Some Basic Info on Low Carb

The Atkins Diet was created by Dr. Robert C. Atkins, founder and medical director of the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in New York. What follows are answers to some FAQs provided by the Atkins Center and is not a recommendation for or against the plan. Remember, you should always check with your doctor before changing your dietary habits.
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What is it?
Focusing on the consumption of nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods and vita-nutrient supplementation, the Atkins diet restricts processed/refined carbohydrates, such as high-sugar foods, breads, pasta, cereal and starchy vegetables. 
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Why it works 
While some Atkins dieters eat fewer calories than before, Atkins says it's not because the diet is unduly limiting of food intake, but rather because people are generally less hungry and are less obsessed with food. The reason:
1. Stable blood sugar throughout the day ensures that you will have fewer food cravings or false hunger pains.
2. The food you eat (meat, fish, cheese, nuts, eggs, low sugar/starch vegetables and fruit, etc.) is less processed and more nutritious.
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Purported benefits
You'll start to burn fat for energy: Since carbohydrates are the body's primary energy source, you'll start to use your secondary energy source, you own body fat, for energy.
You won't feel hungry in between meals: By cutting the carbs, you'll maintain a more even blood sugar level throughout the day. 
Your overall health will improve and you'll feel better: Many of the toxins you take into your body are stored in your fat cells. By getting your body to burn stored fat, you allow it to clean itself out. 
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Individualized diets
While intake of carbs is limited and the diet tends to be high in protein, Atkins cannot provide the exact percentages of each food group for the general population as it is individualized depending on a person’s sensitivity to carbohydrates, among other factors. 
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Not for everyone
A person who performs a lot of aerobic exercise and who doesn't have a weight problem has no reason to be on a carbohydrate-restricted diet, Atkins says. 
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Vitamin supplements
The diet calls for core vita-nutrient supplementation with a full-spectrum multi-vitamin and an essential oils/fatty acid formula.
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Low carbs
The Atkins Diet is not a no-carbohydrate diet. The diet focuses on very limited consumption of the types of carbohydrates that tend to spike blood sugar levels the most, including non-whole grain bread, pastas, refined sugar products, juices and high sugar/starchy fruits and vegetables. 
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Are sugars to blame?
While many lament the consumption of fat as the root of America's weight problem, Atkins says that fat consumption has actually declined the past few decades. It’s carbohydrate consumption (mostly refined) that has increased, he says. During this time:
• Obesity increased from 25 percent of the population to 33 percent 
Heart disease now accounts for 50 percent of all deaths, up from 40 percent in the 1970s 
• Cases of diabetes are growing
• Hypertension, chronic fatigue and attention deficit disorder are now well recognized conditions. 
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Source: The Atkins Center

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Is This You?

There are three types of people who really need to control their carbohydrates. Are you one of them?

Virtually everyone can lose weight, and then maintain it, by doing the Atkins Nutritional ApproachT. Likewise, health benefits accrue to all who follow this lifestyle. But certain people have an even more compelling reason to do Atkins. 

Answer these questions to see if you are one of them.

• "I Really Don't Eat That Much!"

•  Are you overweight, despite the fact that you don't eat that much?

• Do you follow standard weight-loss plans to the letter, yet make no headway losing weight or get stuck far short of your goal?

• Have you noticed that many slim people definitely consume more food and more calories than you do?

• Are you just unpleasantly hungry on low-calorie diets?

• Do you find the amount of food you eat is really the least you can take in without feeling physically unsatisfied?

• Do you feel unfulfilled when you finish a so-called balanced meal?

• Do you find that when you eat the amount of food that feels just right, you don't lose-or you even gain?

• Do you find yourself losing and gaining the same 10 to 15 pounds?

• Do you gain weight even though you eat natural, low-fat foods?

• Have you often said, "I'm really very disciplined; it must be my metabolism?

• Do you wonder if your weight problem could be hereditary?

• Do you often say, "I eat because when I do, I feel better"?

If you answered, "yes" to most of these questions, you have a metabolic problem, manifested either by a relative inability to lose weight or maintain weight loss, or by hunger or inability to achieve and maintain satiety.

• "I Always Crave Food!"

