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Home :: Diets
The Atkins Diet made healthy...
Despite the controversy surrounding their use, low-carbohydrate
diets such as the Atkins
Diet are extremely popular with people who want to lose weight.
First published in 1972, Dr Atkins' Diet Revolution - the book
describing the Atkins Diet — was updated in 1992 and again
in 2002 as Dr Atkins' New Diet Revolution.
Unfortunately, the sudden death of Robert Atkins, the result of
a fall outside his New York clinic, deprived the dieting world of
one of its more influential and controversial players at a time
when the Atkins Diet is stimulating fresh interest.
Atkins Diet
The Atkins Diet
is supposed to offer some kind of "metabolic advantage"
that allows "overweight individuals to eat as many or more
calories as they were eating before starting the diet yet still
lose pounds and inches." Low-carbohydrate diets are also supposed
to correct serious medical complications, such as heart disease,
high blood pressure, and diabetes.
Before you read on, it's important to point out that a low-carbohydrate
diet doesn't necessarily mean a high-fat diet. Low-carbohydrate
diets can be either low in fat and high in protein,
or high in fat and low in protein.
Contrary to popular belief, the Atkins Diet actually consists of
four diets, rather than just one. It starts with The Induction
Phase, which lasts for two weeks. The goal of this phase is
to "correct an unbalanced metabolism" by restricting the
daily intake of carbohydrate to 20 grams or less. This isn't easy,
especially when you consider that just one slice of bread contains
around 15 grams of carbohydrate.
Ketosis
This quickly leads to a state known as ketosis. Virtually all low-carbohydrate
diets are characterized by a rise in the production of ketone bodies
(that's why you'll also see the Atkins Diet called a ketogenic diet).
Ketones are produced when fat is broken down in your liver. The
build-up of ketone bodies in your blood stream is known as ketosis.
When ketone levels rise sufficiently, they "spill" into
your urine. Although Ketostix (small strips of card that you pee
on) can be used to detect ketosis, they're not totally accurate.
In other words, you can be in ketosis, but there might not be enough
ketones in your urine to indicate ketosis. One other sign you're
in ketosis is when your breath smells "fruity."
Getting into, and maintaining ketosis isn't easy. Even a small
amount of carbohydrate in your diet can reduce the production of
ketones. While some people report feeling tired and mentally "fuzzy"
when they start a ketogenic diet, these symptoms tend to ease off
after the first week or two, as your brain gets used to using ketones
(rather than blood sugar) as fuel.
Despite the limit on carbohydrate intake during the first part
of the Atkins Diet, you're free to eat as much fat and protein as
you want. After the first two weeks, you move on to phase two —
Ongoing Weight Loss. During this second phase, you're able to
eat more carbohydrate. The idea is to increase your daily carbohydrate
intake in small increments until weight loss slows down.
Some people might be able to get away with more carbohydrate (50-75
grams daily), while others will need slightly less. Dr Atkins recommends
that you stick with this plan until you reach your target weight.
Once you've lost almost all of the weight you plan to lose, you
enter the Pre-Maintenance part of the Atkins Diet. This involves
gradually increasing your carbohydrate intake until you're losing
less than one pound per week.
When you move on to the Maintenance phase of the diet, you're
allowed to consume as much carbohydrate as you want, just as long
as you don't gain weight. Dr Atkins still recommends that you avoid
sugar on the maintenance diet, and suggests that you eat just enough
carbohydrate to keep your energy levels stable.
Critics
Although it's extremely popular, the Atkins Diet is frequently
criticized for not having undergone scientific scrutiny. That's
because prior to 2003, most of the studies of low-carbohydrate diets
have lasted three months or less. That all changed in early 2003,
when three studies lasting six months or longer were published.
Before we take a closer look at each of these trials in a little
more depth, it's worth dealing with one oft-cited criticism of the
Atkins Diet, namely that the weight you...
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