Posts tagged Atkins Diet

All About the Atkins Diet

Dr. Robert Atkins originally created the Atkins diet in the 1970’s. The popularity of this low-carb diet reached its zenith about ten years ago, but it is believed that today as many as twenty-five million Americans may be on low-carb diets at any given time.

How Does a Low-Carb Diet Work?

The Atkins diet is based on Dr. Atkins’ theory that the over-consumption of carbohydrates is the root of most people’s problems with weight gain. The body is fueled by sugar, whether it is the natural sugar found in foods or the processed sugar added to many foods. When your body runs out of sugar to use as fuel, it uses carbohydrates instead. Carbohydrates are long chains of sugars, which the body breaks down into sugar. Atkins believes that when people limit the carbohydrates available, they force the body to use its fat reserves as fuel.

Atkins believes that our body adjusts to having too many carbohydrates in an unhealthy way by affecting our insulin responses, essentially a precursor of diabetes. On the low-carb-high-protein diet the body’s insulin response regulates itself, and the result is a smaller appetite and easier weight loss. An active lifestyle is also a key component of the Atkins diet, since no calories of any kind can be burned without exercise.

The Atkins Diet in Stages

The Atkins diet progresses in stages. The basic stages are induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance, and maintenance.

The induction lasts for 14 days and involves rapid weight loss by limiting carb intake to only 20 grams a day, as compared to the 300 grams of carbs in the average daily diet. During this period, a person only consumes carbs through green vegetables and salad leaves. Fruit, other vegetables, yogurts, potatoes, rice, bread, alcohol and pasta are all forbidden.

During the ongoing weight loss stage, the carb intake is increased to 25 grams a day. After, the weight loss will eventually stabilize and the carb intake will need to be adjusted again. However, the Atkins diet does not eliminate meal variety. You can still indulge in lean meats, poultry, nut butters, salad greens and other such foods.

In the pre-maintenance stage, the weight loss is less obvious and certain foods are tested back into the diet to see if they can be safely added without causing weight gain. If you gain weight, however, you must go back a phase or two until you are stable again. This is because every person’s body reacts differently to different foods. Some people may do fine on Atkins with diet drinks, for example, while others bloat with the artificial sweeteners. Keeping a journal to record what you ate the week you lost the most weight can help monitor the foods that react well with your body.

The basics of the last stage of the Atkins diet, the maintenance stage, are simple. The goal weight is reached and one food is re-introduced into the diet at a time so that you can safely judge what foods will cause weight gain and need to be removed again. The Atkins diet primarily allows the consumption of plenty of meat, poultry, fish, and eggs, and gradually allows the consumption of additional vegetables and fruit as well.

The Safety of the Atkins Diet

Some researchers believe that there are health risks that can result from following the Atkins diet. For example, certain experts say that the high protein diet leads to high cholesterol. Others advise that 150 grams of carbs daily are necessary for proper body and brain function. Weight loss experts feel that the Atkins diet is not for people with a risk of heart disease, and that the restriction of fruits and vegetables is counter-productive to good nutrition. They stress that all reduction of calories, coupled with exercise, results in the burning of fat.

There is very little doubt in the minds of most that adhering to the Atkins diet will help you to successfully lose weight. There are so many motivational stories today about people who have reached their weight loss goals by following the high-protein-low-carb diet that Dr. Atkins created and recommends. Those who have lost weight fast on the Atkins diet are pleased with the results and support the diet program. Your doctor can help you determine whether this diet program is indeed the best choice for your weight loss goals.

By: Stephen Dolan

About the Author:

Steve Dolan is a diet specialist who has spent years helping people achieve their dieting goals. Find out more about the Atkins diet at Atkins Diet and for more health tips try Healthy Living

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Food for Atkins Diet Users

Atkins diet foods are easy to find and available universally. There are many assortment to choose from, whether you pick low-carb diet foods or make your own meals. No stock how you want to do the Atkins plan, there is a liquid out there for you.

You’ll need to keep the Atkins food pyramid in mind when you make food choices. The Atkins pyramid wiliness much dissimilar than the USDA Food Guide Pyramid. The base of the pyramid lie of protein sources such as eggs, fish, beef, jumpy and tofu. On a daily foundation, your diet have a duty to lie primarily of these foods. The another tier has low vegetables like greenery, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus and iceberg lettuce.

