Lets get the SKINNY on the Atkins Diet

CookingWithCarlo.com ^ | Oct 4 2003 | Carlo3b Dad, Chef, Author

[carlo3b]

 

Lets get the SKINNY on the Atkins Diet

By: Master Chef, Carlo J. Morelli

Because of a Doctor named Atkins and his hypothesis of weight loss and diet, everything that was UP, is now DOWN, and everything that was FAT is now getting a great deal THINNER.

The Atkins diet is basically the polar opposite of the prevailing knowledge we have been taught about healthy eating since the word "calorie" was brought into vogue some 50 years ago.

For the past 30 plus years, this controversial diet has quite simply never been far from the spotlight, or the bestseller list. Celebrities loved it. Health experts hated it. However, more than a few high profile, beautiful people, support the Atkins theory of weight loss, not just in theory, but in full frontal, or even more appropriately they stand behind it.

What made Dr Atkins Diet so difficult for the medical, and nutritional establishment to swallow, was his near total repudiation of their unanimous conclusions on weight, health, fitness and diet. After the years that the medical community spent building a solid consensus, and food pyramids, Atkins had the audacity to blame them for the failing physical health of the American people.

He suggested that people on his diet should eat foods like cheese, steak and sausages - which are high in fat - but not those that are high in carbohydrate, like pasta, bread and cereals. OUTRAGEOUS, claimed the so-called experts, DANGEROUS, was the clarion cry, and some went so far to suggest FATAL, could be the result. That was decades ago. Legions of people say the fine Doctor was right, and the so-called pros were WRONG!

Well, who is right, and which one needs to eat their words. Here are some facts that can not be disputed. Running parallel to the time line of the the growing health awareness campaign, concerning the average American diet.. phenomenal weight gain has been attributed to be the single most damaging health concern. However, it has to be said, the same approximate starting point in time, coincides with the popularity of the TV, thus TV dinners and such activities as channel surfing in lieu of... well, you understand where this is going..

Further, the same period gave birth to the beginning of the famous fad diets that dominated the conversations, airwaves and the market place. Each of these utopian gastronomic innovations, promised Venus like results.. Of course none did, and that gave way to the DIET PILL. The various miracle pills promised, that without changing our ways of living that got us to where we were, they promised and promised, and finally they just pooped out.

STAY AWAY FROM MEAT, stay away from milk, no eggs, apples, chicken, soda, just stay away from chips... well,  just stay away from me!  Eat fish and everything natural, the nanny crowd told us.. Sure, easy for those who lived by the swordfish can die by it, for all I care. But that ain't me, too many Moe said

Desperate to fit into last years bathing suit, folks began pursuing crash diets in hopes of losing unwanted pounds in a few days. Eat apples, bushels of them, chased with wine. California and Washington state's wallets bulged, but so did everyone's midsection.. Broccoli, was the next panacea, but that caused gasterea. Followed by cabbage, grapes, then watermelon, and then finally just water, gallons of it.. and the unwanted pounds will just float away.

All during this tumultuous period, spanning over 40 years, the medical and diet constabulary kept preaching variety, balance, and building on blocks of food groups, recommended daily servings, counting, counting everything, and vitamins.. blue ones, green ones, big ones, little ones, and oh yeah.. exercise. We sure needed exercise, after taking exactly, 77,000 milamorons of assorted vitamins.

Lest we forget EXERCISE!  Health clubs popped up everywhere, and everyone was now sweating, jogging, pumping, cycling. The economy in the health and fitness industries grew and grew, but unfortunately so did the size of our collective gut!  Exercised worked then and it works now.. no argument, but most of the people living in our fast paced country simply wouldn't or can't devote that much time to the Stairmasters.

Labels, by golly, it was the labels, IF MANUFACTURERS WOULD JUST TELL US THE TRUTH.. put it on the box, package, bag, can.. everything in black and white each and every milimicrogram, and how many.. croscamelose sodiumdelcamicium are in it, so we can judge for ourselves.. the health nut crowds demanded, everyone would manage their own weight..

After decades of gaining, and billions of dollars, in labeling, counting, sweating, weighting, and popping, and after eating, lite, low, high, less, joining anything with a promising name.. burp.. we are fatter than ever, and dangerously ill with obesity causing heart, lung, and diabetic seizures.. it brings us to WHERE?

Were the experts wrong? Is balance, counting and labels the only way to a healthy life? NO, attitude is. If you are really fat or getting that way and feeling the weight of it on your mind and body, you have to make a decision. You and only you can change your direction and your dress, or belt size. There can be no, South Beach, Palm beach, or beached wale, that will make a difference without you demanding it of yourself.