• Do you have an inexplicable obsession with food?

• Do you have a habit of eating late at night, even after dinner?

• Do you have a tendency to binge?

• Do you constantly crave sweets, pasta, bread and other high-carbohydrate foods?

• Do you nibble all day long when food is available?

• Do you have a strong desire to eat again within two hours of eating a filling meal?

• Do you consider yourself a compulsive eater?

• Have you ever said, "I only wish I could control my eating behavior"?

• Do you wish you had more control over how much you eat?

• Do you have specific symptoms of ill health that diminish or vanish as soon as you eat?

• Do you suffer from:

  • irritability?

  • inexplicable drops in your strength and stamina throughout the day?

  • often overwhelming bouts of fatigue, especially in the afternoon?

  • mood swings?

  • difficulty concentrating?

  • sleep difficulties-whether a need for lots of sleep or a habit of waking from a sound sleep?

  • anxiety, sadness and depression for which there's no obvious explanation?

  • dizziness, trembling or palpitations?

  • brain fog and loss of mental acuity?

If most of your responses were "yes," then you probably have some form of glucose intolerance, usually the form commonly known as hypoglycemia but more accurately called unstable blood sugar or, in some cases, prediabetes.

• "I Can't Live Without This One Food!"

• Do you have a single food or beverage you feel you could not do without?

• Would you pass up an elegant meal to have your favorite food instead?

• Is there a specific food or beverage that makes you feel better as soon as you consume it?

• Do you ever think, "I wonder if I could be addicted to that food/beverage"?

• Do you feel this way about a category of foods (sweets, soft drinks, dairy products or grains, for example)?

If most of your affirmative answers were in this category, then you probably have an addiction to the food or beverage you singled out. Other terms for the phenomenon are "food allergy" or the more accurate "individual food intolerance."

If the food/beverage you've identified as addictive contains carbohydrates, then you have a carbohydrate addiction, and Atkins will help you conquer it.

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Have you heard of LOW CARB Eating?

Comments to the 2005 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee

The Weston A. Price Foundation makes the following recommendations:

• Abandon the current Food Pyramid concept;

• Return the Dietary Guidelines to a plan that stresses high quality foods from four basic groups;

• Urge avoidance of processed foods containing refined and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils as well as highly sugared food, especially those foods containing high fructose corn syrup;

• Encourage use of beneficial unprocessed, unrefined saturated and monounsaturated fats and oils;

• Limit added sugars to no more than 10 percent of daily caloric intake.

Recommended Guidelines: 

Everyday, eat high quality, unprocessed foods from each of the following four groups:

• Animal foods: meat, poultry, fish, eggs and whole milk products

• Grains and legumes: whole grain baked goods, breakfast porridges, beans

• Fruits and Vegetables: preferably fresh or frozen

• Fats and Oils: unrefined saturated and monounsaturated fats including butter and other animal fats, palm oil and coconut oil, olive oil and peanut oil.

• Eat sparingly: sweets, white flour products, soft drinks, processed foods, polyunsaturated and partially hydrogenated vegetable oils and fried foods

Allen's way

Hi, I have been doing Atkins now for a month, and have so far lost 7kg. I am 5 ft 11, started at 100kg, and am aiming for 80kg.

I didn't actually do induction, and just cut out the coke, junk food, bread, pasta, and spuds while I read the two latest Atkins books. The main changes I made were having a protein shake for breakfast (with water), I used to skip breakfast, I swapped my sandwiches, or pasta/noodles at lunch for a salad with ham, chicken or tuna, kept much the same dinner (salad with BBQ meat), and swapped my snack box "Big Bickie" etc for 1 crispbread with 30g blue cheese, 30g salami, and a smoked chicken drum for snacks. My Salads consist of Iceberg lettuce, Mescalin salad mix, capsicum, mushroom, spring onions, tomato, blue cheese, nuts/seeds and dressing. My average day is approx 45g carb. I have lost 7kg so far (1 month). I have also dusted off my bike and rollers, and have started doing 30 mins of aerobic cycling per day.

