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Atkins Diet Essentials
This article describes how the Atkins diet affects the body and causes weight loss. It also assesses the effectiveness of the Atkins diet and how to avoid putting the weight back on. The Atkins diet is one of the most popular diets ever because it works, although low carbohydrate diets have been around a long time. Studies have shown that the Inuit in the Arctic live sustainably and healthily solely on a diet of meat and fish.
The first low carbohydrate diet book was published in 1869. As the scientific evidence supporting low carbohydrate diets has increased, the establishment are still adamant that such diets are dangerous as they may induce what they characterise as a crisis metabolism that can be unhealthy. Atkins diet advocates say that this metabolic change, called ketosis, is actually the natural state for humans and that the predominance of refined carbohydrates in the diet increases insulin which increases fat deposition whereas ketosis causes unused calories to be expelled from the body rather than piled on. Ketosis is when the body breaks down fats and uses the ketones produced for energy rather than glucose.
The Atkins diet takes us back to a time when the human diet was almost wholly meat and fish. A big disadvantage of our current lifestyles is our dependence on non-nutritional carbohydrate, that means refined, processed carbohydrates that provide energy but no nutrition. The main hurdle for the Atkins diet is that it has to compete with our craving for carbohydrate because carbohydrate is the preferred energy source of our body.
Although human history shows that we can sustainably live on a low carbohydrate diet, the abundance of non-nutritional carbohydrates in modern society makes this very difficult. Also, if the body goes without a sufficient quantity of nutritional carbohydrates then this CAN be dangerous because the body may miss out on vital nutrients. This can be remedied by integrating offal into the diet.
In summary, the abundant exposure to refined carbohydrate that prevails in developed countries is unnatural and is really the main driver of ill health in the developed world. It can lead not only to obesity but also diabetes and other attendant health problems. So the message here is that the Atkins diet is an affective and healthy diet if care is taken to ensure that the carbohydrates you do take are nutritional carbohydrates.
By John Kirkham
The first low carbohydrate diet book was published in 1869. As the scientific evidence supporting low carbohydrate diets has increased, the establishment are still adamant that such diets are dangerous as they may induce what they characterise as a crisis metabolism that can be unhealthy. Atkins diet advocates say that this metabolic change, called ketosis, is actually the natural state for humans and that the predominance of refined carbohydrates in the diet increases insulin which increases fat deposition whereas ketosis causes unused calories to be expelled from the body rather than piled on. Ketosis is when the body breaks down fats and uses the ketones produced for energy rather than glucose.
The Atkins diet takes us back to a time when the human diet was almost wholly meat and fish. A big disadvantage of our current lifestyles is our dependence on non-nutritional carbohydrate, that means refined, processed carbohydrates that provide energy but no nutrition. The main hurdle for the Atkins diet is that it has to compete with our craving for carbohydrate because carbohydrate is the preferred energy source of our body.
Although human history shows that we can sustainably live on a low carbohydrate diet, the abundance of non-nutritional carbohydrates in modern society makes this very difficult. Also, if the body goes without a sufficient quantity of nutritional carbohydrates then this CAN be dangerous because the body may miss out on vital nutrients. This can be remedied by integrating offal into the diet.
In summary, the abundant exposure to refined carbohydrate that prevails in developed countries is unnatural and is really the main driver of ill health in the developed world. It can lead not only to obesity but also diabetes and other attendant health problems. So the message here is that the Atkins diet is an affective and healthy diet if care is taken to ensure that the carbohydrates you do take are nutritional carbohydrates.
By John Kirkham
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