Atkins Diet
"The Atkins Diet is a high-protein,
low-carbohydrate weight loss diet developed by Robert Atkins, M.D.,
during the 1960s. In the early 1990s, Dr. Atkins brought his diet back
into the nutrition spotlight with the publication of his best-selling
book "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution".
The Atkins Diet severely
restricts the consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods and encourages the
consumption of protein and fat. The diet is divided into four phases:
Induction, Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-maintenance, and Maintenance. During
the Induction phase (the first 14 days of the diet), carbohydrate
intake is limited to no more than 20 grams per day. No fruit, bread,
grains, starchy vegetables, or dairy products (except cheese, cream, and
butter) are allowed during this phase. During the Ongoing Weight Loss
phase, dieters experiment with various levels of carbohydrate
consumption until they determine the most liberal level of carbohydrate
intake that allows them to continue to lose weight. Dieters are
encouraged to maintain this level of carbohydrate intake until their
weight loss goals are met. During the Pre-maintenance and Maintenance
phases, dieters determine the level of carbohydrate consumption that
allows them to maintain their weight. To prevent weight regain, dieters
are told to maintain this level of carbohydrate consumption, perhaps for
the rest of their lives. According to Dr. Atkins, most people must
limit their carbohydrate intake to no more than 60 grams per day to keep
lost weight off. In addition to the dietary restrictions discussed
above, Dr. Atkins recommends regular exercise and nutritional
supplementation as part of his weight loss program.
Note: The
dietary recommendations issued by various organizations, including the
United States Department of Agriculture, the National Institutes of
Health, and the American Heart Association, encourage a daily
carbohydrate intake of approximately 300 grams. To stay healthy, you
will need to consume five times more what Atkins prescribes in his
diets. Can a human being last long enough on this diet without
experiencing any side effects? If the dieter dares to cheat on this
program, the result can be detrimental and the weight can be regained
easily, twice as much as what has been lost during the diet. The quick
weight gain brings about eventual depression and the dieter will
eventually reach his original weight before the weight loss.
What is so attractive about the diet that so many individuals have taken the time and effort to apply?
High-protein
diets are the fad regimens of the moment. Their theory for weight loss
consists of eating lots of animal proteins and skipping carbohydrates
such as breads, rice and pasta. The theory behind these diets is that if
you load up on animal proteins, you will feel fuller faster, so you'll
end up eating less.
The Atkins Diet is attractive to dieters who
have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight on low-fat, low-calorie diets.
Atkins dieters can eat as many calories as desired from protein and fat,
as long as carbohydrate consumption is restricted. Consequently, many
Atkins dieters are spared the feelings of hunger and deprivation that
accompany other weight loss regimens.
The underlying premise of
the Atkins Diet is that diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates
cause weight gain, and ultimately lead to obesity. Such diets increase
the production of insulin (a hormone secreted by the pancreas). When
insulin levels are high, the food we eat is quickly and easily converted
into fat, and stored in our cells. By restricting the consumption of
carbohydrates, the production of insulin is moderated. In addition, the
lack of available carbohydrate (the body's preferred fuel source) forces
the body to burn stored fat as energy.
What do the critics say?
Many
nutrition experts disagree with the basic premise of the Atkins Diet -
the notion that high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets cause obesity. For
evidence of the implausibility of the Atkins Diet, some nutritionists
point out that the traditional Japanese diet is very high in
carbohydrates, low in protein, and very low in fat; however, before the
introduction of high-fat and high-protein Western foods, being
overweight was rare in Japan. Such findings make sense because ounce for
ounce, carbohydrates contain far fewer calories than fats (4 calories
from carbohydrates versus 9 calories from fat). These critics blame the
over-consumption of calories (from any source) and lack of physical
activity as the primary causes of obesity.
One concern about a
high-protein diet stems from all the saturated fats one eats - those
fats that we're told cause high cholesterol, clogged arteries and,
eventually, heart disease. Critics also express concern about the impact
of the Atkins Diet on the overall health of the dieter. Depending on
the foods chosen by the dieter, the diet may contain a large amount of
saturated fat and trans fat, putting those at risk for heart disease in
danger. Recent research has found that high-protein diets speed up the
progression of arteriosclerosis, the main cause of heart attacks.
Moreover, contrary to Atkins' claims, extremely low-fat diets have been
found to reverse heart disease. In addition, the lack of grains, fruits,
and vegetables in the Atkins Diet may lead to deficiencies of key
nutrients, including dietary fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, and several
minerals. Finally, high protein diets may increase the risk of
osteoporosis and accelerate the rate of deterioration in kidney function
associated with aging.