I have a few Double D lollies, a few squares of Cadbury lite, or a few sugar free Carob Almonds to calm my sweet tooth, and drink Classic Diet cola, and my 8 glasses of water per day. There is no way I can say that I'm hungry.  Allen

... You are obviously here because we share a common enemy: fat.

... You want to get rid of said fat.

... There's only one non-surgical way to do that: use it up metabolically.

... Your body will not burn fat for fuel so long as it has sugars to use.

... Get rid of the easy-to-burn sugar fuel and your body will have to burn fat.

... Now you are in the state called ketosis/lipolysis or KETOSIS for short.

... When you are in this state, your body is releasing ketones in your urine.
    Ketones are the by-products of fat breakdown (lipolysis).

... Your pancreas used to be making lots and lots of insulin in order to convert
    the sugar you used to have in your bloodstream to fat. Now it doesn’t
    need to do that. Insulin levels drop to normal.

... So you have accomplished two things. Your body has stopped storing fat,
    and has started using it up.

... You are losing weight. Your blood sugar levels don’t wildly fluctuate.
    You feel great and, by virtue of the ketosis mechanism, you aren't hungry.

... Congratulations!!! You now know what all the hub-bub about
    Low Carbohydrate Eating is about.

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Fact and Fiction: The Truth About the Atkins Diet
By : Aimee Adamson

You may have heard how effective it is - how you can lose significant amounts of weight, increase your energy and your overall health. You may also have heard, though, that this is a fad diet - that you'll regain all of the weight as soon as you go off of the diet, and that it puts your kidneys at huge risk. 

So what's the real story? Let's take a closer look at the Atkins Diet - what it is, how it works and what the risks and benefits are. 

A Little History 

Robert Atkins, MD was a trained as a cardiologist, and has spent the last 25 years treating overweight patients. Over 20 years ago "Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution" was published, introducing the low carb/high protein diet to the world. This book has been updated and republished (1997) bringing awareness of this diet to a new generation of dieters. 

Facts and Fiction 

Most people have heard of the Atkins Diet by now. There are a lot of misconceptions about the diet, and some interesting facts. Let's look at these one by one: 

The Atkins Diet is a no-carb diet. Fiction. 
The Atkins Diet does restrict carbohydrates, especially in the first two weeks when the body is getting used to this diet. However, some carbohydrates are allowed at all levels of the diet. 

You have to eat the same thing forever! Fiction.
There are four levels to the Atkins Diet. The first section is the Induction Diet, where you get very limited carbohydrates (20g or less) for two weeks. This is your "trial run" to see how you feel and how well it works for you. After this point, with your physician's approval, of course, you move into Ongoing Weight loss, where you get to increase your carbohydrate intake slightly. Once you are near your goal (5-10 pounds left) you coast into Pre-Maintenance where you again increase your carbohydrate intake, so that you are still losing weight, but more slowly. Finally, when you meet your goal, you transition into Maintenance mode, where you can consume as many carbohydrates as your body will allow without re-gaining your weight. 

I heard it's steak and eggs all day long. Fact. 
Well, it's not only steak and eggs, but you can eat all the steak and eggs you want. The fact is, you can consume butter, cream, mayonnaise, unlimited meats and cheeses, and low-carbohydrate vegetables - as much as you want of any food as long as your total carbohydrate intake does not exceed a certain level (which varies, depending on the stage you are at on the diet). 

You don't get any bread or rice! Fact.   
The Atkins diet does restrict your carbohydrate intake, and refined sugars and processed grains are on the list of the first things to go. As you slowly integrate more carbohydrates back into your diet, it is recommended you try to integrate foods that have carbs in their natural state - non-processed grains. So someone on the Atkins diet might get to eat a small potato, but shouldn't eat a bowl of white rice, even though these might have the same caloric or carbohydrate levels. 

This is so dangerous you have to see your doctor first. Fact. 
As with any restrictive diet, you are strongly advised to seek your physician's guidance before going on the diet. In addition, for many folks with heart conditions, this is an important way of getting before and after measurements of some of your cardiovascular markers - helping to document how effective the diet was for you specifically. 