The good news is Atkins, and modifications of it, works for most people. If you are truly serious about losing weight, there is now a way to do it that millions of people have proved, if you can believe millions of people. Even the naysayers have begun to come around, and have finally published the first real study of its kind, American scientists have found that over 12 months Atkins dieters lost more weight than those on a conventional low calorie diet, says the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine!! YIKES..

If you don't think that little tidbit choked as it came out, you have been sleeping over the past 30 years. Atkins has been saying to anyone that would listen, and apparently millions have, that Carbohydrate provides energy, and Dr Atkins' theory is that if carbohydrate intake is restricted a body will get its energy by burning fat instead, which will result in weight loss. It's that simple!

Followers of the diet can't get enough of it - they say it works. But some medical experts have still raised serious concerns about the diet's long-term safety. Somewhere close is the real answer, and if you follow the letter of this learned Doctor's diet guidelines, as well as your own body clock, you will lose the weight you wish, and most of all, keep it off.

---

The Major Benefits of the Diet, in short. Excerpts courtesy of The Atkins Center.

Diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates like bread, pasta, cereal, and other mainly "low-fat" processed foods increase your body's production of insulin. When insulin is at high levels in the body, the food you eat can get readily converted into body fat, in the form of triglycerides (to top it off, high triglyceride levels in the body are one of the greatest risk factors for heart disease).

Even worse, high carbohydrate meals tend to leave you less satisfied than those that contain adequate fat levels; so you eat more and get hungrier sooner. If you find this hard to believe, think about how much pasta you can eat at lunch and then how hungry you are running to the vending machine for another "carbo-fix" in the mid-afternoon. If the pasta you ate was really giving your body what it needed, you would stay full until dinner time. So the typical low-protein, low-fat meal leaves you eating more and hungry sooner.

So what should you do? Get off the insulin generating roller coaster of the low-fat diet and start cutting down on your carbohydrate consumption, especially the worst offenders: sugar, white flour and other refined carbohydrate-based products. What can you expect from this? Three wonderful results:

1) You'll start to burn fat for energy: Since carbohydrates are the body's primary energy source, you'll rarely use your secondary energy source, you own body fat, for energy unless you restrict carbohydrate consumption. This offers a lifetime of body fat burning, which is the goal of most people trying to lose weight.

2) You won't feel hungry in between meals: The biggest battle that most people have with weight loss is the constant obsession with food (for example, if you've ever thought about dinner when you're eating lunch). Again, much of this is caused by blood sugar fluctuations that are aggravated by carbohydrate consumption (especially the refined kind). By cutting the carbs, you'll maintain a more even blood sugar level throughout the day. No more false hunger pains or mid-afternoon brain drains.

3) Your overall health will improve and you'll feel better: Many of the toxins you take into your body are stored in your fat cells. By getting your body to burn stored fat, you allow it to clean itself out. Combined with the benefits of stable blood sugar, the end result is that many common ailments you have been experiencing could well be alleviated. Fatigue, irritability, depression, headaches, and even many forms of joint and muscular pain simply go away. Furthermore, you should see a significant improvement in your blood profile, (including cholesterol and blood pressure levels). All this leads to better health and well-being-- something all of us strive to bring into our lives.

Key Information About Sugar

It contains no vitamins. No minerals. It is 100% carbohydrate. So it must be metabolized immediately. The stores of nutrients built up in your body are called out like militia men, to "charge" the sugar, and similar forms like glucose and fructose, and turn it into ready energy, depleting your body in the process. Sugar is an energy sucker: the Anti-Nutrient.

White flour is its second-cousin—almost as bad. When you partner the two together— flour and sugar—it spells disaster for anyone trying to maintain a healthy body, let alone someone who is fighting disease or trying to lose weight. If they are consumed on a regular basis, the body is in a constant state of nutritional deficiency. If you don't believe that sugar is an anti-nutrient, try having a rich dessert after dinner on a night you're feeling under the weather – you'll be sure to wake up the next morning with a full-blown illness.

What's frightening is that in recent years, the government and other advisory groups like the American Medical Association have encouraged the consumption of flour by unveiling a new food pyramid that is based on grains and recommends six to eleven servings a day. And no distinction is made between white processed flour, which is stripped of the nutrients, especially important trace minerals, and the much more healthy whole grains (unless you have a food allergy). And the result? Americans now think they're making healthy choices by loading up on cereals, pasta, crackers and breads. We even have products like Pop-Tarts®, with 39 grams of carbohydrate, 20 of which are sugar, carrying the American Heart Association Seal Of Approval. It is a travesty.

