Atkins diet

Hey,

Does anyone know much about the atkins diet, Im on my second day and I would like to know anyone elses experiences.

Thanks

I didn't do the atkins diet per say, but I have done zero-carb diets and from my experience they have never worked long term. They are great for shedding water weight and a quick drop in weight, however it's not easy to stick to. Balance and moderation is the best.

I don't see why ANYONE would think that diet is good for them. You need to eat different foods, including ones with carbs, in order to lose and maintain that loss.

I did that about 5 years ago. Lost maybe 15lbs. Gained 30 afterwards.

First few weeks felt very dizzy and lightheaded, especially in the mornings.

Made me crabby, but the bacon was good.

Tried it once, like crazydiamondchrysalis, lost about 15 pounds, gained more after.  I was always hungry, felt dehydrated and deprived of foods that were healthy, like lettuce and other vegetables.  And very constipated, let's not forget that. 

You won't find much support for Atkins type diets here on CC.  A balanced diet in moderation is healthier and works better in the long term.

I thought about doing it. Then, I went on some Atkins forums and it's like a cult! The way they talk about Dr. Atkins, it's like he's their saviour or something. It really gave me a bad feeling about it all. Plus, I love roasted potatoes to death, and they limit their veggies. What kind of respectable diet limits veggies, but encourages people to eat as much butter as they can stuff down their throats?

Plus, you go into ketosis. Which means bad breath, constipation, etc. Not fun.

I'd rathar lose weight slowly and healthily.

I am on a really low carb diet, just not atkins because I don't go NUTS with saturated fats and dairy... but I do know a lot about that diet... It's very low carbohydrate from only non-starchy vegetables and extremely low sugar fruit (think lemons & limes) and lots of protein (high fat or not) so like pork & beef & eggs & poultry & fish - The thing is though... I wouldn't really recommend going COMPLETELY Atkins. If you put your own spin on it, it may turn out to be a healthy lifestyle that you can follow! If you don't you may do as the other people posted and lose the weight but then get sick of the diet and gain it all back... (Although I adore meat, so I am not sure how people could get sick of it, ha ha)... What sorts of foods have you been eating thus far? I hope you haven't cut down on vegetables and fruits too much. How is your energy level? 

I'm on a kinda-like-Atkins diet.  I only eat non starchy veggies (no potatoes etc), low sugar fruit, nuts, and meat (with some dairy, not too much).  Honestly it's the only thing that has EVER worked for me.  Regular calorie counting with a "balanced diet" left me constantly hungry, moody, fatigued, dizzy, and caused insane blood sugar spikes and crashes (mind you, I have always eaten high fiber whole grain stuff - no "white stuff" for me thanks).  My finger tips would go numb after eating a turkey sandwich on high fiber multi-grain bread.

Not any more.

Now since I've cut starch out and gone low carb-ish I have more energy than I've ever had.  I'm never hungry.  My mood is stable.  I don't get blood sugar crashes that would nearly cause me to faint.  And I'm easily losing weight.  I have zero urge to binge. I'm not constipated either.

It really pisses me off when people say their particular "balanced diet" is the one and only true way to be healthy.  Sorry, but most people's healthy die (i.e. 65-45% of calories from carbs) would put me back on the fast track toward diabetes. Screw that.  We're all different.  Find a way of eating that works for you and stick with it. 

The only thing all of us can agree on is that any diet should be based on fresh foods.  Processed stuff is terrible for you, your pocketbook, and your waistline.

Hey guys,

Thanks for all this info, I almost lost my grip on this one until I heard from jewelsmcblah. I do take in consideration of want all of you said and it makes since because I do feel deprived of healthy food but so how i have give it a try and i just might give it my own little spin like giasbash6260 said in order to bring back some fruits ans veggies. I'm desperate because I have tried the balanced diet and lost nothing even when I exercise faithfully. I feeling great on my fourth day, not hungry, not constipated, and feeling a tad lighter.

Thanks for you concern and support,

Kornbread.  

I'm not sure what you are referring to as healthy food, have you actually read the book that Dr. Atkins wrote about his diet. If you read the book then you might re-think what healthy food is. For myself I find that when I stray from the basic plan I get all kinds of problems from eating things that are really bad for your health.

My advise is that if you are really doing the Atkins diet, you need to understand the diet completely, not just what you eat, but you'll find out why you are supposed to eat this way and what changes to your overal health that you'll achieve.

This is an insane way to lose weight. I did the zero carb method for a while, and of course it worked! Your body puts itself into ketosis (essentially converting the fat stores into carbohydrates to feed your brain).

It was difficult to comprehend how it worked, I mean I would hammer 4 egg cheese omlettes with bacon in the morning, and still lose weight!

