Atkins Diet
The Atkins Diet, or just Atkins’, is a well-known low-carbohydrate diet by Dr. Robert Atkins. He turned to a diet published in the Journal of the American Medical Association to resolve his own weight issues. Later on, he published a series of books, starting with Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution in 1972. Since the introduction of his program, there have been a number of claims that it is actually harmful.
Lets analyze the truth about the Atkins Diet.
Dr. Atkins believed that there are two main issues affecting the eating habits of western society. First, he claimed that the cause of obesity is eating refined carbohydrates; sugar, flour, and high-fructose corn syrups in particular. Second, he argued that saturated fats are not the big nutritional problem everyone believed them to be, and that only trans fats from sources such as hydrogenated oils need to be avoided.
The main idea behind the Atkins diet is to restrict the consumption of carbohydrates, forcing the body‘s metabolism to switch from burning glucose to burning stored body fat. It is important to understand the four phases of this plan: induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance, and lifetime maintenance.
Induction. This is a brief jump-start phase that triggers the body to predominantly burn fat. Simply put: as fat is burned, weight loss will occur. But, there are many rules that need to be followed, without which success cannot be achieved. The main rule is to eat from the acceptable foods list which includes all the foods that you are allowed to consume.
Some of the acceptable foods include fish, chicken, oysters, beef, salmon, turkey, mussels, pork, sole, duck, cheddar, cow, sheep and goat cheese, cream cheese, mushroom, and some vegetables such as celery, radishes, lettuce, and cucumbers. Spices are also included, such as parsley and chives.
Essentially, because the food list is extremely limited, most people will find it hard to stick to very long. Many proclaim such restrictions take the enjoyment out of eating as well, though there is a loss of cravings and appetite during this intense phase.
Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL). In this phase, more nutrient-rich carbs are added to the diet, which takes the rapid weight loss from induction and slows it down to a steadier pace. The Induction (Phase 1) limit of 20 Net Carbs a day is now increased up to 25 Net Carbs daily. These new foods are added in a certain order, listed in the carbohydrate ladder. To be successful in OWL, you must stop new foods immediately if they provoke weight gain. If you experience the return of physical symptoms lost during Induction, such as increased appetite or cravings, you may increase your daily carb intake by no more than 5 grams each week.
Pre-Maintenance. This phase lets you take ownership of your goal weight through full use of the healthy eating habits of the Atkins nutritional plan. You continue increasing the consumption of carbs like in the OWL phase until you shed those last few pounds.
Lifetime Maintenance. Finally, it is time to prove your commitment to the eating plan that has brought you close to your goal weight and given you energy, better health, confidence, and insight into yourself. This is the phase you are supposed to live with for the rest of your life.
Sounds good, right? If so, I strongly suggest you think again.
This diet will not work once you stop following the food lists and other strict rules. So, in order to get results you have to be 100% committed to giving everything else up, forever. No matter how sophisticated it sounds or how effective it is in the short term, following this fad diet puts you at risk. Cutting off vital nutrients from your body can lead to various health-related problems.
The first book did do so well, but allowing a good 20 years for dieters to forget about that failure, the book was reissued as Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution (though there was not much new about it) in 1992. (Atkins, RC. Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution. Avon Books, 1992.)
When Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution was first published, the President of the American College of Nutrition said, ‘Of all the bizarre diets that have been proposed in the last 50 years, this is the most dangerous to the public if followed for any length of time’ (The Chronicle (Houston, TX) 9 March 1973.)
When the chief health officer for the State of Maryland was asked, ‘Whats wrong with the Atkins Diet?’ he replied ‘Whats wrong with taking an overdose of sleeping pills? You are placing your body in jeopardy.’ He continued, Although you can lose weight on these nutritionally unsound diets, you do so at the risk of your health and even your life.†(The New York Weekly 26 March 1973.)
For further evidence of the harm the Atkins Diet can cause, you should check out AtkinsExposed, a site dedicated to showing the effects of this fad diet.
Studies Done On The Atkins Diet
Research of Atkins Diet
By Kris Lee
Research results have varied over the years concerning the Atkins diet. The research has tended to support that Atkins followers have experienced comparable or higher weight loss than people on traditional low-fat diets with higher amounts of carbohydrates, but for only a six-month period. After 12 months, weight loss was about equal. Some research also has shown that the diet has not produced damaging cholesterol or heart effects, but these studies have not been large, long-term trials. For example, effects of increased fat consumption on diet followers’ hearts may take years to
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR DOCTOR
* What aspects of the Atkins diet do you feel are appropriate for weight loss?
* How often would I need to be seen by a physician or registered dietitian while following the atkins diet?
surface and in any medical research, large numbers of participants are needed to account for many variables.
In 2004, Jody Gorran, a 53-year-old businessman from Florida, sued the promoters of the Atkins diet, saying that the plan clogged his arteries and nearly killed him. Mr. Gorran claimed that he was seduced by the plan and that by eating the high levels of protein and fats touted by the plan, his cholesterol soared. His lawsuit was backed by the Washington-based advocacy group called Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Mr. Gorran sought damages and to seek an injunction preventing the sale of Atkins’ books and products without fair and adequate warnings about the dangers of the diet. The lawsuit was dismissed late in 2006 by a judge, but an appeals continue.
Atkins’ company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2005. The company completed its Chapter 11 reorganization by January 2006, having streamlined some operations, and continued to operate early in 2007, making Dr. Atkins’ diet run more than 35 years long.
Controversy even surrounded Atkins’ death in 2003. Though he died when he slipped on the ice outside his office in February 2003. He spent eight days in a coma before dying, and a copy of the medical examiner’s report showed that his weight upon death was 258 pounds. Critics of Atkins’s diet said that this was considered obese for a man who was six feet tall. His allies said that most of the pounds were gained in Atkins’ time in a coma because of fluid retention. But even while Atkins was alive, he had reported problems with his heart, though his physician’s council said the trouble was from an enlarged heart, which had stemmed from a viral infection, not from his diet.
Though Dr. Atkins added that numerous studies pointed to the fact that carbohydrates were to blame for weight gain, an explanation for how his diet program worked was never really offered by researchers. Numerous studies continued throughout the 1990s and even after Dr. Atkins’ death. Though some studies showed that people on the Atkins diet often lost weight faster in six months than those on other weight loss programs, the long-term effectiveness and possible harmful effects of the Atkins diet required more study.
In 1992, Dr. Atkins updated his Diet Revolution and by 2004 Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution had sold more than 45 million copies and been translated into 25 languages. The new plan was the same, but the maintenance portion of the diet was made a little more liberal. The diet was extremely popular, as were Atkins Nutritionals products, such as vitamin supplements and numerous food items. A later Web-based version called the Atkins Advantage emphasized the products of Atkins Nutritionals and offered additional books, software, and information on a company Website to support the program’s goals and products.
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