There are thousands of people that have employed Dr.
Atkins Diet successfully. My mother, aged 67, is one of those
people. Prior to commencing with Dr. Atkins Diet, she struggled
with her weight (she was not obese, just mildly overweight),
felt sluggish and seemed overly concerned with her cholesterol
level, blood sugar level and blood pressure readings, even
while adhering to a strict exercise regimen.
About 6 months have passed since she commenced with Dr.
Atkins Diet and she reports staggering results. She recently
visited her doctor and was given a physical. She reports
that her LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) has halved,
her blood sugar has dropped significantly and her blood pressure
is down to worry-free levels – not bad for someone
that seems to be a chronic worrier. The most telling part
of the story is that shortly after beginning Dr. Atkins Diet,
she told me that she did not feel sluggish anymore. She felt
light, even after meals – the way you feel after eating
a meal in Europe. In our European experience, we can eat
the best foods, bread included and drink the best wines and
not feel bloated or full afterward. We still feel light on
our feet. My mother reports feeling light on her feet and
attributes it to Dr. Atkins Diet. I understand that my findings
are not scientific nor are they the result of a proper sampling.
However, my mother made one change in her life to the Dr.
Atkins Diet and there was significant change internally and
outwardly. She looks great and has a twinkle in her eye she
did not carry in previous months.
Dr Atkins Diet – the critique
As I stated previously, Dr. Atkins practiced medicine for
40 years and cared for over 60,000 patients. His book was
a best-seller so no doubt he has provided a significant,
life altering option for people wanting to lose weight.
(Dr. Atkins died in April, 2003 at age 72 shortly after
sustaining a head injury caused by slipping on ice.)
However, there are those that critique the thinking and
methods behind the Dr. Atkins Diet. They must be mentioned
in this forum.
Many critiques will begin with the fact that choosing a
diet plan in the first place is the wrong choice because
all diet plans are fads and are temporary fixes because they
do not represent your truest habits and, as such, weight
will only appear once again after you’ve completed
the fad diet program. Only you will know the answer after
studying the merits of each diet program. But, for purposes
of brevity and focus, I’ll stick to critiquing only
the thinking and methods of the Dr. Atkins Diet:
- Weight loss occurs when caloric intake is less than
calories burned. Weight loss is sure to occur by eliminating
the basic food groups: fruits, cereals, breads, pastas,
vegetables, grains, starches, baked goods, dairy products,
starchy vegetables and sweets. The critique is that any
reduction in caloric intake - whether from protein, carbohydrate
or fat - will help you to lose weight. The basic weight
loss formula is said to be that in order to maintain weight,
calories burned must equal calories consumed.
- Water loss is responsible for initial weight loss in
the Dr. Atkins Diet. The initial weight loss that tricks
people into thinking the Dr. Atkins Diet is working is
due to water loss not due to loss of fat. Carbohydrates
break down into glucose. For every 1 gram of glycogen (glucose)
stored, the body also stores 3 grams of water. The Dr.
Atkins Diet significantly reduces carbohydrate intake which
means the body burns emergency stored levels of glucose
and along with it stored levels of water.
- The Dr. Atkins Diet labels insulin as bad. Insulin has
several functions, one of which is to assist our cells
in absorbing glucose from the blood stream to use as energy.
Glucose or sugar is stored as fat so the thinking is that
insulin allows the body to store fat or better said, insulin
allows the body to keep the weight on. According to my
research, all ingested foods trigger the production of
insulin. So, carbohydrates do not trigger insulin production
alone and therefore are not solely responsible for the
storing of fat. If the body ingests more calories than
it is capable of burning, insulin allows the body to store
those calories as fat. Further, if extra calories are ingested
in the form of carbohydrates, the body will work harder
to break them down to fat for storage. If excess fat is
ingested, the body simply stores it as fat.
- Does the Dr. Atkins Diet address the true culprits of
weight gain? Weight gain is certainly influenced by lack
of exercise, genetics, psychological issues, social issues,
medical problems and other issues.
- Healthy populations ingest carbohydrates. The Japanese
enjoy a carbohydrate-rich diet and do not suffer from heart
disease, obesity, cancer or diabetes. The Japanese diet
emphasizes grains, rice and vegetables and does not focus
on high protein, high fat animal products. (I know what
you’re thinking. What about the seemingly healthy
French that diet on high fat foods and red wine? Another
story for another time.)
- High fat diets have been associated with an increased
risk of heart disease. The Dr. Atkins Diet emphasizes high
saturated fat products like red meat, butter and bacon.
Some medical studies have suggested a correlation between
a high fat diet and risk of heart disease. The issue here
is that Dr. Atkins has been challenged for not publishing
long term results of his Dr. Atkins Diet.
- The National Cancer Institute states that each person
should ingest a minimum of 5 daily servings of fruits and
vegetables in order to reduce the risk of developing cancer.
High consumption of whole grain products has also been
attributed to a reduced cancer risk. Whole grain products
are carbohydrate-laden and are not advocated initially
in the Dr. Atkins Diet. The vitamins and minerals in grains,
fruits and vegetables so needed by the body are capsulized
by Dr. Atkins and marketed as nutritional supplements.
Some are skeptical of the intentions of Dr.
Atkins in that he profits from that which he restricts.
Lastly, phytochemicals are compounds that trigger enzymes
that may block carcinogenic damage to bodily cells. Phytochemicals
abound in grains, fruits and vegetables and are believed
by many to be impossible to re-create in a supplement.
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