The Atkins diet: Love it? Like it? Dislike it? Hate it?

[UrbScotty]

[supernova]

1. Works for me

is all I can say.

[SarahB]

5. Me Too!

:hi:

[SmileyBoy]

2. It's a sham.

The human body needs to follow a balanced 40-30-30 diet (protein, carbs, fat). It's not good to starve yourself of carbs.

[supernova]

3. I eat carbs

just not flour or starch carbs.

[mike_c]

14. the *weight-loss* portion of the Atkins diet is for people...

...who would benefit more by short-term imbalance, e.g. exploiting natural ketosis, in order to lose weight. Then they can return to a balanced diet containing carbs (but not poisons like sucrose).

The low-carb approach is many things, but it's NOT a sham. There are sound physiological reasons that it works. There are also, IMO, sound reasons why the typical high-carb, high-fat diet is responsible for a whole host of degenerative diseases. The type II diabetes epidemic alone should be a sufficient wake up call.

I agree with you that a protein based diet with balanced fat and carbohydrate contributions is the optimum long term diet, but with the caveat that not all carbs and fats are equivalent. I didn't always believe this, but i do now.

[supernova]

19. Most people don't understand

about Metabolic Syndrome or Syndrome X as it's sometimes called. You can do a Google search on the topic for more detailed info.

It's a state in which as you eat refined carbs, like pasta and breads made with refined flours and high sugar content foods, your pancreas gets ever more trigger happy to put out insulin, not just what you need to metabolize the carbs you ate, but more than that. This happens over a period of years.... decades even. MS is a kind of pre-diabetes.

Do that for enough years and you can wind up 30-, 40, 50+ lbs overweight. Don't do anything about it and you can wind up with diabetes, and stroke, and heart attack... etc.

Atkins, the Zone, and The South Beach Diet are all varients on this theme of controlling weight through controlling blood sugar levels.

[JPJones]

24. Is Syndrome X related to Planet X?

Just because it is a name doesn't mean it isn't pseudoscientific mumbo jumbo.

[supernova]

28. Show me your credentials; I'll show you mine

Metabolic Syndrome as defined by The American Heart Association

The underlying causes of this syndrome are overweight/obesity, physical inactivity and genetic factors. People with the metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of coronary heart disease, other diseases related to plaque buildups in artery walls (e.g., stroke and peripheral vascular disease) and type 2 diabetes.

Who has the metabolic syndrome?

The metabolic syndrome has become increasingly common in the United States. It’s estimated that about 20-25 percent of US adults have it.

The syndrome is closely associated with a generalized metabolic disorder called insulin resistance, in which the body can’t use insulin efficiently. This is why the metabolic syndrome is also called the insulin resistance syndrome.

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4756

Insulin Resistance as defined by The National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse.

How are insulin resistance, pre-diabetes, and type 2 diabetes linked?

If you have insulin resistance, your muscle, fat, and liver cells do not use insulin properly. The pancreas tries to keep up with the demand for insulin by producing more. Eventually, the pancreas cannot keep up with the body's need for insulin, and excess glucose builds up in the bloodstream. Many people with insulin resistance have high levels of blood glucose and high levels of insulin circulating in their blood at the same time.

People with blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not yet in the diabetic range have "pre-diabetes."

http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/insulinresistance/index.htm


Syndrome X Q & A from The Mayo Clinic.com:

Syndrome X
Q: What is syndrome X? My doctor says it's some new finding on coronary artery disease.