The tier is made up of berries and khaki. Fruits have to be used on an occasional beginning after the initial point of the Atkins diet. Vegetable and seed oils, cheese, dairy, nuts and legumes are used sparsely and in fitting portions. While the FDA pyramid has oils and fats at the top peak, the Atkins pyramid bays undivided grain foods in this spot. Whole grain foods be duty-bound to be used very irregularly and don’t make up the mainstay of the Atkins diet.

When you jump the Atkins plan, you’ll need to make sure you twig which foods are appropriate for your stage of the program. The Induction rung is the most preventive, but it only lasts two weeks.

You owe it to your breaking up accomplishment to stay within the gratifying foods list. One of the best ways to do this is to see the Atkins menu plans that are on paper within the New Diet Revolution book. There are also Atkins cookbooks and cookbooks that are geared toward other low carb diets that are supportive in originate meal plans.

It’s a accommodating idea to use a fraudster sheet of up to standard Atkins foods someplace you go. If you are out and roughly and hungry, the last device you want to do is to try to think back in your reminiscence to total out what you can and cannot eat. Carrying a list of pleasing foods with you will make finding a sandwich or meal while out on the run easy. You can’t for all time rely on “low carb” brand name to tell you whether or not something is diet outgoing. Ever since low carb enhance the new diet vogue, manufacturers have been full of life on the bandwagon to attract Atkins faster. They characterization detail low carb to sell harvest and don’t have your strength in mind. Relying on foods from your own peculiar list is the best way to stay on the plan.

Another good resource for care trail of the applicable Atkins foods is an online diet program. There are quite a few available. Some are free and some have a minor scheduled fee. The driver entail you to list and then they provide you with cheeky log menu plans based on your requirements and your carbohydrate gram near. There are naturally printable weekly bargain hunting lean that make single out up your Atkins diet foods from the grocery hoard easy and nifty.

Atkins diet food is easy to find once you know what you are appearance for. The accounts, food pyramid and online possessions can help you make better food select and stay on the diet for the long term.

By: Charity Adams

About the Author:

Charity is the owner of Atkins Diet Information, Atkins Diet Information focuses on the latest trends in weight loss for the Atkins diet programs and other weight loss programs.

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Are Atkins Diet And Low Carb Diets Safe?

Are low carb diets safe? How safe is Atkins diet? Are low carb and Atkins diets dangerous to your health? These are burning questions for dieters all over the world.

I have personally tried low carb diets and Atkins diet and these diets made me lose weight very quickly. However not only did I lose body fat weight, I also lost muscle weight. I had very obvious muscle and fat loss because I can visually see my reduced muscle mass in the mirror.

This certainly isn’t healthy. Furthermore, the more muscle mass that you lose, the less toned your body shape is. The end result is that you will end up thin and yet looked flabby with lose skin.

The frustrating part will be that after you are off the low carb or Atkins diet, you will very probably gain back all the weight that you have loss and even more. This is because your muscles are active and they continuously burn calories. Since you have less fewer muscle mass now, your body’s metabolism or capacity to burn calories slows down tremendously.

In other words, when you put on weight again, you are putting on body fat instead of muscles if you do not exercise. You will be fatter and less healthy than before you went on the low carb or Atkins diet. To compound matters, because of lesser muscle tissues resulting in lower metabolism and thus lesser calories being burnt, you are going to get fatter.

Since then I have stayed off both low carb and Atkins diet. Both types of diets are almost similar as they require you to cut down drastically on your consumption of carbohydrates. Atkins diet went a step further by advocating almost no carbohydrate consumption for 2 weeks before adding some carbs to your meals gradually thereafter.

Besides losing muscles, how safe are low carb diets? This is what Dr Lyn Steffen and Dr Jennifer Nettleton from the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Health commentated in a Lancet report, “Low carbohydrate diets for weight management are far from healthy, given their association with ketosis, constipation or diarrhea, halitosis, headache and general fatigue to name a few.”

The doctors warned that the diet increases protein load on the kidneys and alters the balance of acid in the body. This also results in loss of minerals from the bone stores and affect bone strength. The doctors went on to say that, “Our most important criterion should be indisputable safety and low carbohydrate diets currently fall short of this benchmark.”

Dr Atkins, the creator of the Atkins diet died in 2003 after he was alleged to have slipped on an icy road and hurt his head fatally. However his medical report stated that he had a history of heart attack, hypertension and congestive heart failure.

