Atkins Diet Basics

by Frank Williams

The short name for the 'Atkins Nutritional Approach' is the 'Atkins Diet', which was the invention of Doctor Robert Atkins. He had gained a lot of weight while in medical school and after reading about a certain diet in the medical journal, he decided to improve it and release it under his own name.

Dr Atkins, in his Atkins Diet, stated that he believed that the prevalent theories about weight gain were all wrong. First, he dismissed the idea that saturated fats were bad; instead he said it was it was carbohydrates that led to the weight problems Americans have.

Dr Atkins declared that our obsession with fat actually worsened the problem. He pointed to all the low-fat foods that were high in carbohydrates, which meant that people on a diet often ate foods that were worse for them than what they normally ate. The Atkins diet moved the focus. Dr Atkins said that by cutting out carbohydrates, people would burn stored body fats. And if you lose the fat, you lose the weight. He said it was not just a matter of eating less. Dr Atkins held that your diet could actually help you burn calories. The Atkins diet supposedly burned more calories than were consumed everyday. But the claims were contested.

Dr Atkins also touted the positive influence this Atkins diet could have on people with type 2 diabetes. As opposed to type 1 diabetes, type 2 is often closely associated with diet and excess body weight. So, it should follow that any diet that helps decrease weight will help people with type 2 diabetes. The Atkins diet is low in carbohydrates, which must be avoided with type 2 diabetes regardless of caloric intake, so by means of this aspect of the diet, Dr Atkins claimed those who suffer type 2 diabetes would no longer need medication such as insulin. The medical world, in general, disagrees with Dr Atkins on this point. They do agree, however, that a lower carbohydrate intake helps with type 2 diabetes, but there is no proof that carbohydrates cause the disease.

What does one have to do to follow the Atkins diet? Well, it goes in four phases - Induction; On-Going Weight loss; Pre-maintenance; and Lifetime Maintenance. This is a brief synopsis of the first phase - The Induction Phase.

The Induction phase is the most difficult phase of the Atkins diet. Dr Atkins is flexible about the time period " but recommends it lasts for two weeks. During this phase carbohydrates are severely limited - you can only consume up to 20 grams per day. The idea is to enter a fat burning metabolic phase called ketosis when the body, starved of glucose, will begin converting stored fat into fatty acids needed to power the body. Weight loss during this phase can be extreme - some followers of Dr Atkins reported losses of 5-10 pounds a week or more.

Learning the ideal carbohydrate levels for weight loss and for day to day intake after the weight loss ends, are the goals of the three final phases in the Dr Atkins diet. Millions of people are still achieving the weight loss they want to on the Atkins diet - but be aware of the dangers of taking in too much fat.