[an amused spectator]

The introductory "hit" paragraph astonishingly doesn't match the in-depth information presented later in the article.

The War on Fat is a fraud perpetrated soley to tax consumers on the food they eat, ala the tobacco war theft.

[an amused spectator]

An Atkins diet guide

Foods typically allowed on the Atkins high-fat, low-carb diet:

• Steak
• Bacon (limited to two slices)
• Pork chops
• Fish
• Lamb
• Chicken
• Eggs
• Cheese (limited to 3 ounces)
• Regular high-fat salad dressings
• Olive oil and other vegetable oils
• Butter
• Two to three cups of vegetables such as lettuces (endive, radicchio), asparagus, snow peas, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower and peppers
• Beverages such as club soda, cream (limit to two to three tablespoons a day), decaffeinated coffee or tea
• Fruits such as strawberries, raspberries, melons and peaches

Foods limited on the Atkins diet:

• Sweets (candy, cake, cookies)
• Potatoes
• Rice
• Pasta
• Cereals
• Crackers
• Breads (whole grain, French)
• Some vegetables such as carrots, peas and corn
• Fruits such as bananas, apples, raisins, figs and papayas

Here's a sample daily menu for the induction phase of the Atkins diet:

Breakfast
    Two hard-boiled eggs
    Smoked salmon and cheese roll-ups

Lunch
    Homemade chicken soup

Dinner
    Broiled steak
    Oven-fried turnips
    Arugula and Boston lettuce salad

Snack
    Turkey, Romaine lettuce, mayonnaise roll-up

Source: Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution by Robert C. Atkins

[P7M13]

what's your take on this?

t

[SamAdams76]

Well the Atkins Diet will work, as will most diets if their guidelines are strictly adhered to. The question is this: Is it good for your long-term health? Is it good to eat lots of cheeseburgers (without the buns), bacon and eggs for the rest of your life while minimizing or even eliminating your consumption of most fruits, breads, rice, etc.?

I wouldn't consider such a diet for myself. I like eating lots of rice, vegetables, breads, fruits and yes, beer and wine. If I'm a few pounds overweight, what the hell. At least I will be eating well, eating the foods I like to eat and I don't have to live like a freak for the rest of my life, removing burgers from buns in restaurants and other such nonsense.

Don't bother arguing with me. I concede that the diet will cause you to lose weight. I just don't think it's a very healthy way to eat. And yes, I've read the book.

[Alberta's Child]

So much of this diet stuff is a lot of crap. There is only one way to lose weight (without surgery, of course) -- you simply have to burn more calories than you consume, regardless of your intake of carbohydrates, fat, etc. There really is not much that a person can do to reduce their caloric intake substantially without adversely affecting their health, so the only real variable here is the "calorie burning" side of the equation. That's exercise, folks!

Having said that, it is possible that a low-carbohydrate diet helps you to lose weight by increasing your body's metabolism, which means you burn more calories sitting at your desk or sleeping at night than you might burn with a high-carbohydrate diet.

[martin_fierro]

I'll have mine with extra cheese! <|:)~

[Investment Biker]

I have been on a similar diet for about 1 year now. I am a type 1 insulin dependant diabetic and require insulin to consume food. Over the years with a traditional diet I gained a significant amout of weight. Desperate to control my weight and my blood sugar I read a book written by Dr. Bernstein. His diet as a type 1 consisted of no more than 30 grams of carbos. He has been on this diet for more than 25 years (his kidney function improved on the diet).

I thought what the heck, I'll try it. In a little over a year my weight is 75% of my starting weight, a loss of 80 lbs. I am now near my ideal weight. My insulin usage has been reduced by 60%. My blood pressure medicine is down 87%. Exercise helped and my resting pulse in the morning is now 55 (I am 49 years old). I am not hungry between meals.