Were Dr Atkins medical conditions related to his low carbohydrates diet is anybody’s guess. Do you want to take the risk by going on a low carb diet? I don’t think I will. If I ever want to lose weight again, I will rather go on the proven method of healthy eating and regular exercises instead of jumping on any fad diets.

By: Chris Chew

About the Author:

Chris Chew is a fitness personal trainer of actors, fashion models, pageant contestants and celebs at Lose weight tone muscles naturally and Be a personal trainer career

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Diet Plans

Diet plans are essential for leading a fit and healthy life. There are various diet plans that you can select, based on your requirements.

Some diet plans created are restrictive of carbohydrates and proteins. Others provide alternative food like cookie or the soup recipes. Still, others are integrated with stages or phases. But there’s one which makes them united, most of them include fruits and vegetables.

• 3-Hour Diet

Description: Eat everything with perfect timing which was conceptualized by Jorge Cruise. It requires eating breakfast within 60 minutes upon getting up in the morning. Second is eating in 3 hour intervals or between meals. No more food is allowed 3 hours before going to bed at night.

What To Eat: 3 meals, 2 snacks, and a treat (carbohydrates, protein and fats) and small portion of sweets

Advantage: Flexibility of meal types and fits any food budget

Downside: It is not possible for very busy people

• Atkins diet

Description: It is a meat based diet with no fruit or starchy vegetables conceptualized by Dr. Robert Atkins. No carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables and this results in using the reserve fats as source of energy

What To Eat: meat but no carbohydrates

Advantage: Effective for fast or crash diet

Downside: It is unhealthy since it doesn’t practice good nutrition. In addition to that is the tendency for people to gain so much weight when diet stops. It increases risk of cancer.

• The Cabbage Soup Diet

Description: It is a 7 day diet plan which includes cabbage soup recipe and other meals. Proper distribution of food groups within the 7 day period. It includes the special menu of cabbage soup. It also recommends taking in multivitamins to fight stress. It focuses on the lose water diet scheme.

What to Eat: cabbage soup menu, skim milk, brown rice, unsweetened drinks, fruits

Advantage: It is effective for fast dieting. There is no possibility of serious heart problems. It includes a very simple recipe.

Downside: Weight gain when one stops the cabbage soup diet.

• Cookie diet

Description: It requires eating cookies the entire day to replace the breakfast and lunch meals. Dinner should be healthy and sensible. Using cookies in a low calorie diet tends to make someone feel full. Cookie is made of amino acids and fiber.

What to eat: four to six cookies throughout the day and a healthy dinner

Advantage: It is effective for those who skip meals and have no time. It does not need preparation.

Downside: It is not easy to make it as a lifestyle diet scheme so it’s short term. There are limited flavors for the cookies available.

• Eat to Live Diet

Description: It requires eating low calorie nutritious meals conceptualized by Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Primarily, focus on vegetables and fruits with less salt and sugar.

What to eat: nuts, vegetables, fruits and no snacking

Advantage: It aims to lose weight yet remain healthy. It is not a tasteless diet. It is lifestyle changing and good to lower cholesterol.

Downside: It is lifestyle changing so it would require avoiding the usual snacking and eating out practices.

• The Raw Food Diet

Description: It requires eating a low calorie nutritious diet which includes raw food. It is also known as the living diet. Raw food is one of the best diet foods. It encompasses the living food philosophy.

What to Eat: salad, cake, soup, vegetables, fruits with recipes

Advantage: It is a low calorie diet but healthy and nutritious. Some recipes do not require 100% raw food.

Downside: Reality is that some vegetables can’t be eaten raw. It entails planning and preparation.

• The Sonoma Diet

Description: It includes ten power foods flavored in 3 waves conceptualized by Connie Guttersen. Food preparation of the ten power flavored foods based on Mediterranean diet with portion control

What to Eat: whole grains, almonds, bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, grapes, spinach, blueberries, strawberries, and olive oil.

Advantage: There is wide variety of food prepared with flavor and easy to maintain. Recipes are prepared to be shared with all family members.

Downside: It requires spending time for cooking.

• The South Beach Diet

Description: The diet plans is restricted to low carbohydrates plus fruits and vegetables. It has 3 phases: restrictive, targeted and maintenance. It was created by Arthur Agatston.