Critics concede that Atkins dieters often
experience significant weight loss during the initial stages of the
diet. However, these critics argue that the diet has a diuretic effect
and that the initial weight loss is due to water loss, not fat loss.
Eventually the body restores its water and sodium balance, and the rate
of weight loss declines. Critics also note that there is no evidence
showing that the Atkins diet leads to greater weight loss than do other
diets that provide more carbohydrates, yet the same number of
calories.Critics also note high-protein diets can lead to dangerous
imbalances - bone loss and kidney problems - because too much protein
can overwork the kidneys.
Dr. Atkins was the first person who
brought a low-carbohydrates diet to major prominence in the U.S. and I
credit him for defying "the system" and offering a weight loss plan that
works for some people. He presents scientific fact, but for the most
part his recent book provides anecdotal information from many of his
patients.
Dr. Atkins claims that some people have a condition of
"hyper-insulinism", in which they produce excess amounts of insulin when
they eat carbohydrates, which in turn causes fat storage, diabetes, and
a craving for more carbohydrates. This theory is scientifically logical
but has not been accepted as proven by the medical community.
In
Dr. Atkins' "maintenance phase", he advises that persons increase their
carbohydrate intake to the point where they do not gain or lose weight.
All
that is great, however, how can we understand the whole concept behind
his diets and why do people truly believe in it? How does it actually
work?
Insulin is a hormone, which is a substance that travels
through the body and stimulates chemical reactions. The human body has
mechanisms to regulate how much of each hormone is produced, so that
their effects can be controlled. With insulin, however, there is no
"shut-off" switch as there is with other hormones. The digestion of
carbohydrates produces insulin, and there is no way to stop its activity
once it is present in the bloodstream. There is also no way to prevent
it from being produced when carbohydrates are consumed, even if these
are in excess of what the body needs for fuel.
So, the more
carbohydrates you consume, the more insulin the pancreas will produce to
help digest the sugars of the carbohydrates. The more insulin that is
being produced, the more stored fat will be sent to the cells,
especially to those around your waist.
I believe Dr. Atkins' diet may be useful for persons who are very
sensitive to carbohydrates and have extremely slow metabolic rates.
Dr.
Atkins' diet does not restrict protein intake, which is the correct
approach. However, his advice to add carbohydrate grams for the
maintenance phase so that continued weight loss does not occur is not
scientifically sound. There is no indication that a person will continue
to lose weight below his ideal bodyweight, taking in consideration his
body type and metabolism. Your body is predisposed to a certain weight,
even though you interrupt carbohydrates consumption from your diet, the
body will still maintain the same weight. After that phase, you will
simply need to maintain it and be happy with it.
Extreme dieters
will need to understand that all the information mentioned above and
below these lines is to make you realize some facts that you've never
taken the time to research. When a diet becomes popular, people jump on
it without researching in more detail what it can do for their bodies or
if the diet fits their standard. It is not because "John Doe has lost
some weight on this specific diet" that you will have a similar result.
The same goes for diet pills: be careful with them. If they work
temporarily for some people, it doesn't necessarily mean they will have
the same effect on you.
As for me, experiencing my own programs
enabled me to lose weight, maintain it and still eat as much as I want
of the right foods. I eat and exercise plenty.
Remember that
moderation is important. If you want to eat something that is not
healthy, go ahead and eat it. However, make sure to moderate the rest of
the day with the right food. The following information should be
helpful when it comes to moderation regarding a well-balanced diet.
Here are some good reasons to avoid high-protein diets:
1.
They violate almost every known fact about nutritionally balanced
eating. For some dieters, these diets can even be life threatening.
2. Popular high protein diet foods are high in cholesterol and
saturated fat, which are now established as major culprits in heart
attacks and strokes.
3. They overload you with protein, which results in loss of calcium
from your bones, which may lead to osteoporosis. Protein overload also
pressurizes your kidneys as they try to eliminate large amounts of urea,
a by-product of protein metabolism.
4. They forbid foods known to lower the risk of heart disease and many cancers.
5. They deprive you of carbohydrates, the nutrient group most
readily converted to energy. Even moderately active people will notice
this lack during exercise.
6. They deprive your brain of glucose, which it needs for normal
functioning. The result is a slowdown in thinking and reaction time.
7. They deprive you of the enormous benefits of fiber, which is a form of carbohydrate (cellulose).
8. They are deficient in essential vitamins. Indeed, some high
protein diets even require you to take vitamin supplements for the sake
of your health.
9. They cause potentially dangerous changes in your body chemistry.
10.
