The Atkins Diet

Atkins Diet; a Foe, not a Friend

The Atkins Diet has been a fad diet for the past four decades! It is considered the most popular low-carbohydrate diet. When one thinks of the Atkins Diet, no carbs and all meat and fat come to mind. This is generally what the Atkins Diet is but how does cutting out carbohydrates drop the pounds? After researching this diet, I found a lot of negativity surrounding it and very little positively. The only positive review of the Atkins Diet is from the official Atkins Diet website. Atkins claims you can lose fifteen to thirty pounds in one month which may sound ideal, but is it healthy?

The purpose of the Atkins diet is to change one’s metabolism and lose weight easily by eating foods high in protein and limiting foods high in carbohydrates, which tend to raise blood sugar levels the most. The diet works on the principle of ketosis, the process by which excess, stored body fat (the body’s secondary energy source) is burned, resulting in weight loss. Diets high in carbohydrates increase your body’s production of insulin because of their glucose and sugar makeup. When insulin is at high levels in the body, the food you eat can readily get converted into body fat, in the form of triglycerides. Thus, if lower amounts of carbohydrates are consumed, the body naturally produces less insulin and looks to other sources for fuel, namely FAT! When the body lacks its primary energy source (carbohydrates) it will naturally turn to its next source (fat) to burn for energy. When the body breaks down fat, ketones are formed and the appetite is naturally suppressed. One reaches ketosis when his or her carbohydrate intake is less than 40 grams per day
http://www.vanderbilt.edu/ans/psychology/health_psychology/TheAtkinsDiet.htm

The Atkins Diet seems to have many side effects, there are more then the few listed in this paragraph. Glycogen consists of a large number of water molecules and when the body converts glycogen to glucose, the water is lost from the body. This explains much of the initial weight loss on the Atkins' Diet, rather than Atkins' claim that the initial weight loss is fat. The large amount of water loss poses the risk of dehydration, but is not the most potentially severe consequence of the Atkins' Diet. The high fat content may put the dieter at risk for coronary heart disease, hyperlipidemia (high blood fat), and high blood cholesterol. The high protein content may put extra strain on the kidneys, which can lead to electrolyte imbalance, decrease the kidneys' ability to absorb calcium, which could lead to the early stages of osteoporosis. The results of a study conducted by the University of Kentucky after a computer analysis of a week's worth of sample Atkins' menus report that a dieter is at risk of cancer, among other serious risks. Also, if you are any kind of athlete Atkins is definitely not for you. People who followed an Atkins diet had muscle recovery times just barely better than people on a starvation diet.
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1700
http://students.brown.edu/Brown_Nutrition/faddiets/

Straight out of the Atkins website, Atkins promoters try and convince people that the Atkins Diet is healthy and good for you, though there is so much negativity surrounding it elsewhere. ‘When you eat foods composed primarily of protein, fat and fiber, your body produces far less insulin. And when the carbs you do eat are in the form of high-fiber whole foods, (which convert to glucose relatively slowly) your blood sugar level holds steady, along with your energy level. You don’t crave a fast-fix energy booster in the form of sugary, starchy food, and you’re less hungry at meals. There’s nothing strange or risky about a primarily fat metabolism. In fact, fat is your body’s back-up energy source. The ability to carry a “fanny pack” of energy in the form of fat actually helped our distant ancestors survive in times of famine and when hunters returned home empty handed. Place the blame where it belongs: overeating and overreacting to carbs. And here lies the not-so-secret secret of the Atkins Diet and the key to weight loss—and later weight maintenance—without cravings or undue hunger.’

http://cauk.atkins.com/program/overview/how-and-why-atkins-works.html

The Atkins Diet is pretty much starving the body to lose weight. 96% of Atkins Dieters claimed they had regained the weight after stopping the diet and returning to carbohydrates. The body needs carbs, just like the body needs fats. Atkins says there is nothing wrong with his diet, yet there has to be something wrong with a diet that completely cuts out a food group. I do not recommend this diet to anyone, even if they want a fast way of losing weight. Though, one may lose a lot of weight primarily, in the long run it will do nothing beneficial.