The popular name for the 'Atkins Nutritional Approach' is the 'Atkins Diet', which was the invention of Doctor Robert Atkins. Dr. Atkins had put on a lot of excess weight while he was studying in medical school and after reading about a certain diet in a medical journal, he made up his mind to improve it and publish it under his own name.
Atkins, in his Atkins Diet book, stated that he believed that the prevailing theories about putting on weight were completely wrong. First, he dismissed the idea that saturated fats were bad; instead he said it was it was carbohydrates that caused the weight problems Americans have these days. Atkins held that our obsession with avoiding fat actually aggravated the problem. He pointed out that the low-fat foods that were high in carbohydrates were not helping the nation, which probably meant that people on a diet often ate foods that were worse for them than what they had normally eaten.
The Atkins diet moved the focus. Atkins said that by avoiding carbohydrates, people would consume stored body fats. And, of course, if you lose the fat, you lose the weight. He said it was not just a question of eating less. Atkins postulated that your diet could actually help you burn calories and The Atkins Diet supposedly burned more calories than were consumed everyday. But the claims were disputed.
Dr. Atkins also touted the positive influence that his diet could have on people with type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a disease you get early in life, but type 2 is often closely associated with diet and excess body weight. So, it should follow that any diet that helps reduce weight, will help people with Type 2 diabetes. The Atkins diet is low in carbohydrates, which ought to be avoided with type 2 diabetes regardless of the caloric intake, so because of this aspect of the diet, Atkins claimed that those who suffer type 2 diabetes would no longer need medication such as insulin. In general, doctors disagree with Atkins on this point, although they do agree, however, that a lower carbohydrate intake helps control Type 2 diabetes, but there is no proof that carbohydrates cause diabetes.
What does one have to do to follow the Atkins diet? Well, it goes in four phases - Induction; On-Going Weight loss; Pre-maintenance; and Lifetime Maintenance. This is a brief synopsis of the first phase - The Induction Phase.
The Induction phase is the most difficult of the phases in the Atkins diet. Atkins is flexible about how long it should last " but recommends it lasts for two weeks. During this phase, carbohydrate consumption is severely curtailed " you can only consume up to 20 grammes per day. The idea is to enter a fat burning metabolic phase called 'ketosis' wherein the body, starved of glucose, begins to convert stored fat into the fatty acids needed to run the body. Weight loss during this phase is often extreme " some Atkins dieters reported losses of 5-10 pounds a week or more.
The purposes of the three final phases in the Atkins diet are the learning of the ideal carbohydrate levels for the next two phases: continued weight loss and weight maintenance. Millions of people are still losing the weight they want to on this diet " but be aware of the dangers of taking in too much cholesterol. - 32002
Atkins, in his Atkins Diet book, stated that he believed that the prevailing theories about putting on weight were completely wrong. First, he dismissed the idea that saturated fats were bad; instead he said it was it was carbohydrates that caused the weight problems Americans have these days. Atkins held that our obsession with avoiding fat actually aggravated the problem. He pointed out that the low-fat foods that were high in carbohydrates were not helping the nation, which probably meant that people on a diet often ate foods that were worse for them than what they had normally eaten.
The Atkins diet moved the focus. Atkins said that by avoiding carbohydrates, people would consume stored body fats. And, of course, if you lose the fat, you lose the weight. He said it was not just a question of eating less. Atkins postulated that your diet could actually help you burn calories and The Atkins Diet supposedly burned more calories than were consumed everyday. But the claims were disputed.
Dr. Atkins also touted the positive influence that his diet could have on people with type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a disease you get early in life, but type 2 is often closely associated with diet and excess body weight. So, it should follow that any diet that helps reduce weight, will help people with Type 2 diabetes. The Atkins diet is low in carbohydrates, which ought to be avoided with type 2 diabetes regardless of the caloric intake, so because of this aspect of the diet, Atkins claimed that those who suffer type 2 diabetes would no longer need medication such as insulin. In general, doctors disagree with Atkins on this point, although they do agree, however, that a lower carbohydrate intake helps control Type 2 diabetes, but there is no proof that carbohydrates cause diabetes.
What does one have to do to follow the Atkins diet? Well, it goes in four phases - Induction; On-Going Weight loss; Pre-maintenance; and Lifetime Maintenance. This is a brief synopsis of the first phase - The Induction Phase.
The Induction phase is the most difficult of the phases in the Atkins diet. Atkins is flexible about how long it should last " but recommends it lasts for two weeks. During this phase, carbohydrate consumption is severely curtailed " you can only consume up to 20 grammes per day. The idea is to enter a fat burning metabolic phase called 'ketosis' wherein the body, starved of glucose, begins to convert stored fat into the fatty acids needed to run the body. Weight loss during this phase is often extreme " some Atkins dieters reported losses of 5-10 pounds a week or more.
The purposes of the three final phases in the Atkins diet are the learning of the ideal carbohydrate levels for the next two phases: continued weight loss and weight maintenance. Millions of people are still losing the weight they want to on this diet " but be aware of the dangers of taking in too much cholesterol. - 32002
About the Author:
Do you want to lose that excess weight rapidly? Well, take a free look at The Atkins Diet, by visiting our resource called The Atkins Diet Plan
