Atkins Diet Health Issues

[Admiral Valdemar]

I've been recently debating on SB.com with some firm advocates of this diet "revolution" as Howedar can testify and they insist that there are no real concerns with the way people eat on this diet.

Now, while some of the arguments have been about weight loss, that is not my priority here. It has been shown to dramatically help weight loss within weeks, that much is sure. My problem is with the health warnings many give out about high-protein diets, low carb intake and lack of calcium and too much saturated fat.

So does anyone have any real sources for better studies or arguments about this diets methodology, because at the moment I just have to keep spouting the same things which run off like water on a duck's back with these guys.

[Stormin]

If you lose weight too fast, you will gain it back faster. Working at my job I have lost nearly 15 pounds over a period of 3 months, during my 2 week vacation i had no real weight gain despite the fact that my food intake remains unchanged over the entire time.
It is not a fad diet, it is called "Get off your lazy butt and do something" diet

[Peregrin Toker]

What's the Atkins Diet?

[Rye]

What's the Atkins Diet?

Essentially it's a low carb high fat diet. It works for people that diets don't normally work on, to shift weight fast.

Meat's the main part of the diet usually, it supposedly works because the fat goes through the body quickly and the fat that's used for energy triggers off using the fat in your body or something...meh, i was drunk when i had it explained to me last night.

[Straha]

What's the Atkins Diet?

Essentially it's a low carb high fat diet. It works for people that diets don't normally work on, to shift weight fast.

Meat's the main part of the diet usually, it supposedly works because the fat goes through the body quickly and the fat that's used for energy triggers off using the fat in your body or something...meh, i was drunk when i had it explained to me last night.

The way it works is that Dr. Atkins said that, agreeing with common sense before the seventies and starting again now, fat in food does not make fat in body, Carbohydrates on the other hand either give you alot of energy or make you very fatty. So his det worked on that and got it right too aparently, and this is now thought to be one of the things that caused the recent obesity wave in America (there was a whole bunch of article thingys on this that I read a while ago, I'll post them later if I can)

[Alyeska]

My problem is with the health warnings many give out about high-protein diets, low carb intake and lack of calcium and too much saturated fat.

Well that is your first error. The diet does not necessarily call for high-protein and low carb intake. While I was on the diet I kept my protein intake the same as before the diet and just cut out the carbs. And even that was only for two weeks. Once you pass the two week mark you can go back to a level of carbs that allows you to eat safer levels. Once you reach your target weight you bring the carb level almost to normal.

The great thing about the diet is you can play with the rules slightly when you are actualy excorcising.

Do not so automaticaly condem the diet AV. You have to both read up on it and try it first before you can truly understand how it can work. I get tired of hearing the high-protein crap spouted out. Yes you can get away eating a whole lot of that, but you really shouldn't and Atkins himself even said you should avoid eating much more protein on the diet as compared to pre-diet levels. The single most important thing that Atkins proposes is removing the carbs for a temporary length of time.

[Vendetta]

The main benefit of that diet seems to be a reduction of your energy intake.

Remember that around 40% of your food energy intake is fat. Fat will be turned into fat just like any other form of energy you take in, but it also has secondary health problems (increasing cholesterol, clogging and constricting arteries that provide vital energy to your heart).

The optimum way to control weight isn't to cut one particular part of your balanced food intake out, but to reduce saturated fats, and to change the times you eat.

Eat the same amount, but spread out throughout the day, rather than three large meals, have five smaller ones.

What that does is mean that your body actually USES all the energy you take in, rather than storing some and then sending hunger signals.

(Try and keep your fat intake to 7-15% of your diet, that's your optimum body fat content to give your body reserve energy, especially in illness)

[ArmorPierce]

A balanced diet with exercise is the best way to go in the long term. You get everything you need and you are more likely to lose the weight and keep it off.

[Straha]

The main benefit of that diet seems to be a reduction of your energy intake.

Remember that around 40% of your food energy intake is fat. Fat will be turned into fat just like any other form of energy you take in, but it also has secondary health problems (increasing cholesterol, clogging and constricting arteries that provide vital energy to your heart).

Actually thev've changed that unless I am mistaken, firstly Carbs give you the most energy because they turn right into glucose, secondly there are two types of cholesterol, good and bad, meaning you shouldn't cut all cholesterol out of your diet. Also 70% of all heart attacks happen in people with normal or low cholesterol, meaning that it really isn't the thing that will kill you

The optimum way to control weight isn't to cut one particular part of your balanced food intake out, but to reduce saturated fats, and to change the times you eat.

