trmcgeehan

Dr. Atkins, of the Atkins diet fame, will be interviewed by Larry King January 6 (9 p.m. EST on CNN). A low carb advocate, Atkins's approach to losing weight has recently been validated by extensive testing by a respected research organization (don't know the name). Even U.S. News, a respected news magazine, has recently given this a lot of positive coverage. As I understand his approach, he says most Americans consume entirely too many carbs on a given day, and do not exercise sufficiently to burn all the carbs they eat. For energy, the body burns carbs first and then fat. If you don't burn all the carbs, you'll never burn any fat! So you get fatter and fatter. At the entry level, he recommends you consume only 20 grams of carbs a day, and then work up to 40-50 grams a day. With his approach, he is saying it's easy to lose 2-3 pounds a week, and even more with vigorous excercising such as cycling. On his diet, he says it's okay to go to McDonalds and have a double cheeseburger. But you have to order it without the bun. Too good to be true? (https://atkinscenter.com)

uciflylow

No it isn't!


I lost 50 lbs. in the first 6 months last year on it. You will have to include the extra carbs if you do extended exersize, biking, etc. You will boink on it if you don't. The important thing is don't overdo the carbs if you arn't going to use them.

My blood work looks better now than when I started also.

greywolf

i lost 15 kgs (30. lbs+) on a protein diet but not as strict as Dr. A,s, once youv lost it you can ease bak to more carbs , if you start to gain again you just cut back , it doesnt work for 4 very body but it worked ok for me.

MtnBikerChk

are you sure it isn't BONK ?

most people in the HEALTH industry agree it is not healthy.

your cholesterol may go down in the short term, but there still isn't enough info on the long term effects.

uciflylow

I'm a little new to this so bonk it is.

I'm in health care and can check my blood levels at will, and do.
I totaly agree with the statment in the Dr's book that there is no reason for anyone to eat refined sugars or starches and I also know that americans eating and exersize habbits are KILLING them! I also know that eating high cal foods and not burning them will make you hungy, run up your insulin production and also increasy your risk for insulin resistance.
I also think that stress has as much to do with heart disease as eating habbits. Lay back and relax about life. I have noticed most of the really old folks I know are jolly spirits!

ngateguy

I hear people talk about how tired they are when they are on high carb diets. You need to eat a balanced diet the problem with too many carbs is to many carbs saturated in fat ie donuts and frenchfries. cut back on white flour prouducts and eat more whole grains and of course Exercise.

And there are a ton of reaserchses out there that say long term effect can include weakening of the heart.

And I have yet to say any endorsments from legitimate athletes or trainers on this diet

Poppaspoke

A little warning: I tried the Atkins diet without informing my doctor (endocrinologist). I've been taking Synthroid for years due to hypothyroidism (metabolic disorder). What I didn't realize is the liver converts the Synthroid (synthetic T2) from the inactive form to the active (T3) form. This requires a certain minimum intake of CARBOHYDRATES for the liver to do its job. The good doc explained all this to me after chewing my behind. My little experiment screwed up my metabolism for several months. The moral is exercise due diligence when it comes to your own body!

VegasCyclist

I believe the not exercising part of the lifestyle is the problem....

trmcgeehan

Follow up to my original post: Dr. George Sheehan, a respected running doctor who died a few years ago, once said essentially that it doesn't matter what you eat (in moderation), just so long as you excercise. As evidence, he pointed out a study made on conductors and drivers on London double decker busses. Drivers and conductors both ate high fat diets, but the driver was sitting in the driver's seat all day long and the conductor was walking all over the bus (including upstairs on the double decker). Conductors, according to the study, had a far lower rate of heart disease than the drivers.

ngateguy

You know at my young age of 46 I have seen fad diets come and go along with a ton of Doctors and research that backs them. But there is one thing that you cannot change a balanced diet and exercise will lead you to a stronger and healthier heart. the reason people get fat is by not burning off enough calories not because of carbs. Carbs are getting way too much of a bad rap these days. Carbs are your fuel you need carbs to burn for energy or your body is going to look for something else to burn. There are carbs that can be bad for you, donuts, french fries, cakes etc etc. I by far eat more carbs than anything else in one day and try to go very easy on the protein and I have tons of energy and weigh in at 190# (6'3") I am very thin and am in the best shape I have been in since I was 20. The no carb diet has many bad side affects like lack of energy and it DOES weaken the heart of a period of time. Stay away from fads and stick to the balanced diet and exercise regime. You may not live to a 100, that has to do with a ton of factors, but you will be healthier (haven't been sick in over 2 years), happier, and be able to ride your bike until you drop! OH yeah the real major producer of fat in your body is too much protein we eat far more protein than our ancestors and we are fatter because of it. And in every cycling training guide I have read they always stress the importance of carbs while riding. There is no fast way to lose weight it took me 5 years to lose 70 pounds and I didn't go on a diet I just changed my life style and eating habits. Less protien, less bad carbs, more good carbs and lots of water

ngateguy

What kind of fat? your foods that have the highest fats sometimes are food with carbs. All this proves is that exercise is better than not exercise.

uciflylow

I will have to disagree with you on this one. The fact is that farmers fatten up farm animals on a high carb low protein diet! Hogs are fattened on ground corn almost exclusively, some use wheat or milo. They are all grains!

I will also contend that in a natural environment our ancestors ate a high percentage of protein and
little refined carbs.

I will concede that fads for the most part are bad, but we have had the "eat lots and lots of carbs and low fat" spoon feed to us for so long that's what everyone believes. Complex carbs are the type of carbs we should aim for when the energy is needed, not the refined starches and sugars. I routinely avoid white bread, potatoes, fruit juice, and any drink with sugar in it. I eat complex carbs and the whole fruit when I want the extra carbos.