They deliver temporary weight loss. However, a large part of it is
water weight and lean muscle mass - not fat. (You lose water because
your kidneys try to get rid of the excess waste products of protein and
fat, called ketones, that your body makes.)
Note: Weight gain is usually rapid when you go off the diet.
11.
Finally, it's worth knowing that while your body burns up 23 calories
for every 10o carbohydrate calories it digests, it only burns up 3
calories for every 100 "fat" calories it digests. Therefore, a
high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet makes it easier for you to stay fat!
FYI (For Your Information):
The average Western diet contains TOO MUCH FAT.
That's why an estimated 1 in 3 American children are overweight!
That's why heart disease is the No. 1 killer in America and Europe.
We should be eating less fat, not more.
High protein diets encourage high-fat eating and - for this reason alone - should be avoided.
What are those medical miracles that are being publicized to
consumers for their rapid weight loss programs? The magazine Self, in
March of 2002 investigated some of the programs that are simply bogus.
"Healthy
weight loss" is not a particularly sexy marketing slogan. It is quite
impossible to sell these types of slogans to Americans: "Drop pounds by
eating fewer calories and increasing physical activity!" Instead,
manufacturers of weight loss concoctions resort to selling their
products with dubious promises of magically speedy results. Thankfully,
separating fact from fiction is easy.
Try to separate bogus slogan from reality:
o
"Lose 30 pounds in just 30 days" - Very tempting, isn't it? However, it
is physically impossible to lose so much weight in such a short time.
Moreover, it is not healthy. You could only hurt your health throughout
the process and I can reassure you, you will gain back the weight faster
than a speeding bullet.
o "Lose weight while you sleep" - Yeah!
Heard that one before. If all you have to do is sip a magical potion or
swallow a miracle pill, the product is as likely to be as real as your
"wet dreams" at night.
o "Lose weight and keep it off for good" -
The only permanent weight loss plan involves changing your diet and
exercise regimen. It is all about burning more calories than you are
consuming. It's all about simple mathematics. You burn more than what
you ingest.
o "John Doe lost 90 pounds in just six weeks". Yes,
and I am Superman! As I said previously, it is very dangerous to try to
lose that much weight in such a short period. Let's analyze this slogan.
We'll have some fun!
One pound equals 3,500 calories. You will
need to reduce your diet by over 315,000 calories (90 pounds x 3,500
calories) during that 6-week period. Now how is that going to happen?
Let's say your body needs 2,000/day calories to function. That equals
14,000 calories weekly, right? Multiply that by 6 weeks. That equals
84,000 calories for 6 weeks. Now, I am not a rocket scientist, but do
you get my point? You will actually need to fast for 6 weeks in a row,
and still have to burn an extra 231,000 by exercising. What are these
morons thinking when they try to advertise these slogans to the American
people? I would suggest that they go back to school and retake
elementary math. It seems they can't even do a simple calculation.
Bottom line, ladies and gentlemen. There is NO MIRACLE DIET. Quit being triggered to spend your money by these bogus slogans.
Low Carbohydrate Diets
We
all love carbohydrates. Pasta, bread, rice and potato are America
favorite foods, to say the least. However, we all know that they contain
ingredients that can lead to what we are most afraid of: being
overweight. The problem with carbohydrates is that they cause the body
to produce insulin. However, insulin turns carbohydrates into sugar, and
whatever sugar we don't use right away gets stored in the body as fat.
On
the other hand, a lack of carbohydrates tricks the body into thinking
it's starving, at which point it flicks on an internal switch that
causes the body to burn its own fat. This is called ketosis. We did
mention that if the body doesn't use the extra sugar produced by the
intake of carbohydrates, it would be stored in fat. Hmmm, now what about
exercise? Have we thought about that?
After studying in depth the
way the human body's nutritional processes work, and considering the
type of diet these processes evolved with, I must conclude that
consuming carbohydrates in limited amounts (not eating a whole pizza,
loaf of bread, or a pound of french fries) is the most natural and
healthy way for us to eat, not just for weight loss but for ongoing
weight and health maintenance - even for people who do not have a weight
problem. The "low carb diet" has become extremely popular in the United
States in the past few years and continues to have a large following
despite the frequent criticisms by various diet experts. Although many
of them are without scientific validity, some of them are on target,
especially when considering the calorie intakes of some of the formulas
presented.