Changing the times you eat, and excersising can help no matter what you do, no diet is going to change that.
More later, tired right now just came off a chess binge.

[Solauren]

Was on the Atkins diet, works great while your on it, and if you have good habits off it, you stay low.

You have to have common sense while using it. i.e Follow the diet. (lots of water to prevent de-hydration)

All the problems I have heard with it are the same people that basically can't problem there VCR cause they can't or will not read a manual

[CrimsonRaine]

I've been recently debating on SB.com with some firm advocates of this diet "revolution" as Howedar can testify and they insist that there are no real concerns with the way people eat on this diet.

Now, while some of the arguments have been about weight loss, that is not my priority here. It has been shown to dramatically help weight loss within weeks, that much is sure. My problem is with the health warnings many give out about high-protein diets, low carb intake and lack of calcium and too much saturated fat.

So does anyone have any real sources for better studies or arguments about this diets methodology, because at the moment I just have to keep spouting the same things which run off like water on a duck's back with these guys.

The thing about the Atkins diet is really doing one thing: it's removing most of the sugar intake you have. Most people don't realize that sugar is more harmful that fat. And also, sugar isn't always the white stuff they put in cake and candy. Sugar is in fruit and in some vegatables, and all carbohydrates (anything like bread, potatoes, pasta, etc) break down into simple sugars. Whatever sugar you don't use, it turns to fat.

The Atkins diet starves your body of sugar and excess carbohydrates. It's good for a quick fix, if you need to lose, let's say, 10 pounds before your wedding or a weekend at the shore. But no person could live on that kind of diet.

Diets are not temporary. If you need to diet, then it's a change of life style. I'm losing weight presently, and I've lost about 10 pounds. The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to watch what you eat. Avoid the fat, avoid the sugary stuff. Don't rule it out of your diet completely or you'll really make yourself miserable. Lastly (and this is why I've only lost about 10 pounds), exercise is more important than dieting. I know people who eat whatever they want, but exercise it all off. Activity burns fat and calories. If you're burning off more calories than you're taking in, you'll lose weight by default. That's how it works. =)

So I never have trusted the Atkins diet, Jenny Craig or any of those other methods of dieting. Do an exercise you like (I do Yoga and bike, when I actually exercise) and just watch what you eat.

Lastly, ignore scales. They're really worthless. Trust what you see in the mirror before you ever trust a scale. Besides, most people when they lose weight gain muscle, which weighs more than fat.

Crimson Raine

[phongn]

Actually thev've changed that unless I am mistaken, firstly Carbs give you the most energy because they turn right into glucose, secondly there are two types of cholesterol, good and bad, meaning you shouldn't cut all cholesterol out of your diet. Also 70% of all heart attacks happen in people with normal or low cholesterol, meaning that it really isn't the thing that will kill you

High-density lipoprotein is the 'good' cholesterol; low-density is the bad stuff. You need both, though. Carbs can get you energe much more quickly than fatty acids, but IIRC the latter has greater energy density.

[NapoleonGH]

last thing i heard, the best diet and in fact the healthiest was to not deny yourself any kind of food, but rather just watch your total calorie intake per day, becuase that is what really matters if you eat more calories than you need they become fat on your body and are stored, if you eat fewer than you need your body makes up the difference with your stored fat. Thus if you need 2500 (an average number for males in their teenage years and early 20s) and only eat 2000 a day, the remaining 500 calories are taken out of your fat reserves.

To note 1 pound of human body fat is about 3000 something calories (or is it 3600?) so we are talking 5-6 days per pound in my above example. Combine this with muscle building excersizes (they dont really eat too many calories away but as your muscle increases your daily energy consumption increases thus your need increases to say 3000 or 3500 if you can keep your intake at about 2000 then you loose fat even faster, or you simply then can eat the amount you were eating before but now instead of keeping you fat, you can slowly loose the weight).

Basically healthy dieting is just like healthy investing, those who go for short term gain often will get bitten in the ass in the end, those who invest/diet for the long haul, get results. Think Warren Buffet.

[h0rus]

Lastly, ignore scales. They're really worthless. Trust what you see in the mirror before you ever trust a scale. Besides, most people when they lose weight gain muscle, which weighs more than fat.