I know too many people who have lost large amounts of body fat on a low carb diet to just dismiss it. These people did not change their exercise habits, only there, eating habits.

Dougmt

uciflylow,

I definetly agree with you.
The atkins way of eating has worked for hundreds of thousands of people. My MIL was able to ditch all of her diabetes meds and her cholesterol DROPPED. She's never felt better.
Her Dr. said to just keep doing what shes doing as he blood work keeps impoving.
I tried it for awhile but just felt too restricted. Oddly enough I never bonked while on it. I actually felt stronger.
Doug

greywolf

your not ,spost to stay on the atkins diet for ever , you just use it to lose the weight & alter your metabolism ,then you ease back on to a more conventonal diet ,cut down on bread, potatos & sugar, wich only makes sense anyway

ngateguy

This is out of context
1. They intentionally are feeding the animals too much food so it could be grain or fat or meat or vegetables they are going to get fat
2.These days most farm animals do not get exercise.

Still what are the long term effects? how long have these people maintained this weight? And it still does not negate the fact that it DOES weaken your heart. I can't make you not diet I just think you should look into it a bit closer and not by people who are proponents of this diet. There are too many unanswered questions on what the long term effects are.

trmcgeehan

I am reading Atkins' book "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution." It woke me up to the fact that I am definitely a carbohydrate junkie. As I sit here with my cup of black coffee and danish, I've decided I am going to cut down on refined carbs and see what happens. But not today. I still have to enjoy my sugar coated shredded wheat and my waffles drenched in syrup. I'll start tomorrow!

greywolf

i can relate to that

uciflylow

I don’t think that you should stay on the Atkins diet in the strict from forever. That is also not what he purposes in his books. He does tell you how to eliminate becoming a carb junkie with the glucose and insulin levels fluctuating wildly.

Please point me to research that show that this type of diet is proven to weaken your heart. I don’t think it is provable.

ChipRGW

I think there are 2 main problems with Atkins.

1) It is very hard to stick to for a long period of time. This is why I believe the number of people who have "long term" weight loss will remain pretty low.

2) People are not doing the Atkins diet as outlined. They are getting on the induction phase, and staying there. I think it becomes very dangerous at that point. That is why Dr A only has you on this phase for 2 weeks or so at a time.

If you are thinking about doing this diet, READ THE BOOK!! There is a lot of very important information that will greatly affect your success or failure. I read it, didn't think it was a realistic long term solution to my weight problem.

ngateguy

Then why do it by what I have read, and even in his own words, if you go off the diet you will gain weight from the carbs. So If you eat a balanced diet watch your calorie intake and exercise you don't need the diet. Besides why do you need all those supplements? because it is replacing what you are not getting from his diet. And lining his wallet as well. And oh yeah the premise of all of this is that we are meat eaters, wrong! not that I don't enjoy meat we didn't start eating it until we settled down and discovered fire before that we ate a high fiber vegetable diet as well as legumes. This diet is not new and we have seen it come and go for 30 years in many forms. The dispute is not that you won't lose weight. But that you won't do it healthy and it won't stay off.

I read about it in the paper a few months ago but I can not seem to locate it but when I do I will post it here. But here is a few articles you might want to read. I gathered them from different sources and they give you a different outlook. And the fact that Dr Atkins suffered a heart attack him self may not be a good indicator.

https://my.webmd.com/content/chat_schedules/3/39682.htm?

https://www.thedietchannel.com/atkins.htm

https://www.drfuhrman.com/atkins.htm

https://www.vegsource.com/articles/mcdougall_protein.htm

https://reason.com/hod/mf120502.shtml

greywolf

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ngateguy


Then why do it by what I have read, and even in his own words, if you go off the diet you will gain weight from the carbs.



nope , not the case it took me 3weeks to lose the weight, & i was not sticking strickly to the diet, i went back to a more a usual diet but with less white bread, less potatoes, less sugar, more lower carb vegies, you can regulate your weight buy cutting back on the carbs,adding protien ect , as i said before it doesent work for every one , my wife went on it & took it a lot more seriosly than me & only lost 3kgs. my biggest downfall is a sweet tooth wat i developed when i gave up smoking 16yrs ago

uciflylow

Thank’s for the posting ngateguy.

I read these and most are filled with “I believe” or “we think”. It’s funny how ketones are blamed for
kidney damage when the true culprit in kidney damage in glucose going through the kidneys. Excess
glucose is TOXIC to the cells in your body! Atkins does not purpose that you stay on the strict diet forever.
You must learn to eat carbs that are from complex sources.
Have you read his book? There is even a section on carb bingeing. You can eat all the carbs you want from any source in a period of one hour every day and it will not change your appetite or increase your weight.
I know that exercise is the number one factor in helping your HDL to go up. Mine has doubled in the last year due to getting back in shape. It really stokes me that my wife has a high HDL and she smokes and gets
almost no exercise. That just doesn’t seem fair.
In the last two years I have quit smoking, lost 50 lbs., lowered my triglycerides and cholestrol levels, and increased my HDL by twice. I feel great and have no problems staying away from simple carbs. I do get most of my carbs from broccoli and cabbage etc.

Bottom line, do what it takes to get the weight off and keep it off and increase your exercise.

Poppaspoke

Whether you agree or disagree with the Atkins diet (I have personal experience to show it can be dangerous), it does have an element of truth: the importance of complex carbs. Rather than replacing simple carbs with pork chops and butter, a better solution would be to replace the simple carbs with complex carbs. This, in combination with a balanced diet of protein , fat, and carbs, is quite sufficient to prevent the glucose surges that lead to insulin resistance. Obtain a glycemic index chart of common foods, and stick to the lower end of that chart. If you don't smoke and exercise regularly, this is the one thing you can do that will dramatically improve your health.