So how do we protect ourselves and stay healthy? One thing we can do is eat a healthy, balanced diet of low-carbohydrate foods. And when our foods fail us, as they often do after being picked, shipped, stripped, processed and packaged, we can protect ourselves with solid vita-nutrient support. It is critical that you include this extra "insurance policy" to take you into the kind of healthy life we all want to lead.

(Pop-Tarts® is a registered trademark of Kellogg's USA, Inc.)

Answering The Critics

While mainstream medicine and nutrition have, on the whole, criticized the Atkins Diet, the facts speak for themselves:

Dr. Atkins and his colleagues at The Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in New York have treated over 60,000 patients using the Atkins Diet as a primary protocol. These patients experience all the beneficial effects detailed above, as well as improved blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and a lower or completely eradicated dependence on prescription drugs.

While the mainstream critics continue to lament the consumption of fat as the root of America's weight problem, only carbohydrate consumption (mostly refined) has increased in the past few decades, while fat consumption has declined (as the "low-fat/high carb" diet has been promoted as the best nutritional option for every living person). During this time:

Obesity, which in the past had consistently applied to about 25% of the population, increased to 33%
Heart disease now accounts for 50% of all deaths, up from 40% in the 1970s
Cases of diabetes are growing in near epidemic proportions (in fact, children are now contracting adult-onset diabetes)
Hypertension, chronic fatigue and attention-deficit-disorder are now well recognized conditions.
All of these conditions are linked not by the amount of fat in ones diet, but by blood sugar disturbances and insulin disorders caused by excessive refined carbohydrate consumption (FYI: The average person now consumes over 150 pounds of sugar a year, up from less then 10 pounds in the 19th century).

While medical and nutritional journals are filled with studies documenting the body's requirement of essential fatty acids and essential amino acids (derived from protein), there is no such thing as an essential carbohydrate. Why then does the FDA recommend an average of 16 servings a day?

The Atkins Diet is not a no-carbohydrate diet. The diet focuses on very limited consumption of the types of carbohydrates that tend to spike blood sugar levels the most, including non-whole grain bread, pastas, refined sugar products, juices, and high sugar/starchy fruits and vegetables. Atkins Dieters learn to determine their personal sensitivity to carbohydrates, as a way to manage their weight and health for life.

[LaraCroft]

When I hit a plateau, I did the following.

Breakfast, boiled egg, 1/2 grapefruit
Lunch and dinner, 6oz tuna, 1c spinach,1/2 grapefruit
snacks... boiled egg whites or non fat cheese, 2

I don't know if it was the combination or the low cals but 2 days of this would bump me and I could go back to eating normal.

[CajunConservative]

have no doubt you are losing weigh and have more energy. The reason is that you are consuming less calories than you are expending in energy and you are eating for fun, not for nutrition.

No not really. I eat more calorie wise on this plan than I was on the high carb diet because I eat fat and meat. I am not eating for fun as you think. I eat better on this way of eating than I did on the high carb diet because I eat only real whole foods lots of non starchy veggies and very limited fruits and grains. In eating this way I don't have that ever constant hunger and urge to eat.

I made the dietary change for health reasons. I started searching out ways of dealing with a medical condition I had and what was working for people like me was a low controlled carb, adequate protein, adequate fat plan.

The great thing about this way of eating is it is both nutritious AND fun. Getting healthy using this way of eating is fun and not a drag. That's the point so many of us have found out. I have learned too that what works for me may not work for you and guess what that is okay.

Carlo has offered his wonderful talents to keep us low carbers from getting bored. I am greatful for his taking the time to share his recipes with those of us who want to eat well.

[sauropod]

Print out ping.

[CajunConservative]

greatful

dang, I can't spell here. Make that grateful.

[SamAdams76]

Btw, after you learn to read labels, you realize how much sugar is added to processed food. For instance, I buy my mayonaise at the local health food store, because the supermarket mayonaise contains sugar.

You are right about that. Once I started paying attention to labels, I was stunned with how much sugar was going into our diet. Even most supermarket tomato sauces are loaded with sugar. High fructose corn syrup is everywhere, which is why I pretty much avoid processed foods altogether. Better off getting your food at the health store and from natural sources. My food bill has almost doubled since doing this thing because I eat all fresh foods. In fact, I bought fresh cod tonight for dinner at $7 a pound. But it's worth it. I was on my way to an early death with all that processed crap.

[diotima]

Read the book, I'll tell you all about it in New Mexico, we get in Wednesday afternoon.