There is a major issue here with all of these plans -
that is whether the diet is being used merely for weight loss, or for
long-term weight maintenance. As a weight loss diet, any of these plans
can work. However, if they are then discarded and previous eating habits
are restored, it is likely that any weight lost will be regained, as
with any short-term diet. Eventually, going off the low carb diet can
definitely promote weight gain in excess of that which was lost, due to
metabolic changes that occur. The only sensible way to use a low carb
diet for weight loss is to remain on this type of diet on an ongoing
basis afterward. The question then asked, "Is it safe for weight loss"
and "is it safe for ongoing use as an eating plan?"
Americans now
eat more carbohydrates than ever - 50 more pounds per person, per year,
than a decade ago (ABC.NEWS). Carbohydrate-related diseases have also
reached a peak. After decades of being warned away from fats, many
people have turned to carbohydrates instead. At the same time, obesity
levels in the country are greater than ever.
Is there a connection? Do carbohydrates lead people to become obese? Experts in the field have different opinions.
The Zone
Biochemist
Barry Sears, author of the best selling low-carbohydrate diet book The
Zone, believes carbohydrates do cause people to gain weight. He has
developed a controversial theory that suggests that people who eat a lot
of carbohydrates get caught up in a cycle of overeating because
carbohydrates can be addictive in a way other foods are not. People who
critique Sears' theory have various problems with it, including some of
his basic premises that carbohydrates lead to weight gain or that
carbohydrates are more addictive than other foods. Zone dieting is
designed to avoid ketosis, which the author claims causes one to lose
muscle weight even with high protein diets. The author also claims that
high levels of protein in a meal cause high insulin levels, which
converts the protein into fat.
The concept of The Zone is that
food should be treated like a prescription drug that is designed to
promote the desired hormonal response throughout the day. The hormones
in question are insulin, glucagon, and eicosanoids. Insulin and glucagon
are well known hormones, and their functions are described accurately.
Sears
says eating lots of carbohydrates triggers a flood of insulin. Because
there is so much insulin, sugars are cleared from the blood so quickly
that people feel hungry again after a very short period. Therefore,
carbohydrates drive the sugar level up and then the insulin drives it
down. The obesity crisis in America is a result of "carbohydrate hell."
Sears suggests that eating a lot of carbohydrates triggers a biological
mechanism that lowers the blood sugar level and leads people to need a
sugar boost and therefore to crave more carbohydrates. He says the cycle
of eating and craving keeps them hooked on carbohydrates and causes
overeating.
"You eat a big carbohydrates meal at 12. By 3 o'clock
you're hungry again. You eat more carbohydrates. By 7 you're hungry
again," Sears says. His theory accepts some of the basic principles
about how the body processes carbohydrates and takes them a step
further. The basic principle is that carbohydrates turn into sugars that
trigger the release of insulin. The insulin routes the sugars to our
muscles for energy and stores the rest as fat.
To reach the
"Zone", one must consume foods in a protein-to-carbohydrate ratio of
0.75, which is 3 grams of protein for every 4 grams of carbohydrate, at
every meal and snack, and without allowing more than 5 hours between
meals or snacks. The author converts grams into blocks of protein and
carbohydrate and provides food lists and meal plans for these. He
distinguishes between carbohydrates with high versus low glycemic
indexes, which is a measure of how fast the carbohydrate is digested for
each food type. In addition, he adds fat "blocks" to his meal plans and
distinguishes between various types of fats, recommending against
saturated fats and favoring monounsaturated fats, due to their effect on
eicosanoid production. Protein requirements in the Zone are based on
lean body mass and level of physical activity (the same method that is
used in Protein Power). Lean body mass is calculated using standardized
charts that use height, hip, and abdomen measurements in women and
weight, wrist and waist measurements in men.
The calculated protein requirement is not to be exceeded, and is to
be spread throughout the day to avoid increased insulin levels caused by
protein digestion. Therefore, a person would end up with a calorie
limit on their total daily intake, since protein has a maximum value,
and carbohydrate and fat intake are measured by protein intake.
The
second half of the book is a description of how Zone dieting can
improve numerous health conditions, primarily based on the eicosanoid
activities.
In this program, the author provides excellent
scientific explanations for how too many carbohydrates in a diet cause
fat storage. The entire design of the Zone diet is also explained in a
very scientific fashion, however, it is greatly lacking in scientific
evidence to support it. The concept that providing higher levels of
carbohydrates would avoid ketosis, which is a condition that may be
hazardous over the long term is correct, however, because of a
restriction on the intake of protein, carbohydrates, and fat, it is
likely that insufficient calories and carbohydrates will be available
for most people to avoid ketosis. In other words, the ketosis that
results from starvation - getting too few calories to meet basic needs -
can easily occur in many persons based on their calculations for daily
intakes. There may also not be enough protein in the diet to prevent
loss of muscle mass.
