What is wrong with the Atkins Diet

[Cron]

This site is basically an online, FREE version of the book "Carbophobia" by Dr. Michael Gregor (MD - Humane Society Of The United States ).

I read the hard copy. It has over 60 pages of references to medical journals and a very large section where the Atkins corporation's counter points are refuted.

Atkins Facts - Atkins "Nightmare" Diet

[escapee]

Billion of people on high Carb diet in the form of bread (loaded with sugar, syrup), refined grain, white flour, sugary drinks and etc are heading towards full blown chronic diseases . It's high time that ppl recognize the importance of carbohydrate selection to better defense themselves against the diseases. Real vegetable, real fruit and moderate/limited level of whole grain is good for insulin control whereas refined sugar, refined grain, soda , extremely high grain intake and etc would spike your insulin level and exert tremendous stress and damage to the body system. One piece of humble advice, If it aint real whole food (or it's human made), dont eat it (or completely minimize the intake). That's how the French get away with lower CVD even with high saturated fat intake .

Amazon.com: Dr. Gott's No Flour, No Sugar(TM) Diet: Books: Peter H. Gott,Robin Donovan

Oh Yes, I agree that Atkin diet is not a healthy diet.

Above is just my personal opinion

[Narz]

What is wrong with the Atkins Diet

The fact that fruits and vegetables are good for you.

It's a great diet if you're a pussycat though (just don't cook the meat & make sure to feed bones & organ meats as well).

[bylto]

You're allowed fruits and veggies on the atkins diet. I think a lot of people think Atkins is just the induction phase. Even on this phase, vegetables are actively encouraged. Once you reach your desired weight you increase carb intake again and, of course, can eat fruit. Any diet that says you can't should be avoided.

Also some people think it's about eating fat from the frying pan or deep fryer which it isn't. To my mind it's about naturally occuring fats, like in meat, eggs, nuts and seafood. As well as this fruits and veggies are definitely to be eaten. It's about eating what we're genetically built for instead of man-made junk like white flour.

These days though the Atkins company has all sorts of products that include loads on artificial sweetners like aspartame and also sugar alcohols. To me this defeats the whole purpose and is unfortunate. I think this happened when Dr Atkins sold the company and obviously lost control of it. Pity.

Done intelligently and after research I have no problem with the diet.

[ferociousgoals]

Haven't done much research, but wanted to add a personal observation.

I know dozens of people who did the Atkin's diet, from family, to friends, to coworkers. Every single one of them lost a goodly amount of weight, including three who lost over 60 lbs.

Every single one of them is now just as fat as before or fatter.

I know that diets in general have a pretty bad success rate, but from what I've seen, once people have incorporated huge amounts of unfettered animal fats into their diet, they have trouble cutting back on them once they are also eating carbs again. And they lose some of the satiation points for the carbs. One of my friends went from generalized overeating and moderate exercise to eating tons of cheese and red meat and not exercising at all (why bother? the weight was coming right off!) and then quitting the diet and keeping the new habits in addition to the old of overeating. He's 15 lbs more than when he started and that seems pretty typical.

[Shaden]

Oh come on!

When will people realise that they don't need a diet to lose weight! Why can't people just have the sense to get some self-discipline and exercise!

That's where weight loss comes from people, I tell ya.

[escapee]

You're allowed fruits and veggies on the atkins diet. I think a lot of people think Atkins is just the induction phase. Even on this phase, vegetables are actively encouraged. Once you reach your desired weight you increase carb intake again and, of course, can eat fruit. Any diet that says you can't should be avoided.

Oh , they must have changed their approach ? I thought the initial Atkin approach was supposed to be 99% pure meat diet ( ketosis diet ).

[PhyllisZ]

whoops... that's my second double-post.

[PhyllisZ]

Originally Posted by escapee

Oh , they must have changed their approach ? I thought the initial Atkin approach was supposed to be 99% pure meat diet ( ketosis diet ).

That was NEVER the Atkins diet. That was the media's version of it... because it sounds shocking and horrible, which it is. That's all the media likes to report. People who "thought" they were following Atkins, and were eating nothing but meat and cheese were having all sorts of health problems. Of course, these people also forgot to read the part about drinking water too... hence the rumors of kidney problems too. None of the bad side-effects that were reported by the media were from people following the book's instructions.

The Atkins diet actually REQUIRES a minimum of 3 cups of vegetables every single day from day 1 of the program... and more veggies and fruits once you get past the first few weeks... and later, even includes whole grains and beans. Nobody actually reads the book... they just assume that what they heard on TV, or heard from their friend was the truth.

The REAL Atkins diet (as written in the book), is EXCELLANT... but there are a few things that I would not consider good advice.

What's wrong with Atkins??

1) All processed foods (Stick to whole foods)
This includes bars, shakes, cold-cuts, bacon, etc... even though the books specifically says to eat mostly whole foods and limit these items, many people think it's a free-for-all.

2) Grain-fed beef... too high in saturated fat and has a horrible Omega 3:6 Ratio (grass-fed is fine)

3) All artificial sweetners... especially sugar alcohols.

4) All dairy products... including butter (not good for most people)

5) It doesn't stress the importance of exercise enough.

6) Too much animal fat, and not enough healthy fat promoted. (To make it better, add Omega 3 Fish Oils, more olive oil, more nuts, more avocado)

7) It doesn't take into account for active people who should be eating more carbs from the start... especially athletes.

8) ... and I don't personally think that fiberous vegetables
should be limited to 3 cups, even for 2 weeks time. In my opinion, I think they should be unlimited... and only starchy carbs limited to specific serving sizes.

[escapee]

Great, A good list of why Atkin diet may not work for long term .

The Atkins diet actually REQUIRES a minimum of 3 cups of vegetables every single day from day 1 of the program... and more veggies and fruits once you get past the first few weeks...

Looks to me that the ketosis only occurs at the initial phase of Atkin diet .. That's the period where you burn off the most of your fat for energy while having bad breath and strange odor

[da1prophet]

Originally Posted by Shaden

Oh come on!

When will people realise that they don't need a diet to lose weight! Why can't people just have the sense to get some self-discipline and exercise!

That's where weight loss comes from people, I tell ya.

Yep....eat less, eat healthy and exercise and you'll lose the weight and keep it off.

[PhyllisZ]

The Atkins diet is about removing the most common causes of food allergies during it's Induction phase... and reintroducing additional foods later, one at a time, during the OWL phase, to see if you have an intolerance to them, so you learn about your own body and what foods that give you symptoms.

The program works very well for people who read the book and stay on it. It begins very low carb and high fat to kick start your weight-loss efforts and satiate your appetite, so you are not hungry. As you learn to control your food intake, and make better choices with what you put into your mouth, the follow phases slowly increase your carb intake while lowering your fat intake. They reintroduce a very large assortment of healthy foods, without cutting out any particular food group.

... but who ever reads past the first couple phases to figure out the big picture.


Sorry for the direct tone... (just smack me)...
I guess I just have a little pet peeve about people who have strong opinions about something that they haven't spent the time to learn about ion depth. It's sad that the media destroys some really great things by only educating the public on the bad news... instead of the good news.

Next time you watch the news, try to find ANYTHING good in it that isn't an advertisement from the food & drug industry for another pill that they are going to push onto the public that we don't need.