Crimson Raine

Millions of fatfucks around the world rejoice!

[CrimsonRaine]

Lastly, ignore scales. They're really worthless. Trust what you see in the mirror before you ever trust a scale. Besides, most people when they lose weight gain muscle, which weighs more than fat.

Crimson Raine

Millions of fatfucks around the world rejoice!

Ahem. =)

I do think fat is more noticable than muscle. At least, from a distance.

Crimson Raine

[InnerBrat]

AV, Have you looked at British newspapers recently? They've been full of stories linking teh Atkins diet to heart disease, osteoporosis and the like.

The ultimate question, of course, is why would anyone want to look like Geri Halliwell?

[Peregrin Toker]

The ultimate question, of course, is why would anyone want to look like Geri Halliwell?

Inferiority complexes?? Encounters with Nyarlathotep?? A conspiracy involving The Stonecutters?


BTW - as for the Atkins diet, my mother has switched her dietary mantra from "few proteins, lots of carbohydrates" to "few carbohydrates, lots of proteins". I suppose this is the Atkins diet, or some variety of it.

[Admiral Valdemar]

AV, Have you looked at British newspapers recently? They've been full of stories linking teh Atkins diet to heart disease, osteoporosis and the like.

The ultimate question, of course, is why would anyone want to look like Geri Halliwell?

I have, a 16 year old girl is dead because of this diet and many doctors have seen patients on this diet with health problems from brittle bones to dodgy tickers.

That is another reason why I bring this up, a lot of people are using this diet in the long term when really it is something for short term use to get rid of the main fatty deposits in the body.

The major problem is that, while debating the risk and benefits of this diet, it has no real research backing it, it's very much like bringing a new drug out on the market without any testing.

A new and more thorough experiment will take place soon that will give an objective and comprehensive report on just what this diet is like on the average human body etc.

[Solauren]

The ultimate question, of course, is why would anyone want to look like Geri Halliwell?

During her spice girls time period or after it?
The most recent pictures I've seen of her make me wonder if she suffered brain damage as a spice girl.

However, during her spice girl period, she was rather attractive physically.

In the end, people should look how they want and feel good about, not how people tell them to.

i.e if someone wants to look like Madonna cause they like the style/appearance, fine. But don't look that way cause you think you have to

[InnerBrat]

The ultimate question, of course, is why would anyone want to look like Geri Halliwell?

During her spice girls time period or after it?

During the lollypop woman phase. She's recently given up the dieting and is regaining her natural healthy figure.

[Vendetta]

High-density lipoprotein is the 'good' cholesterol; low-density is the bad stuff. You need both, though. Carbs can get you energe much more quickly than fatty acids, but IIRC the latter has greater energy density.

Carbohydrates are about 3 calories/gram, Protien around 4 cal/gram, fat around 11 cal/gram. Fat (other than the artery clogging) isn't inherently more 'dangerous' than overconsumption of any other kind of energy, but 'overconsumption' of fat means a whole lot less food weight than other groups.

As I mentioned, the real trick to weight control is controlling when you eat. Eating smaller meals spaced out during the day, giving your body enough energy to use until your next meal, and predominantly using fruit sugars and complex carbohydrates, which give you a steady energy release over time, rather than glucose, which gives you a fast burst but then will be stored as it isn't used. (And you'll start getting hunger impulses quicker, as the energy's gone, before those reserves are brought back out).

You should aim not for three meals a day, but for five, and especially breakfast (which gets the metabolism used to the idea that it's being fed today, and causes it to start processing more efficiently).

[TheFeniX]

I have, a 16 year old girl is dead because of this diet and many doctors have seen patients on this diet with health problems from brittle bones to dodgy tickers.

The Atkins diet isn't really designed for someone who's body is still developing. In fact, no one should actually diet until they have reached full physical maturity. Eat right? Yes. Diet? No.

And I seriously doubt the diet itself killed her. Lack of nutrition probably. That's the fault of her parents on that.

The problem isn't the diet. The problem is people who don't take the time to consult a doctor about their diet. I talked to my doctor about it, and he agreed it would be a quick way to lower my low-density cholesterol. Add in that my Dad has been off and on this diet for a while and has done extensive research on it: I'm pretty well covered. I just have to make sure I take my vitamin supplements (which I started the diet back up today).

