DIET PLANS FOR YOU--ATKINS DIET

DIET PLANS FOR YOU--ATKINS DIET

 The Atkins Diet was made by Dr. Robert C. Atkins, author and clinical head of the Atkins Center for medication in NY. What follows are answers to some FAQs provided by the Atkins Center and are not a recommendation for or against the plan. Remember, you should always check with your doctor before changing your dietary habits.

What is it?

Focusing on the consumption of nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods, and vita-nutrient supplementation, the Atkins diet restricts processed/refined carbohydrates, like high-sugar foods, bread, pasta, cereal, and starchy vegetables.

Why it works

While some Atkins dieters eat fewer calories than before, Atkins says it isn't because the diet is unduly limiting of food intake, but rather because people are generally less hungry and are less obsessed with food. The reason:

Stable blood glucose throughout the day ensures that you simply will have fewer food cravings or false hunger pains.

The food you eat (meat, fish, cheese, nuts, eggs, low sugar/starch vegetables, and fruit, etc.) is a smaller amount processed and more nutritious.

Purported Benefits

You'll start to burn fat for energy. Since starches are the body's essential fuel source, you'll begin to utilize your auxiliary fuel source, your own muscle to fat ratio, for energy. You won't feel hungry in between meals: By cutting the carbs, you'll maintain a more even blood glucose level throughout the day. Your overall health will improve and you will feel better: Many of the toxins you're taking into your body are stored in your fat cells. By getting your body to burn stored fat, you permit it to wash itself out.

Individualized Diets

While intake of carbs is restricted and therefore the diet tends to be high in protein, Atkins cannot provide the precise percentages of every food group for the overall population as it is individualized depending on a person's sensitivity to carbohydrates, among other factors.

Not for everyone

A person who performs tons of aerobics and who doesn't have a weight problem has no reason to get on a carbohydrate-restricted diet, Atkins says.

Vitamin supplements

The diet involves core vita-nutrient supplementation with a full-spectrum multi-vitamin and an important oils/fatty acid formula.

Low carbs

The Atkins Diet is not a no-carbohydrate diet. The diet focuses on very limited consumption of the kinds of carbohydrates that tend to spike blood glucose levels the foremost, including non-whole grain bread, pasta, sugar products, juices, and high sugar/starchy fruits and vegetables.

Are sugars to blame?

While many lament the consumption of fat because the root of America's weight problem, Atkins says that fat consumption has actually declined the past few decades. Its carbohydrate consumption (mostly refined) has increased, he says. During this time:

Obesity increased from 25 percent of the population to 33 percent heart condition now accounts for 50 percent of all deaths, up from 40 percent within the 1970s Cases of diabetes are growing

Hypertension, chronic fatigue, and a spotlight deficit disorder are now well-recognized conditions.

Additionally

The Atkins Nutritional Plan is designed to catapult your body into a state of fat meltdown. It targets insulin, the hormone that regulates blood glucose levels. The bodies of most overeaters are continual during a state of hyperinsulinism; their bodies are so adept at releasing insulin to assist convert excess carbohydrates to fat that there is always an excessive amount of of the hormone circulating through the body.. This places the body into a tight spot; it generally needs to store fat. Even when people with hyperinsulinism attempt to reduce (especially once they cut fat but increase carbohydrate consumption) their efforts will fail. This is why Dr. Atkins refers to insulin as "the fat-producing hormone."