I think you have to take a step back and take a look at the bigger picture. Although you may 'MAY' lose weight with this method you are very likely going to gain it all back as soon as you stop.

And can all those fats be good for you, regardless of your weight?

I have honestly tried so many different ways to lose weight: hydroxycut, tons of cardio, low-carb and no-carb; none of them every yielded me with any significant results.

I've since lost 50 pounds since December and it is only because I have been eating a well balanced nutritious diet with very few processed and refined foods.

We live in a instant gratification high paced industrial food complex society and it can be hard to recognize the best methods for ourselves.

Please abandon the atkins diet, it is only going to work temporarily, or if you are crazy enough to make it a lifestyle choice then I will lay down money that you will be in an early grave because of a heart attack of stroke.

I'd suggest actually reading up about it yourself. Atkins is only one version of the low carb diet - it's been around for a long time ... Eat Fat and Grow Slim (1958), Calories Don't Count (1961), The Doctor's Quick Weight Loss Diet (1968), Atkins (1972), The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet (1978), The Zone (1995), Protien Power (1996), Sugar Busters (1998), South Beach Diet (2003). There is a lot of scientific evidence supporting the theory. I'd suggest reading 'Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes he gives a good overview of how the current dogma of high carb/low fat came into popularity even against strong scientific data and looks closley at diet as it relates to obesity and disease. You may also want to check out the CBC documentary 'My Big Fat Diet'.

Eating a low carb diet forever his hard to wrap your mind around, but it may just be what is best for your body. That doesn't mean that you'll never eat another cookie - it just means you go about it differently. The first weeks are hard, no doubt. I am training for a half ironman however and found only a reduction in my endurance/energy for the first 2 weeks - after that I was able to compete in an olympic distance triathlon while in ketosis with no adverse side effects. I have also found that when exercising hard for several hours I can eat carbs and still remain in ketosis. For example, my bike group does an out and back course where we stop for coffee at the half way mark (about 80 minutes each way) and I ate a date square at the coffee stop and biked home to find I was still in ketosis. (presumably because I burned off the date square in my ride before it had an opportunity to be stored). So it is possible to have the occasional treat without derailing your process.

Ugh.  More nonsense from the peanut gallery.

More saturated fat in diet the less risk of stroke

Low Carb diets may contain more saturated fat, but persons eating that way have lower circulating lipid levels than those eating high carb/low fat.

Here are a couple small studies:

1
2
3
4

Don't let the nonsense freak you out Kornbread.  You're not going to die.

On the other hand, they're all MAD. (PDF warning)  Most of those theories are based around utter, utter nonsense - Taubes in particular should be taken out back and shot for misleading people into thinking that diet, calorie balance, and exercise doesn't matter in a weight loss context.

 Taubes managed to get onto a panel debate with Bob and Jillian from TBL where he sat there and told them to their face that cutting calories and increasing exercise wouldn't work for fat loss unless carbs were cut to zero.

 I mean, what the hell?

 It's all based on nutritional charlatanery from people who'd rather get rich selling you repackaged dieting information that didn't work 20 years before in the last iteration either than to tell you that it's not a mystery, just move more and eat less.

 Going low carb makes sense for some people who have issues with controlling intake on a moderate diet, it makes sense for diabetics and insulin-resistent people, and it's easier to get a sensible level of protein and essential dietary fats in if you cut your calories mainly from carbs.

 But from there to saying that low-carb is better for fat loss than any other method of cutting calories is a total fabrication and has been ever since the first iteration.

Definitely not disagreeing with anyone on that point.  I don't think there is a metabolic advantage.  I lost weight just as easily eating a normal balanced diet and counting calories as I do eating low carb and counting calories.  I just felt like a pile of crap when I ate 50% of my calories from "good carbs."

Holy crap. Looks like pretty much everyone is on the "atkins is bad" bandwagon, so how about a little research based education. Personally, My dad has been on atkins for... ever, and he's lost tons of weight. I personally use my own atkins modifications. By the way, first dispelled myth, you NEED to eat vegetables on atkins. This is clear in his book and with a little common sense. OF COURSE just eating bacon is unhealthy. The atkins diet should center around a diet composed of non-starchy vegetables and proteins.

First, why does atkins work? Understanding why something works can help you use it in the most healthy way. Research shows that it actually ends up being a low calorie diet. "But I eat bacon?" Doesn't matter. Cutting carbs eliminates most junk food. Protein is the best appetite suppressant ever, and a diet rich in protein results in eating less. Also, you should be eating at least 3 cups of vegetables a day. Think salads, tomato soup, whatever you like. This will eliminate the constipation and other ill effects of atkins.

The health question. Research also shows that those on atkins do not have increased cholesterol or any liver problems and more than anyone else. When you're not eating carbs and sugars, you need those natural fats for energy. Now pork rinds are never healthy, carbs or not, but your nuts and dairy products are. Your body adjusts to the change quite quickly, and if you do it correctly, with few ill effects.

