The whole concept was based on research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, wherein Dr. Atkins used the information on said publication to resolve his own issues concerning weight problems.
Overview
During his life, Dr. Robert Atkins published two books on dieting. The first book, Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution, was met with so much interest that it became an instant hit with dieters. When the follow-up book entitled Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution was released, the author modified certain parts of the dieting plan in the first book without altering the original ideas incorporated in the nutritional approach.
The Claim
The Atkins Diet method claims to be effective for weight loss and for proper maintenance of a healthy heart. Because this method focuses on low carbohydrate intake, it can lower the bad cholesterol in the body’s system while increasing the good cholesterol level. And because the body has limited supply of carbohydrates, it becomes dependent on the stored body fats for energy. This, in turn, will result in a decreased body weight.
The Hype
In this day and age, any type of weight loss plan is met with interest and enthusiasm. The Atkins Nutritional approach is found to be an attractive method in losing weight because it doesn’t limit the intake of food, as long as long as the food source is low in carbohydrates. And with a huge number of people testifying to the immediate results seen in just a few weeks of applying the method, more and more people are attracted to try it.
The Cost
The cost of maintaining an Atkins Diet procedure is really quite manageable. Your basic expenditures will more or less stay the same, as there will be no significant changes in the amount of money you spend on food. You will also be encouraged to eat healthy food like fruits and vegetables, and this will have a good effect on your body.
The Commitment
Studies show that being hungry during the course of a dieting method is often the number one cause why most diet plans don’t work. But this doesn’t apply to the Atkins Diet, as you don’t need to fast to make the system effective. All it requires is that you cut down on your intake of food that are high in carbohydrates, and the whole dieting plan will work efficiently.
And if you combine this method with exercise, you will observe that the dieting approach can make you lose weight without experiencing energy depletion.
Evaluation
This method of dieting is realistic and believable, in the sense that it can really make you lose weight in a short period of time. Because fats and protein are encouraged instead of carbohydrates, your body will take a longer time in digesting the food in your body.
This will allow your system to have the feeling of fullness, and you won’t feel any hunger pangs until these components are totally dissolved in your system. Furthermore, the simplicity of this dieting plan can have the effect of inhibiting your appetite for food, and thus, less food intake can result in decreased body mass.
As a weight loss regimen, this method can really work fast. However, the safety of this approach is very questionable. If you go back to eating foods that are high in carbohydrates, you will also gain weight immediately.
And exposing your body to such methods of gaining and losing weight in a short period of time will damage your system and affect your overall health. This nutritional approach can also be considered harmful for the kidneys, as the organ is forced to process protein instead of carbohydrates for energy.
Our Recommendation
We are not recommending the Atkins Diet for weight loss or for general maintenance of good health. What we recommend is for you to follow the food pyramid which is approved by the FDA.
This is a healthier way to approach dieting, as you will be minimizing your intake of junk food while maintaining a healthy balance of carbohydrates and protein intake. And that, when combined with exercise and a healthy lifestyle, will lead to normal body weight.
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Sadly, obesity has a long running in our family and I have watched almost all of my relatives partake in this or that diet, both fad and unpopular. In all those years I have to say that I saw them experience the fastest results with the Atkins diet! Their attitude, bodies, and energy changed so quickly and I have never seen them happier. The only problem was that after they cut out such a large part of carbs in their diet, they started to have serious withdrawals from it. This would result in a binge on carbs later on. In the end, I think it is a long-lasting diet for some but not for other.
I get how eating a lot of protein would be good for you, but it doesn't seem healthy for that to be all you eat, and a lot of meats are really fatty, caloric, and high in cholesterol. Eating vegetables (which are basically slow-release carbs) helps reduce bad cholesterol, so I think really long-term, this diet would be dangerous for people at risk of heart disease (like those who are overweight). Even for a few weeks, though, I would think that this diet would make someone who craves carbs go crazy with hunger. I tried cutting out heavy carbs for a week, and I felt weak and hungry all the time--and I was still eating veggies. I can't imagine doing a diet that isn't just balanced and involves exercise.
The Atkins diet is the forbear of a much more recent fad diet, namely the "pale diet'. Basically the paleo diet tries to get us to eat like when we were cave men, and could only eat what we could forage or kill. This means no grains, no carbs, nothing that requires agriculture. Atkins is the same. No carbs. I'll tell you now IT WORKS, but my GOD IT IS HARD! It really works. The weight falls off but only IF you can stick to it. The jury is still out as to the long term sustainability of such a diet, and the paleo crowd recommend cycling between a no-carb/ some carb routine. So that's no cereal, bread, pasta, potatoes, basically all the things you would normally consider the staples of every single meal. Good luck!
It doesn't look like something one could stick to for extended periods of time though. I've noticed that if a diet is too difficult to stick to that people will inevitably go back to their original eating habits and end up gaining all the weight (and sometimes even more) back. It sounds like you need a vast amount of motivation to keep it up. But for temporary weight loss I'm sure it can work well.
I feel like a lot of fad diets work, but aren't necessarily healthy, especially long term. It seems like they work for a little while, and then when the dieter goes back to their usual eating, they gain weight again, and like the article said, yo-yo-ing weight is really bad for you.
My dad used the Atkins diet for a little while, and it worked a little bit, except that he ate a lot of fatty meats. It seemed like a bad idea to replace a piece of toast with 5 pieces of bacon. (Maybe he didn't really follow the diet properly?)
For someone who needs help dieting, there has to be programs that help people get in the habit of healthy eating and dieting without feeling terrible. Maybe changing lifestyles more gradually helps, but definitely moderation. Diets fail when someone feels like they can never have yummy unhealthy foods. Indulging once in a while, but keeping a mostly healthy lifestyle with moderation in mind is the best way to stay healthy.
The Atkins diet does work. You have to be consistent and eat exactly what is allowed on the plan. If you do this, then yes you will lose the weight. The first two weeks are the hardest, but after that you get to add foods gradually. Be faithful and stay on the foods that are allowed. That means not even one bite of forbidden foods. Within two weeks you can see a weight loss. I had a weight loss of fifteen pounds the first week. I didn’t stray. Within three months I lost fifty five pounds. The Atkins diet does work.
I have a handful of friends who were very successful on the Atkins diet, but I was never comfortable with it. I suppose, as the reviewer mentioned, it's okay if done for a short time, but balance is always the key, and when the scale is tipped with one type of food for too long, there's no way that's healthy. And, I have to mentioned, that the friends who were successful on Atkins gained back their weight (and more) once they stopped.
I too haven't tried it but know people who have. My mom and sister were on the Atkins diet for a while, and I remember how hard it was for them. They were craving carbs like crazy. My mom said you eventually get more used to not eating carbs, but that it's still hard. My sister was having a hard time feeling satisfied after eating.
The diet does work, but it's something I couldn't do. I eat too many carbs...I would have a very hard time stopping. For me, it might be worth it to just cut down on carbs (or at least switch to mostly whole grains and cut way down on fined sugar).
It works for a while, it did for me but its impossible to do it long term, there´s no way for most people to live without carbohydrates and sugar. Plus I guess long term eating mostly protein can´t be good in health terms.