Patti / Indiana


A: The term syndrome X may cause confusion because it's used to describe two different conditions:

* A metabolic syndrome
* A chest pain condition

Metabolic syndrome X refers to a group of risk factors for heart disease that seem to cluster in some people. It's defined as the presence of three or more of the following conditions:

• Glucose intolerance — a fasting glucose of 110 milligrams of glucose per deciliter of blood (milligrams per deciliter, or mg/dL) or greater
  
• Blood pressure of 130/80 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg) or greater
  
• High triglycerides — 150 mg/dL or greater
  
• Low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol) — less than 40 mg/dL in men and 50 mg/dL in women
  
• Abdominal obesity — a waist circumference of 40 inches or more in men and 35 inches or more in women
  

http://www.mayoclinic.com/invoke.cfm?id=AN00404


To recap: "Metabolic Syndrome," "Syndrome X," and "insulin resistance" are very real medical conditions. The medical community is very well aware of them. Once again the Atkins regime, The Zone, and The South Beach Diet all seek to be an answer to these problems, because you are regulating the amount of insulin in your body with the type of carbs you choose to eat.

And yes, I exercise. I walk at least 3 miles/day at least 4x/week. That's about as much as I can do. Though I have the inclination, my cardiologist forbids lifting weights.

Do your own damn homework before you claim I spout "mumbo jumbo."

[feistydem]

4. You'll look lean and mean on Atkins... right before you die.

Your kidneys will seize and your arteries will harden, but hey --you'll fit into a perfect size 6 dress for your funeral!

[SarahB]

6. Kidney's are great and my cholesterol dropped 100 points

If I kept going the way I used to, I'd be dead by 60.

[Mr.Green93]

7. can't afford it

[Liberal Veteran]

8. How about balanced diet and exercise?

I've heard it works almost 100% of the time in those who are not suffering from a physical illness.

[texas1928]

9. If it works for you great

But I am tired of all the Atkins friendly commercials.

[supernova]

12. That part of it is nutty, but it's not necessary to the regime

In fact, regular food is better.

[texas1928]

15. I figured that

Eat but do it in moderation and get some exercise. You know any exercise that will raise the heart rate. :evilgrin:

[supernova]

16. I do several exercises

several times a week. :evilgrin:

[RC]

10. I understand that your testosterone level drops through the floor

and your sex drive disappears.

Testosterone deficiency (TD) may result from disease or damage to the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, or testicles that inhibits hormone secretion and testosterone production, and is also known as hypogonadism. Depending on age, insufficient testosterone production can lead to abnormalities in muscle and bone development, underdeveloped genitalia, and diminished virility.

http://www.urologychannel.com/testosteronedeficiency/index.shtml

No thanks.

[supernova]

17. LOL!

This gets my vote for most irrelevant post to the thread topic today.

[SarahB]

18. Me too!

LOL!!!

[RC]

23. bone up on the anthropology of the Human animal.

Compare what our ancestors ate as they evolved to what we are today with what we call a healthy diet today. Fad diets all too often have proven detrimental to ones health.

[SarahB]

25. Hunter gatherers ate

Lots of meat, leafy greens, fruit, and nuts. (Damn, sounds like Atkins?)

This was humans in their natural state where we spent over 90% of our existance as humans. :shrug:

[RC]

26. The Atkins Diet - A Comprehensive Analysis

The Atkins diet essentially eliminates several foods and food groups like fruits, cereals, breads, grains, starches, baked goods, dairy products, starchy vegetables, and sweets. This simply translates into a significant daily calorie reduction - the basis of any weight loss diet.

>snip<

Many people become instantaneously hooked on the Atkins plan due to an initial rapid weight loss. The initial weight loss isn't coming from body fat though - it's coming from water. How's that? The body's preferred energy source is glucose. When carbohydrates are significantly restricted, as they are on the Atkins diet, the body runs short on its constant supply of glucose - the breakdown product of carbohydrate. The body anticipates these situations by storing emergency glucose, known as glycogen, in the muscles and liver. For every one gram of glycogen the body stores, it must store with it three grams of water. If carbohydrate is significantly limited, the body will begin to break down these glycogen stores to obtain glucose for energy. And what do you suppose gets released and excreted when the glycogen gets broken down? That's right - stored water - and lots of it. This gives the false appearance of a magical victory with the scale. If your goal is fat loss then this is certainly no cause for celebration.

http://www.thedietchannel.com/atkins.htm

Don't believe all you hear & see in TV commercials.