[GrandMasterTerwynn]

last thing i heard, the best diet and in fact the healthiest was to not deny yourself any kind of food, but rather just watch your total calorie intake per day, becuase that is what really matters if you eat more calories than you need they become fat on your body and are stored, if you eat fewer than you need your body makes up the difference with your stored fat. Thus if you need 2500 (an average number for males in their teenage years and early 20s) and only eat 2000 a day, the remaining 500 calories are taken out of your fat reserves.

To note 1 pound of human body fat is about 3000 something calories (or is it 3600?) so we are talking 5-6 days per pound in my above example. Combine this with muscle building excersizes (they dont really eat too many calories away but as your muscle increases your daily energy consumption increases thus your need increases to say 3000 or 3500 if you can keep your intake at about 2000 then you loose fat even faster, or you simply then can eat the amount you were eating before but now instead of keeping you fat, you can slowly loose the weight).

Basically healthy dieting is just like healthy investing, those who go for short term gain often will get bitten in the ass in the end, those who invest/diet for the long haul, get results. Think Warren Buffet.

Yes, in the end there is only one proven and reliable method of losing weight.

A) Cut your caloric intake back to around or below your Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) which is the number of calories your body expends while just sitting there. Eat less than that, you lose weight. To keep it off, enough calories so that you fall between your BMR and your active caloric rate (which is how much you use when you factor in everything you do in a day.) For example, someone like myself has a BMR of about 1600 - 1700 calories a day, with an active rate of close to 2200. To lose weight, I would eat between 1300 and 1700 calories daily (Don't go below 1200 - 1300, that's not healthy.) To keep it off, I'd stay between 1600 - 2200. To gain it, I'd eat more than that.

B) And of course, the second part of the one proven method is to get off your ass and exercise!

[Ted C]

The Atkins diet is a "controlled carbohydrate" diet plan.

The principle behind it is that your body will metabolize carbohydrates for energy in preference to other sources. For example, if you eat a Big Mac, you will process the bread and ketchup for calories before you even start on the the fat.

The consequence is that if you are getting enough carbohydrates in your diet to satisfy all of your energy needs, you will never metabolize any fat.

The purpose of the Atkins diet is to make sure that you aren't getting enough calories from carbohydrates to satisfy your energy needs. When your system doesn't have enough carbohydrates, it first metabolizes your reserve of glycogen, a compound it makes for a short-term energy reserve. When you run out of glycogen (which usually takes about two weeks), your system starts metabolizing fat for energy (a state called ketosis). Many mammals go through a similar process in the winter as food supplies dwindle, and they start living off the fat they stored during the summer.

The reason the Atkins diet works for weight loss is that the stored fat that you use for energy doesn't have to come from your food; it can come from anywhere in your body. Hunger pangs generally diminish after your system shifts from a carbohydrate-based metabolism to a fat-based metabolism; that's why the first two weeks on the Atkins diet are generally the hardest.

Atkins does have side effects, of course. You need to make sure you're getting plenty of fiber in your diet, since carbohydrate foods are your usual source. Although fiber is technically a carbohydrate, you do not count fiber grams when determining the carb content of your diet on Atkins (in other words, you can have all the celery and lettuce you want). You also have to be careful about some vitamin deficiencies when you go on the diet, so you need to take supplements (of course, Dr. Atkins recommended that everyone take vitamin supplements anyway). Finally, you need to drink a lot of water when you're on the Atkins diet (but again, everybody should drink a lot of water anyway).

The Atkins diet isn't a health risk if you follow it correctly. Just like any other diet, it can seriously mess you up if you don't follow it correctly.

[Sidious]

The major problem is that, while debating the risk and benefits of this diet, it has no real research backing it, it's very much like bringing a new drug out on the market without any testing.

The Atkins diet has been around for nearly 30 years now. It's been ridiculed by the medical world for years while the same "low fat" diet they've been pushing all that that time has failed miserably. I dont know what started the latest "low carb" craze, but its happened before, back in the 70's Atkins was all the rage, until people figured out they didnt want to give up their twinkies and fast food for the rest of their lives, gained all their weight back and gave up.

As far as Dr Atkins was concerned, it was a lifestyle. Hence the title of the last book before his death "Atkins for Life". Once you reach your target weight you experiment and find the right ammount of carb intake that keeps you from gaining weight. Its all about eating habits.