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Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution |
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Reviews |
| | Gves you the extra edge to lose weight  |
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Atkin's was a very observant and intelligent doctor. He has an incredible voice in his prose, full of confidence and knowledge. I've tried several diets, and while I can lose some weight on all of them, Atkins is the easiest for me. Under weightwatchers I am always on the edge of hunger and I don't lose that much weight - even religiously following the guidelines, and I find the diet not that satisfying.
Under atkins' diet I am not hungry most of the time and I find the diet very satisfying and fulfilling, I can make a lifestyle change. Of course, it would be better if it didn't have so many animal fats in it, but it's better to lose weight eating fat than not to lose weight. I plan to slowly cut down the fat content as I lose weight to make it a more healthy long term diet.
He has great references, the one thing that gets boring for me is too many individual stories about how some person has done great on his diet. I'd rather see more long term, large participation studies in the book (but I know not that many have been done.)
The main point of the book is that you aren't wht you eat, but you are what you eat turns into inside your body - and what the food in your body does is not intuitive and a bit surprising. For instance, it used to be recommended that you shouldn't eat cholestrol (eggs,for instance) as it could increase your cholesterol levels, however, the effect is so small as to be almost unmeasurable, there are other things in your diet that have much more effect over cholesterol levels than the amount of cholesterol you eat. Likewise, the amount of fat you have is not directly related to the amount of fat you eat. It turns out that fat on your body comes from high levels of sugars in your food which the body quickly digests and stores the excess immdiately into fat as your blood sugar rises, thus more sugar (carbohydrates) equals more fat. The body then quckly goes to low blood sugar, which causes you to be hungry and to eat more sugar, causing your weight to quickly spiral out of control.
Why is this? Because for millions of years the human body has evolved in an environment that had no manufactured food! We ate vegetables, meat, fruit when in season, nuts, and that's about it. Until the last 10,000 years (which have only made minor changes in our genome) we never had the opportunity to consume refined grains and sugars or concentrated alcohol. All of these things are more efficient in $$/calorie, but screw up the body's naturally evolved caloric intake system. Dr. Atkins understood this and has designed a diet to take this into account. It turns out that fat takes longer to digest (as does fiber with carbohydrates) so that as the claories from these types of food are digested in your blood stream, the blood sugar level is raised so slowly that the excess is burned, not turned into stored fat; in fact, the body starts to burn the stored fat to even out this gently changing blood sugar level due to calorie intake - this diet really does burn fat.
I can say that for me it really works. I eat until I'm full, when I'm hungry I can snack on food that I like and I feel satisfied and I get down to my ideal weight. Now, long term I plan on eating less meat and more vegetables, but getting the weight off first is key. The best thing about this diet is that you lose body fat faster than you lose weight, and excess internal body fat is linked to all sorts of bad health things - like diabetes (type 2), higher blood pressure, hardening of the arteries and heart attacks. This is a great diet, especially if you have plateaued on other diets and need that extra something to get you through.
I reccommend it over fat restriction diets any day. Now, my wife does not do as well on this diet, so it's not for everyone, but for my metabolism, this is a great way to eat and stay healthy.
The book itself is extremely well done, diets planned for the first few weeks (every meal.) Tables of carbohydrates per food type, glycemic levels, recommendations for how to eat and how much exercise you should be doing. Solutions to problems on the diet and how to correct them, recommendations for suplements with reasons and explanations that can help you figure out what you really need. It's well laid out and easy to use and a fascinating read. It's a great book and a great tool to help you lose body fat and get to your ideal long term weight goal. |
| | Might Be Right for You |
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No diet is right for everyone all of the time.
However, despite many misunderstandings and myths, this diet can help some people A LOT.
Don't be afraid to try this diet, but make sure you read the whole book carefully first and do research by reading about other low-carb diets and low-carb websites.
The most important contribution of this book is that it can encourage people to experiment with all foods to find the diet that best fits them at the time.
The fact that Dr. Atkins challenged the mainstream dietary advice helped open the door for people that need high-fat and/or high-animal-protein and/or low-carb diets at any phase in their lives.
This diet may or may not be right for you, but do some research to find out, because for some people it can be great. |
| | ok guys, listen up... this "diet" is not for everyone  |
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Let me qualify this by saying - this is ABSOLUTELY the lifestyle change I needed, because I am insulin resistant and pre-diabetic. I can see, however, where some people couldn't hang with this diet. We're all on a sliding scale of how many carbohydrates we need each day. Some people need a lot, some very little. That is why I say, Dr. Atkins is a lifesaver for those of us who tried to comply with the Food Pyramid that the FDA blessed, and then the low-fat craze comes along and we're even more screwed. I was always wondering why I would eat very little, and obey that Food Pyramid to the T, and STILL be gaining weight!!!! Finally, I stumbled upon Dr. Atkins, and his enlightening work. I have lost 30 pounds so far simply from following this "diet", and my cholesterol levels have returned to normal. I no longer have the constant stomachaches, the bloating, and the extreme fatigue and constant hunger that I had on the typical American diet. So thank God for Dr. Atkins - may he rest in peace.
That being said, I realize that there are different people from me who don't need this Atkins diet. They are fine with the diet they are following now! I do believe that there are way too many convenience foods out there that aren't good for ANYBODY. But some folks just tolerate carbohydrates way better than others. More power to you, guys. Just don't come down on us who really have benefited from the teachings of Dr. Atkins. Not only have I benefitted from it, it literally saved my life. I really felt like I was heading down a spiral of doom towards death's door until my doctor actually encouraged me to go on a low-carb diet. Since that day, I have felt better than I have felt in years.
So the bottom line is - don't knock it unless you understand it. And don't go on a diet unless you need to. |
| | missing info  |
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If you can keep up with the induction foods list for instance, you'll probably have to write it down anyway. It didn't cover any where near the amount of info that the book covers. |
| | Just what I wanted: headaches and leg cramps |
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My skepticism about the Atkins Diet's healthfulness tweaked up a few notches when I read the book's recommendation for a daily fiber supplement. Nature did not intend fiber to come in a capsule or wafer. Still, I was eager to lose weight; if the pounds rolled off during the "Induction Phase" as the book promised, I could deal with capsulized fiber.
I was awakened very early on the fourth morning of this eating plan with a blazing, nausea-producing headache. The last time I'd had a headache that severe I had popped one of those over-the-counter herbal hormone pills hawked by actress Cybill Shepherd. I suspected the diet was to blame, but I pressed on.
The morning headaches - not as bad as that first one, but annoying nonetheless - continued. I consulted my book. Sometimes, I learned, headaches are due to "withdrawal" from carbs. Riiiiiight.
Look, carbs are not drugs. The authors' use of substance abuse terminology in connection with foods the human body requires was annoying, if not downright deceptive. The headaches, along with the calf cramps I was also experiencing, were not "withdrawal" symptoms. They were deprivation symptoms. Sure, I was getting plenty of calories, but I was not getting food my body needs.
Still, I pressed on.
After one week of following the diet religiously, I awoke with the usual headache and got on the scale. I'd lost two pounds, much less than what the book suggested I'd lose. (I learned at the Atkins website that my blood pressure medication might interfere with the diet's effectiveness. Too bad that little fact is buried deep in the book, under the chapter Week Seven) Hell, I can lose two pounds in a week on a balanced calorie-reducing diet and avoid the headaches and leg cramps altogether.
I went downstairs and poured myself a bowl of Grapenuts and topped it with a sprinkling of raisins. And I loved each and every one of those 62 healthy and delicious carbohydrate grams. |
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