[SarahB]

27. Initially, yes

However, I've lost 70 pounds in the last couple of years. It's not all water. I exercise and I'm fairly toned. I eat fruit and high fiber grains. I rarely eat bacon or sausage. I feel better eating this way and broke what was an addictive way of eating. I have no problem eating this way forever because food no longer controls me. I did everything I was supposed to do before that the nutritionist type folks recommend (basically a balanced, low fat approach) to no avail with much heavier exercise. I understand the mechanics of glycogen storage and breakdown. I don't base my life on TV commercials anyway. I'm not a moron.
It may not be right for everyone, but it was for me. Ultimately, I don't quite care about anyone's opinion of me. I just share my story because I know what it was like to be heavy and controlled by food at times and this helped me a lot.

[pagerbear]

11. This is the topic that would not die!

I don't understand why people insist on rehashing everything to be discussed about it over and over again!

[supernova]

13. I can't stop myself pagerbear

It's a sickness. :cry:

[MIScott87]

20. My weight loss plan (may be complicated for Freeper types)

To lose weight...

BURN MORE CALORIES THAN YOU TAKE IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Duh!

[UrbScotty]

29. Exactly

Right on.

:toast:

[Philosophy]

21. Atkins works unbelievably great for me

I'm 32 and I've been on it since the beginning of the year and I'm already in the best shape of my entire life right now. Getting off carbs was tough at first, I had headaches and felt weak for about two weeks. But after that I quickly gained so much energy that I now have to exercise almost 2 hours a day on average just to burn it off - I can bench over 230 pounds at the gym and I run (not jog) 4 days a week on a course through my neighborhood that is a little under 2.5 miles that just yesterday I set my new personal best time of 13:13 (the first time I ran it in February it took me over 16 minutes even with a 3/4 mile shortcut in the middle). I'm literally never tired now - I typically go to bed @11 and wake up naturally between 5 and 6, well before my alarm clock rings. My mind is totally sharp. I lost about 25 pounds of flab and then gained 10 back of all muscle. Even just about cleared up my chronic skin, joint, and digestive problems. I still eat a lot sometimes (for dinner I just ate an entire pound smoked sausage), but my overall appetite for food has been significantly reduced. My metabolism has changed so much that eating sugary foods actually makes me slightly physically ill now.

Maybe its all in my head, maybe I am atypical, or maybe I should be in a damn commercial...who knows, but I like feeling healthy so much that I plan on keeping up with this diet as long as I can.

[MrSlayer]

22. I hate it and I hate hearing people talk about it.

Especially on the job. It's disgusting hearing construction guys talk about carbs, it's just wrong. Beer is a fucking staple of the construction industry. You want to lose weight? EAT LESS! That's all it takes.

[NewHampshireDem]

30. Lost 40+ pounds myself

I went from 232 to 190 between October and February ... I've been fairly steady on it thus far. My carbs are not totally eliminated--and I occassionally eat whatever the hell I want, like pizza, though I do avoid the empty calories of sweets, soda, etc.

As for my overall health, I feel better now than I did when I was on my low-fat diet 4 years ago. At the time I was going to the gym at least 3 times per week, each time doing 45 min to an hour of weight training followed by 30 minutes of aerobic exercise (elliptical trainer, mostly). I still couldn't burn off my college weight and was at about 210.

I hate to admit it, but all of the weight I've lost on Atkins has gone without any additional exercise. My wife and I walk, and that's about it.

I sleep better, have a higher sex drive, and have more energy through out the entire day--I don't feel like a nap after work, nor do I feel like a zombie the next day if I stay up past my usual bedtime.

As for those who think it's just a matter of "eat less, exercise more," well, all I can say is I guess you've never been overweight--I'm happy for you, but walk a mile in those shoes before you judge.