Use common sense. If you're diet consists solely of bacon, steak, and cheese, you're going to feel like crap. This diet is innately healthy, its as healthy as what you eat. Which is true for most diets. If someone was on a low fat diet and I whined because my no-fat all-sugar diet doesn't work out, I would look ridiculous. An all meat all-fat no-veggies diet makes about as much sense.

What I do: I avoid high carb foods, and most meals consist of protein and vegetables. For instance, a days food for me might be: an omelette for breakfast (2 eggs, cheese, tomatoes, peppers), a salad with chicken for lunch, steak, green beans, and mashed cauliflower for dinner, and half a peanut butter sandwich for a snack (Nature's own wheat and fiber bread has few carbs, as does peanut butter). Sound horribly unhealthy? I don't think so.

As for whats the best diet? The best diet is the one you can stick to long term. If it's not atkins, it doesn't make it bad, just not for you. I can't do weight watchers. Actually, any diet that involves constant counting results in fail. As for me, I don't eat many starches, but I do sometimes eat leaner meats in order to add fruit into my diet, with no problem.

All of the studies that supposedly 'debunk' the low carb theories use a 30% or 40% carb diet as their 'low carb' plan and a 60% carb diet as their control. The problem is that a diet that is 30% or 40% carbs is not low carb at all. Of course they aren't going to find the same results as an actual low carb (less than 10%) diet - it's comparing apples to oranges. The studies are flawed.

No, they're not.

 They're metabolic ward studies where they lock up participants, weight their food and feed them isocaloric diets with varying proportions - the most convincing one actually used lifers and volunteers in a real prison and used a diet that qualified as zero-carb  on participants(less than 12g of carbs a day), and there was not one iota, not one gram of difference in fat loss between participants on the low-carb and moderate-to high-carb diet when corrected for energy expenditure.

 Gary Taubes is my personal bugbear because he's managed to convince otherwise-rational people that his complete travesty of a hack job has any merit whatsoever.

This study is based on the findings of 7 overweight women - 5 of whom are teenagers. All of the prisoners were of normal weights. That's an incredibly low scope to be basing any weight loss data on. Even so, the data actually supports what Taubes says - cholesterol was lowered by a low carb, high fat diet.  I don't know if he says that you can't lose weight any other way, but this study shows that low carb works. Ketosis curbs appetite as well and high fat foods are more satiating so hunger is not an issue. Atkins recommends eating between 1600 - 2000 calories a day. Same as CC. The issue isn't calories, it's what to eat for a healthy diet.

 What Taubes the charlatan is saying is that fat loss/gain is solely a function of insulin metabolism - like in this interview where he manages to show off how little he understands of the complex interactions of food and metabolism* or how despite his assertions to the contrary a calorie is still a calorie.

* You need to understand that there are a multitude of enzymes that are involved in triacylglycerol synthesis and lipolysis. “Insulin” is not a pathway. It’s one of several hormones that have an effect on the enzymes that comprise the actual pathways. What enzymes am I talking about? For fatty acid uptake, there’s FAT/CD36, FATP-1 to -6, and FABPpm. For fatty acid synthesis, there’s fatty acid synthase. For glucose uptake, there’s Glut1 and Glut4. For esterfication, there’s GPAT, PAP1, and DGAT1 and DGAT2. For lipolysis, there’s HSL, perilipin, and Protein kinase A.

What “regulates all this?” It’s definitely not just “insulin”. That’s an incredibly simplistic, insulinocentric view. You know what else has an effect on these lipogenic/lipolytic enzymes besides insulin? There’s angiotensin II, the adrenergic receptor (catacholamines), FoxC2, PTP1B, and last but not least ASP.

http://skylertanner.com/2009/03/15/it-isnt-ma gic-to-eat-like-a-hunter-gatherer/

Taubes posits that insulin drives fat storage and that fat storage cannot take place without the presence of insulin in your system, therefore if carbs are kept at zero no fat storage will take place.

 Except that it does, through the magic of acylation stimulation protein it occurs quite handily in the absence of insulin - ASP is a stronger driver of fat storage than insulin is.

 While what Taubes is saying is that if you go zero-carb you can eat a calorie surplus and not gain fat, based on - well, nothing.

Insulin does drive fat storage - that's the premise that everything we do to treat diabeties is based on.  He states that it's the primary control for fat storage, not that it's the only factor.

As far as eating a zero carb calorie surplus and not gaining weight ... are there any studies that disprove this by showing weight gain in someone eating no carbs? Seems like it should be easy to disprove .... yet I've seen no studies of that. I would think that you would have to eat a whole lot of excess calories to force this to happen.