Atkins Diet

 

The Atkins Diet is a more systematic and scientific approach to dieting compared to the aforementioned Blowout Diet. It has four phases designed to carefully control the level of the body’s carbohydrate consumption. Although the Atkins Diet is most popular in America, this method is widely followed by many dieters in other countries like the Philippines.

The New York Times’ Marian Burros writes: “There are a dozen or more low-carb diets known today in the world. The best known are the Atkins and South Beach…”

The Atkins Diet was introduced in 1972 but few people seemed to notice it until it became a real fad in the late 1990s. Dr. Robert C. Atkins founded the said diet. He developed a low-carbohydrates eating plan. Dr. Atkins wrote a book on the low-carb hypothesis that became a bestseller but only after years of its publication. With the popularity of the book and the effective results that those who have tried it attest to, many who haven’t tried it yet are convinced that the Atkins Diet is the way to go.
Unlike other diets, the Atkins Diet allows you to eat lots of meat and fats and promises that you will still lose weight. “Nutrient-dense foods,” Atkins states, “are more likely to meet your nutritional needs and promote better health than low-fat, calorie-restricted diets.”

The logic behind the Atkins Diet is that your body burns both carbohydrates and fat as fuel for its energy needs. Carbohydrate is the first fuel to be metabolized. If you cut down on your intake of carbohydrates, your body will then convert from burning carbohydrates to burning fat. The result is weight loss.
The Atkins Diet, however, has resulted into a heated debate among medical and nutritional experts. The contention is whether the low-carb hypothesis of Dr. Atkins and its ketosis effect mean something harmful to dieters or helpful to them. In addition, there are no long-term studies to show that people on low-carb diets keep weight off longer than those on low-fat diets. Unless they satisfy their critics, Atkins Diet advocates could see the beginning of the end.

Just like any other fad, the Atkins Diet will experience a sure downside after long-term adherence. For example, a fat woman who wants to look good on her wedding day may find it wise to resort to the Atkins Diet. She cuts down on carbohydrates, going through her day mostly hungry, ignoring the approved food pyramid.

After a few days of dieting, the woman might get good results, losing considerable weight. But as experience often tells us, after a few weeks of depriving oneself of our favorite donuts and spaghetti, in only three days or less, everything will go back to what it was like before – the waistline starts to grow and frequent visits to our favorite restaurant will soon resume. To top it off, excess poundage will creep back into a once svelte figure.

Recommended articles are found in these links:
http://www.everydiet.org/diet/atkins-diet
http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/diet-fitness/atkins.html