(Why do you want to go on a diet anyway?)

[SamAdams76]

On days that I was extremely busy, I would sometimes eat only two meals or even just one meal during the day. For several days after these semi-fasting days, I usually gained 3-4 lbs with no change in diet. I eventually realized that it’s important for me to eat at least three low-carb meals a day, even if hunger is not present.

I ran into the same problem. In the early stages, I would only eat if I was hungry and sometimes only had one or two meals a day. I never lost much this way and it was frustrating getting on the scales for my weekly weighing and discovering I didn't lose that much that week even though I had been "good." Conversely, on weeks where I thought I would surely gain weight because I ate so much during that week, well, those were usually the weeks I lost the most weight!

Of course, there is a point of diminishing returns. If you eat too much, you will stall. There is a fine line between eating too little and eating too much. If you can find that sweet spot, the weight will come off in a hurry. For me, that sweet spot is about 2,300 calories a day. But bear in mind that I am exercising 1 to 2 hours per day.

[SamAdams76]

I can only guess that I need to pick up the exercise but darn it - that makes me hungry!

Read my last reply. If you exercise more, yes, you will probably get more hungry. But eat! Your problem may be that you are not eating enough! I lost this 87 pounds while eating on average of 2,000 to 2,500 calories a day!

[Redleg Duke]

I just started this diet today at my wife's insistence. I have been reading his second edition and he makes logical sense. My best friend has already taken off 30 lbs and he has been portly for years.

[kancel]

At this year's fair there was one of those vegan people with the video of the cows living a thousand heads to a cubic foot cage. It was all I could do not to go buy the fattest juiciest tastiest onion burger and stand in front of her booth and eat it. I mean they are cows, they re-eat the contents of their stomachs for crying out loud.

I guess I am just not that compassionate when it comes to my food. However in all honesty if I could afford free range "happy cow" beef (or chicken etc.) then I would simply because I really don't want all the growth hormones and nasty stuff in my meat. It is so expensive though. It would be nice if market demand for "clean" meat would increase enough that the price could come down drastically.

[Redleg Duke]

Please add me, Pilgrim, but ya better no try to hug me! :-)

[fml]

If you exercise semi-hard for 20 to 30 mins. it will actually have a curbing effect on hunger. Its best to work out prior to mealtime for just that reason.

[an amused spectator]

fellow cooking pro bump

[carlo3b]

Bizet died broken and exhausted thinking that his opera Carmen was a flop. THAT was a tragegy. The passing of a wealthy and successful diet doctor is anything but.

WOW how liberal of you, class warfare is.. shall we say.. classless.. with or without a fat singer!  .. a.. er  it's a tragedy that your spell check didn't survive the 1st act!! HA!..  :)

[carlo3b]

Your on.. aloha... :)

[carlo3b]

Deep Dish Quiche Pizza

Outstanding!! Thanks

[carlo3b]

Please add me, Pilgrim, but ya better no try to hug me! :-)

You are in the club now big boy! ....sheeeesh, no huggs.. LOLOL

[carlo3b]

fellow cooking pro bump

Welcome aboard Chef.. grab a chair and get a cup of java.. got any good recipes to share?? Ha!

[CobaltBlue]

Hi Carlo - please keep me on your post list. You are one of the all time greats!

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

Carlo scores a hole-in-one!!!

I tried the Grilled Salmon with Mustard Butter (post #88). I had to make a few modifications. I cut down the recipe (which feeds 4-6) so that it feeds just one - me!

Well, I started to divide everything by four, then somewhere along the way I forgot what I was doing, and started dividing everything by three, and even halves - oops! No matter - it still turned out:

FANTASTIC!!!!!

It was unbelievable - outrageous - delicious - flavorful - tasty - yummy - scrumptious - my whole kitchen smelled fragrant!!!

A real winner!!! :D

It was so good that a fireworks display erupted!!! I'm serious! (Pier 39 just had a fireworks display!!!) :D

Thank you, Carlo, for the best recipe ever!!! Not only did it taste yummy, but it was beautiful, too. The sauce looked very pretty over the salmon.

[modifications:

used 1 oz. of unsalted butter
1 T. of Dijon mustard
1/3 tsp. dried mustard (or maybe 1/4 tsp - I forget)
1 T. chives
1 T. parsley
1 tsp. lemon juice
salt only - no pepper
2 tsp. olive oil
Put foil on baking pan - placed fish on foil - also covered with foil - all edges sealed - placed in oven, middle shelf - 500 degrees (preheated) - cooked 10 minutes exactly]