The Atkins Diet Reviewed
One of the most famous weight loss diets, all over the world, is the Atkins diet. In the years 1960, there was this doctor, Robert Atkins, who discovered a fantastic method for losing weight, while he was making attempts to get rid of his own extra pounds. When he discovered the diets that made him famous later on, he started to apply it on his patients, after he had seen the great results he’d obtained with it. Later, Dr. Atkins published his revolutionary diet in the book called Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution, somewhere in the 1970’s, and he published an updated version of the book in the late 1990’s. The Atkins diet did not only make its author famous and his patients happy and slim, but it also gave birth to a whole industry around the book, as many groceries started to offer foods specially prepared for those who wanted to follow the Atkins Diet.
The Mechanism of Atkins Diet
The main idea is to eat lots of high protein foods, while reducing carbohydrates intake to a minimum. The diet comprises four stages, which, in case of being followed strictly, promise a healthy, stable weight loss, and maintaining it for many years after.
Atkins Diet Stage 1: The Induction
This is the biggest challenge for dieters, because it causes a nutritional and metabolic shock which is not very well supported by everybody. In this stage, your daily carbohydrates intake must be lower than 20 grams, out of which, more than half must come from vegetables. You can eat as much fat as you want, as long as you restrict your carbs to this amount. Atkins advises that you also take some multivitamin supplement, especially if you live an active life and you need a lot of energy.
Atkins Diet Stage 2: The Ongoing Weight Loss
Now you measure your weight weekly, and if you notice a decrease, you are allowed to increase the carbs intake by two grams per each week. You can keep this on as long as you need, until you are happy with the weight you manage to lose, be it 10 pounds, 20 pounds or even more.
Atkins Diet Stage 3: The Pre-Maintenance
Now you can add to your diet 10 more grams of carbs each week, provided that you still lose or you maintain your weight. The purpose of this stage is to find out how many grams of carbs you can eat on a daily basis without gaining more weight. Then you need to stick to that carbohydrates quantity, and so you can remain at the same weight for a long time.
Atkins Diet Stage 4: The Maintenance
In this stage, you keep the carbs quantity constant, while making sure that you eat mostly natural products, you give up refined foods and sugars, and you don’t abuse deep frying.
Atkins Diet Side Effects
What the book doesn’t say but many people have experienced, are the side effects caused by this diet. This is what one Atkins dieter has to share with his readers:
Atkins leads you to believe that the presence of these ketone bodies indicates ongoing fat release. He also assures you that they feed the brain. That is partially true. Here are just a few of the issues he neglects to address:
1. Extended periods of ketosis may affect the chemical composition of the blood in such a way that you increase risk of cardiac incident (blood ketoacidosis).
2. In a state of ketoacidosis, carbon dioxide accumulates in the tissues. Oxygen delivery to the cells is impaired. This can lead to a wide range of disastrous consequences ranging from respiratory ailments to metabolic illness.
3. Toxic ammonia buildup resulting from severe cases of ketoacidosis can be lethal.
As the author says, this is not a must happen for every dieter out there, but if we add the more common potential side effects such as constipation and bad breath, we may come to the conclusion that something is wrong in Dr. Atkins’ diet plan.
Nevertheless, if you insist in trying this diet, please don’t forget to ask your doctor’s advice, to see if your health allows it.
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