from a food source by subtracting sugar alcohols and fiber which are shown to have no effect on blood sugar level from total carbohydrates.

Sugar alcohols need to be treated with caution, while they may be slower to convert to glucose they can be a significant source of glycemic load and can stall weight loss.

Preferred foods in all categories are whole, unprocessed foods with a low glycemic load.

Foods Allowed on The Atkins Diet

All types of

• Meats
• Poultry
• Seafood
• Eggs
• Cheese
• Butter
• Cream
• Oil
• Nuts
• Few non-starchy vegetables
• Artificial sweeteners

Foods Restricted on the Atkins Diet

• Bread
• Pasta
• Cereals
• Rice
• Fruits
• Juices
• Most vegetables
• Sweets
• Snack chips
• Dairy products

There are four phases of the Atkins diet:

The Atkins Diet - Induction

The Induction phase is the first and most restrictive phase of the Atkins diet. It is intended to cause the body to quickly enter a state of ketosis.

Carbohydrate intake is limited to 20 net grams per day. The allowed foods include an unlimited amount of most meats, a good bit of cheese and cream, two cups of salad, and one cup of other vegetables. Caffeine and alcoholic beverages are not allowed.

The Induction Phase is usually when many see the most significant weight loss - reports of losses up to six or eight pounds per week are not uncommon.

Atkins suggests the use of KetoStix, small chemically reactive strips used by diabetes mellitusdiabetics. These let the dieter monitor when they enter the ketosis or fat burning, phase.

The Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) phase of Atkins consists of an increase in carbohydrate intake, but remaining at levels where weight loss occurs. Carbohydrate intake increases by 5 grams of carbs per day each week.

A goal in OWL is to find the "Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing". The OWL phase lasts until weight is within 10 pounds of the target weight.

Carbohydrate intake is increased again, and the key of goal in this phase is to find the "Critical Carbohydrate Level for Maintenance", this the maximum number of carbohydrates you can eat each day without gaining weight.

This phase is intended to carry on the habits acquired in the previous phases, and avoid the common end-of-diet mind set that can return people to their previous habits and previous weight. Whole, unprocessed food choices are emphasized, with the option to drop back to an earlier phase if you begin to gain weight.

Views in Favor of the Atkins Diet

When the Atkins diet was introduced in the 1970s, it was immediately attacked by existing experts, who claimed it was unhealthy and would fail. Those claims persist today, even though there are now studies indicating the contrary:

• "The low-carbohydrate diet produced a greater weight loss...and greater improvement in some risk factors for coronary heart disease" -- New England Journal Of Medicine, Volume 348:2082- 2090, May 22, 2003, Number 21

• "better participant retention and greater weight loss...greater decreases in serum triglyceride levels" --Annals Of Internal Medicine, 18 May 2004 Volume 140 Issue 10 Pages 769-777

• "Diets high in fat do not appear to cause excess body fat and reductions in fat will not be a solution." --American Journal Of Medicine, Volume 113, Issue 9, Supplement 2, 30 December 2002, Pages 47-59

• "sustained weight loss" --American Journal Of Medicine, Volume 113, Issue 1, July 2002, Pages 30-36

Views Critical of The Atkins Diet

• Low-carbohydrate diets have been the subject of heated debate in medical circles for three decades [http://www.lowcarb.ca/]. They are still controversial and only recently has any serious research supported some aspects of Atkins' claims, especially for short-term weight-loss (6 months or less).

• "the Atkins diet, as recommended, poses a serious threat to health" Chair of the American Medical Association's Council on Food and Nutrition, testimony to Congress.

• "unhealthy and can be dangerous." Everett Koop (Shape Up America! news release, 29 December 2003)

• "a nightmare of a diet." Journal of the American Dietetic Association 102 (2002): p.260

• Also condemned by National Institutes of Health in NIH Publ. No. 94-3700, 1993.

• Condemned by ACS in American Cancer Society; Weighing In on Low Carb Diets, 2004.

• Condemned by the American Kidney Fund in American Kidney Fund news release, 25 April 2002.

• Condemned by American Heart Association in Circulation 104 (2001): p.1869.

• Condemned by Johns Hopkins in Diabetes 2004. Johns Hopkins University White Paper, 2004

• Condemned by the American College of Sports Medicine in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 33 (2001): p.2145.

• Expressing a general sentiment was the conclusion: runs counter to all the current evidence-based dietary recommendations. Journal of the American College of Cardiology 43 (2004): p.725

The text in this article is licensed under the Gnu Free it was taken from the Atkins article. You can read more information regarding both sides of the atkins controversy there.