Atkins Diet, Yay or Nay?

Everybody seeks the perfect diet that will magically help them lose the excess weight they carry but without torturing themselves with hunger and being upset all the time! Does such a diet exist?

According to Dr. Robert Atkins’ claims; it does exist! Dr. Atkins, an American physician and cardiologist, was best known for the “Atkins Nutritional Approach” or “Atkins Diet,” a popular but controversial way of eating.

How does this diet work? And does it really work?!
I have been an Atkins girl for a few months now and to be honest, it was hard at the beginning. Once you get to know the way your metabolism works and discover the shocking number of how many carbohydrates you’re consuming daily, only then will the Atkins diet start to make sense.Atkins-diet-plans

Now, this diet is all about controlling you carbohydrate consumption. It focuses on protein and fat as the primary sources of nourishing your body while carbohydrates are only provided in small amounts from eating specific kinds of vegetables.

Sounds easy, huh? To eat all those juicy steaks and roasted chickens with some grilled vegetables on the side! Who would pass up such a yummy lifestyle? It’s the solution to the overweight problem all around the globe! Who needs carbs? Just write the name of any recipe in Google with the word “Atkins” or “low carb” beside it and enjoy the beauty of the internet. You can make everything with the right seasoning and some butter.

The Atkins diet has four phases. In each phase you’ll have a clear list of what you can or can’t eat, and as you progress you will start adding a little bit more of the good kinds of carbohydrates back to your daily diet plan. It’s not like you’re going to live on fat and protein for the rest of your life!

In phase one (Introduction) for example you can only have less than 20 grams of carbs per day for 2 weeks, but in phase two (Balancing), you slowly add more nuts, low-carb vegetables and small amounts of fruit back to your diet. And as you move on to phase three (Fine-Tuning), you start adding a little bit of the healthy carbs such as whole wheat products. Then as soon as you hit your perfect weight goal you are welcomed back to carbohydrates in their healthy form to your new healthy body in the final phase (Maintenance).

Seems perfect so far, doesn’t it? Well, sadly it’s not. Nothing is perfect after all, and here’s why: while your body is burning fat for energy instead of carbohydrates, it produces a substance called ketones. This substance can cause bad breath, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, insomnia and nausea. There is also constipation which may occur as a result of avoiding high-fiber foods such as fruit, vegetables, whole-wheat and whole-grain products. Those two side-effects are only temporary, however. What really makes the nutrition experts worried is that the diet may increase the risk of heart disease as it’s actually very high in fat, especially saturated fats. So, if a person needs this diet to lose weight fast for an urgent matter he or she must ask a doctor’s permission first.

 

Resources:

Robert Atkins

Authority Nutrition

Weight Loss Resources

 

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