You may regain all of your weight when you go off the diet. Fact. 
This is not always true - many people do successfully keep some or all of their weight off when they stop the Atkins Diet. However, if you don't change the habits that caused you to gain weight in the first place, you will slowly regain the weight that you lost on the Atkins Diet. 

You can't keep the weight off. Fiction.  
Notice the difference between this statement and the one above. You can keep the weight off using the Atkins Diet - either by using the reduced carbohydrate Maintenance Diet or a healthy diet that you go onto after completing the Atkins Diet. It is important to realize that the Atkins Diet is designed as a lifestyle change, not a quick-loss plan. 

The Atkins Diet is bad for your heart! Fiction.
Amazingly, the Atkins Diet has tons of research supporting the surprising benefits for your heart. Study after study shows patients who are tested before the diet and after weight loss using the Atkins' Diet typically show lowered cholesterol and triglyceride levels. 

The Atkins' Diet is bad for your kidneys. Unknown. 
There has been a flurry of controversy over the Atkins' Diet, including an argument that the body cannot metabolize all of the protein consumed on this diet, so there is the potential for significant damage to the kidneys. We are not aware of any studies that support this to date; rather, a recent study at Duke University showed no major organ function impact from these dieters (other than significant cardiovascular benefits and overall weight loss!) (SOURCE: Reuters, Feb 21, 2000; Muscular Development, June 2000). 

You need to take vitamins when you're on the diet. Fact. 
Dr. Atkins strongly recommends supplementing your intake with a good multi-vitamin as well as some other supplements. Not only is it important to help restore our reserves (which may have been depleted by previous dieting attempts) but in the first two weeks of the diet especially, you'll be consuming less of certain nutrients than you should. 

Atkins' dieters often get yeast infections. Fiction.
This one is a total misinterpretation of some data in the Atkins' book. The truth is Atkins' dieters often see a decrease in systemic yeast infections. However, those who have systemic yeast infections do have to eliminate certain foods from their diet - including the Atkins Diet! 

Atkins' dieters suffer constant constipation. Fact. 
On the Atkins Diet, you consume far less fiber and natural grains than normal. The end result, for many people, is constipation. Trying to integrate low carbohydrate fibers can help, as can drinking plenty of water. Most Atkins' dieters take a fiber supplement to help keep their systems running well. 

The weight you lose is just water weight! Fiction.
While some of the weight lost is due to water, dieters are reminded to drink lots and lots of water to prevent dehydration and keep their system flushed. In addition, dieters who are able to lose and keep off their weight would quickly regain it if it were all just "water weight." 

I don't need to exercise on this diet! Fiction.
While you should still experience weight loss on the Atkins Diet without exercise, remember that you are trying to change your overall patterns. Exercise is an important part of regaining your overall health, and will help accelerate your weight loss as well. 

The Atkins Diet causes calcium loss! Fact. 
Technically, studies showed that in the first two weeks of the diet, calcium levels decreased in dieters (although a good supplement can help decrease this effect). Nonetheless, the same studies also showed that after two weeks the calcium loss stopped and the body readjusted itself to normal levels (SOURCE: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 1983 Jun; 37(6):924-929). 

The Atkins Diet works for everyone! Fiction.
This is a restrictive diet, and not recommended for everyone. The "see your doctor" disclaimer here is especially important, as people with certain medical conditions absolutely should not go on the Atkins' Diet. Some conditions that are contraindicated include porphyria, diabetes (talk to your doctor about this if you are diabetic, it's addressed in the book) and patients with kidney function problems. Again, you should talk to your doctor before beginning this diet to make sure that it is right - and safe - for you, and keep your condition monitored as you continue. Also, high-performance athletes may find that they do not have as much stamina on this diet as they desire, and discontinue the diet for that reason. 

I don't need to read the book. Fiction.  
The book outlines not only the detailed steps of the diet, but also what to expect, some very important precautions, and tools to check your progress (lypolysis strips, etc.). This is a diet where you cannot cheat, even a little bit, and the book explains why, and how to get your nutritional needs and cravings met and still stay on the diet. It also spends a lot of time on the physiological benefits above and beyond weight loss, which is extremely motivating. 

Hopefully this review has helped you gain a better understanding of the Atkins Diet - what it is and isn't - and cleared up some misconceptions