The Atkins Diet

atkins diet book

The Atkins Diet is a departure from previously prevailing metabolic theories. Atkins claimed there are two important unrecognized factors in Western eating habits which lead to obesity.

First, the main cause of obesity is eating refined carbohydrates, particularly sugar, flour, and high-fructose corn syrups. Secondly, that saturated fat is overrated as a nutritional problem, being not as important in developing vascular disease, and that trans fats from sources such as hydrogenated oils are much more important in developing vascular disease.

Accordingly, Dr. Atkins rejected conventional nutritional advice (eg, that embodied in the food pyramid), instead claiming that the tremendous increase in refined carbohydrates has been responsible for the rise in metabolic disorders of the 20th century, and that the focus on the detrimental effects of dietary fat has actually contributed to the obesity problem by neglecting the increased proportion of carbohydrates in the diet.[citation needed] While Atkins puts his emphasis on diet, nutritional supplements and exercise are also considered important elements.

The Atkins Diet involves restriction of carbohydrates to more frequently switch the body’s metabolism from burning glucose as fuel to burning stored body fat. This process (called ketosis) begins when insulin levels are low; in normal humans insulin is lowest when blood glucose levels are low (mostly before eating), and blood glucose levels are most fundamentally increased by ingestion of some kinds of carbohydrate (eg, glucose, starch (ie, long glucose chains)). Other kinds of carbohydrates don’t participate in the insulin mechanism controlling metabolism. Ketosis involves lipolysis in which some of the lipid stores in fat cells are transferred to the blood. Ketosis is normal, and is the chief mechanism by which stored lipids are used for fuel; in principle, the body alternates between glucose metabolism and ketosis, being in glucose burning state after meals (especially meals with glucose content) and ketosis after ingested glucose is consumed. 

In his book Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution, Dr. Atkins claimed that the low-carbohydrate diet produces a “metabolic advantage” in which the body burns more calories, overall, than on normal diets, and also expels some unused calories. He cited one study where he estimated this advantage to be 950 calories (4.0 MJ) a day. However, a review study in the Lancet (see below) concluded that there was no such metabolic advantage and dieters were simply eating fewer calories due to boredom. Professor Astru stating that “The monotony and simplicity of the diet could inhibit appetite and food intake”, or possibly protein inducing a satiating effect.

The Atkins Diet restricts “net carbs” (carbohydrates that have an effect on blood sugar). One effect is a tendency to decrease the onset of hunger, perhaps due to longer duration of digestion (fats and proteins take longer to digest than carbohydrates). Dr. Atkins says in Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution (2002) that hunger is the number one reason why low-fat diets fail. Though studies show the efficacy of the Atkins approach after one year is the same as some low-fat diets, Dr. Atkins claimed that it was easier to stay on the Atkins diet because dieters did not feel as hungry or “deprived”.[citation needed] One study goes so far as to suggest that the low fat trend in food is connected with the increase in diagnosed depression over the last two decades.

Net carbohydrates can be calculated from a food source by subtracting sugar alcohols and fiber (which are shown to have a negligible effect on blood sugar levels) from total carbohydrates. Sugar alcohols need to be treated with caution, because while they may be slower to convert to glucose, they can be a significant source of glycemic load and can stall weight loss. Fructose (eg, as found in many industrial sweeteners) also contributes to caloric intake, though outside of the glucose-insulin metabolic control loop.

Preferred foods in all categories are whole, unprocessed foods with a low glycemic load. Atkins Nutritionals, the company formed to market foods which work with the Atkins Diet, recommends that no more than 20% of calories eaten while on the diet come from saturated fat.

According to the book Atkins Diabetes Revolution, for people whose blood sugar is abnormally high or who have Type 2 diabetes mellitus, this diet decreases or eliminates the need for drugs to treat these conditions. The Atkins Blood Sugar Control Program (ABSCP) is an individualized approach to weight control and permanent management of the risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Nevertheless, the causes of Type 2 diabetes remain obscure, and the Atkins Diet is not accepted in conventional therapy for diabetes.

Source: wikipedia.org