My sister saw the results and tried Atkins and her weight is down 44 lbs. My neighbor is now trying it and his weght is down after failing to lose on traditional diets. Say what you will about this diet, it worked for me (30 grams of carbos per day, 6 morning, 12 lunch, 12 dinner). I do take a multi vita and some magnesium/calcium. My target is to loose an additional 15 lbs.

[Mr. Peabody]

We've been brainwashed into believing that eating animal fat makes you fat. Starch and sugar make you fat. There's a weird predjudice against eating meat for some reason in the nutrition estblishment.

[The Vast Right Wing]

I did this diet before I got married. I lost 30 lbs in 6 weeks. The diet definitely worked for me when nothing else has. It is very misleading to say the Atkins' diet is a high fat, low carb diet. It is a high-protein, low carb diet. In fact Atkins' advises people to eat proteins that are low in saturated (Chicken, Fish, Pork).

[wardaddy]

I personally use a variety of the Atkins diet....except for the most part I go for leaner protein. The big key is to avoid sweets and tasy carbs like pie crust, cake, cookies and even pasta and most breads. I have found that when I get an extra 10-15 lbs....I'm 6'5" and around 205-210 at decent weight.....anyhow, I've found that a shock diet of only protein and leafy greens and vitamins and no added sugar calories will drop 7-10 lbs in 2 weeks easy. after that it depends on one's discipline. Go to lean meats and fish and stick mainly with the greens and avoid pasta and beans and potatoes. Knocking out sweets is a big ticket as well.....the cravings do go away. On some days, I may change the whole plan and eat strictly carbs just to change my body's acclimation to the protein.

While I do acknowledge the value of varieties of this diet, I do avoid over consuming fat except olive oil and nuts. Butterfat in very large quantities is just a bit scary to me.

[redhead]

"There is nothing miraculous about the Atkins diet, but if you put people on a low-calorie diet, they lose weight, says Keith Ayoob, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. "It's the number of calories, not where they come from."

Atkins dieters (or anybody on a low-carb diet) eat MORE calories, not less. This signals to the body that it's ok to release stored fats, whereas the body can't tell the difference between a low-calorie diet and a famine, and tries to store as much energy as possible. If you are interested, may I suggest the book, LIFE WITHOUT BREAD by Christian B. Allan, Ph.D. and Wolfgang Lutz, MD? This interesting book focuses on the medical facts involved in low-carbohydrate eating and features no menus or recipes, merely graphs and research results. Most interesting.

[VOA]

bump

[guitfiddlist]

The Atkins program "may give people a way to eat fewer calories," says lead researcher Gary Foster, clinical director of the Weight and Eating Disorders Program at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He says researchers don't know if the benefits of losing weight outweigh the drawbacks of eating a diet high in saturated fat.

There is nothing miraculous about the Atkins diet, but if you put people on a low-calorie diet, they lose weight, says Keith Ayoob, a spokesman for the American Dietetic Association. "It's the number of calories, not where they come from."

Let me be the first here to make a full-fledged attack on the above pinheads that call themselves nutritional scientists, who operate in the fine tradition of the morons that nearly executed Galileo.

These establishmentarians persist in believing absolute BS - like the Atkins diet results in less caloric intake because people get bored with protein. Bull. They NEVER cite any actual studies or data on this bold assertion, but cite this as arrogantly as the "fact" that the Earth is the center of the solar system. Yet any 5 year-old can count the calorie differentials between a diet of steak, eggs and cheese absolutely dripping in fats/calories versus one of low-cal salads, fruits and vegetables.

As for the old calorie-in vs calorie-burned theory - if that's true - what the hell do we need the whole science of diet nutrition for? These guys ignore all the research into the amazingly complex ACTIVE system of digestion and absorption as if it was one governed solely by a simple mechanistic system of conservation of energy.

That said, I think the Atkins diet is very unhealthy - at least for me. I have done the Atkins diet and lost significant weight - something these paragons of an outdated paradigm only now grudgingly admit through gritted teeth - and I have lost weight on more conventional diets. But the Atkins diet also brought severe gout, lethargy, and nausea. However, I did pig out and lose weight. And I don't care if these idiots like it or not - but you'd think these nutritionists would at least acknowledge some undeniable data. Memo to morons: Just because you don't know WHY the Atkins diet works don't mean it don't. So why don't you "scientists" try the Scientific method for once - and DO find out why.

[Sam Cree]

bump

[Mercat]

My law partners and I are all on this diet. It's great. We meet almost every morning anyway and we compare notes on weight loss etc. We usually eat lunch together and so we have that support too. My heavier partner has lost close to 30 pounds. The smaller one has lost 12. I've lost 8 pounds (and that's while still drinking the occasionally microbrew ale). We love the food. It's hard to get tired of prime rib and I always preferred fatty stuff over deserts and pasta.

Humans are omnivores but bread was not around when the human digestive system evolved. (opps, sorry, that's for another thread, hehe)

I've heard talk about constipation etc and although it's none of your bizwax, I feel great after two months. 8 pounds in two months might now sound like a lot but I'm happy on this diet and enjoy my food whereas other diets that i've been on, i hate. My law partner's wife is also on it and she's a nurse and keeps a close eye on her lab work.

[larryjohnson]

Lift weights

[Aquinasfan]

I'm glad that the author of this article presented a fair assessment of the Atkins diet. I haven't tried it myself, but the idea that a diet high in protein reduces hunger corresponds to my experience.

And this article didn' t point out the downside of "grains." Many people can benefit from a wheat-free (gluten-free) diet, whether or not they are intolerant or allergic to it. Many auto-immune diseases (MS, lupus, arthritis, colitis) are correlated with gluten intolerance.

I have a form of arthritis that was probably triggered by celiac disease (gluten intolerance). How? The theory goes like this. In some people, certain proteins in gluten "leak" through the intestinal wall and into the bloodstream. These proteins are identified by the body's immune system as invading organisms thus triggering an abnormal immune response. The mechanism is thought to work similarly in MS, lupus and colitis.

As many as 1 in 250 people suffer from celiac disease, most of them undiagnosed. Moreover, many people seem to benefit from a gluten-free diet, noting increased energy and stamina.

If you ever feel especially tired after a meal of pasta or pizza, you might want to try a gluten free diet. It's not as difficult to follow as you might imagine.

[Guillermo]

Whatever happened to counting calories?

[Mamzelle]

I have won the battle with the stubborn 15, and am down to the last five. The first few weeks without taters and french bread was tough, but oddly enough, it turns out that I can live quite contentedly without what I considered to be my favorite foods--bread and taters.

Helps that I can have a generous handfyk of pistachios or roasted pecans any time I please!

The major advantage of lo-carb diets is satiety. If you're hungry, you can force yourself to go without, but it is hard to face a lifetime of being hungry. You don't have to on the Atkins.

And you don't have to take off both halves of the hamburger bun--just one. It is awkward to deal without bread sometimes, but I've discovered that Triscuits are relatively low in carbs compared to other crackers and bread.

It's not a cheap diet, either.

The Atkins diet does seem to attract some hysterical opposition...

[meyer]

Rolls and Ayoob wonder whether most people who lose weight on the diet will keep the weight off long-term by eating this way. "Do people really want to give up bananas and their favorite fruits?" Ayoob asks.

Adkins diet aside, I don't think giving up "bananas and favorite fruits" is the problem; its giving up "Ben & Jerry's" and the like that might prove more difficult.

[restornu]

I really like somersize is Atkins like but complete for its version for life meaning it you can have proteins/fat & vegs or Carbs & vegs plus fruit for breakefast.


Just NO SUGAR OR SIMPLE STARCH.

IT WORKS AND LIVE ABLE.


http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/specex/msg1110061915674.html


http://groups.msn.com/LetsSomersize