What to Eat: lean meats, low fat vegetables and cheeses, low carbohydrates, fruits

Advantage: One eats three meals a day with snacks. It’s easy to prepare food which includes frozen entrees.

Downside: Probably it is not as healthy as the Sonoma diet.

• The Vegetarian Diet

Description: The diet plan involves a low calorie high in nutrients recipes. It must have a plan based on one’s size from the Zone Food Blocks. It is a calorie restrictive diet.

What to Eat: sweet potato, brown rice, fruits and vegetables

Advantage: It is a healthy and balanced diet of proteins, carbohydrates and fat.

Downside: It needs menu planning to check on alternatives for meat.

• The Zone Diet

Description: It is a diet plan of eating 40% carbohydrates, 30% fat, and 30% protein. It allows one to enjoy 3 meals and two snacks each day. It is one of the most famous diets in Hollywood. It was created by Barry Sears.

What to Eat: lean meats, vegetables, whole grain

Advantage: It includes all types of foods.

Downside: It can be expensive for those who will avail of food delivery. It can be complicated to follow on the ratio pattern of food intake

By: Jayesh Bagde

About the Author:

For more information on Fitness Centers please visit our website.

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Overcoming Plateaus on the Atkins Diet

If you are experiencing a stall or plateau in your Atkins weight loss efforts, you are not alone. This occurs from time to time. However, you first must make sure that you have actually reached a plateau point.

A plateau means that you have gone an extended period of time without losing weight or inches. It’s important to take your measurements before you start your weight loss plan, in addition to your weight. On some weeks it may not seem like you are losing any at all on the scale. But a quick look at your measurements will prove otherwise.

On the Atkins diet you are replacing fat with muscle, which is denser and heavier. You might actually gain a little weight because you are building muscle to replace your fat. The result will be an increase on the scale, but a decrease in your inches. Your body will be smaller and leaner, but you may weigh the same.

Before you start your program, measure your chest, waist, hips, upper arms, thighs and calves. You never know where you may be losing inches, so it’s important to have these comprehensive measurements to refer to. It is normal to go through periods where you body is readjusting. Remember that you are reforming the composition of your body and this process will take some time. Check your measurements once a week, just like your weight, and you can track your overall progress.

There may be periods of 3 to 4 weeks where you have a stall in weight loss, but a loss in inches. Or vice versa. Using both methods to track your fat loss is the best assurance for an accurate measure of your progress. These stall periods are not a reason to quit or to give up. They are natural parts of the weight loss process.

Stalls may occur more frequently if you are 5 to 10 pounds away from being at your goal weight. By following a low-carb, high-protein way of eating you have created a lot more muscle in your body. Your muscle-to-fat ratio is higher than ever before, so your body might be resisting losing anymore fat. It may be time to rethink your goal weight. Perhaps your body is trying to tell you something and its time to start maintaining your weight loss rather than trying to lose more.

There are some other possible causes of stalls and plateaus on the road to weight loss. If you’ve gone four weeks with no change in weight or measurements and you are nowhere near your goal weight, you can try a few different methods to get yourself out of the rut. First, make sure your carbohydrate level is in check. If you are eating too many carbohydrate grams per day, your weight loss will stall. Look for hidden carbohydrates in packaged foods, dressings and sauces to make sure they aren’t the culprits in your plateau.

Check your daily water intake. When you are dehydrated, your body will retain water and that can mimic a plateau. Water will also help flush ketones from your system and make more room for new fat burning ketones.

Undereating can also be a cause for weight loss plateaus. Make sure not to let yourself go hungry and eat smaller, more frequent meals. Remember, you are on a carbohydrate-restricted diet, not a calorie-restricted diet. Make sure to have some protein with every meal and snack. Never go more than 5 hours without eating something (except overnight of course). Also, eat freely from the acceptable foods. Don’t try to count calories or restrict your calorie intake. When your body gets too few calories, it goes into starvation mode and will hold onto fat cells.

Increasing your exercise level can help get you through a plateau as well. As your muscles get used to working out at a certain level, you’ll have to increase the duration or the intensity in order to keep challenging your body. Add a new exercise into the mix, or try increasing weight in resistance training.

Trying one of these methods will most likely get your weight loss back on track. Remember that occasional stalls are normal, but they do not have to last.

By: John Ugoshowa

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Effects of High Blood Sugar Levels on the Atkins Diet

High protein, low carb eating plans like the Atkins diet are well known for helping folks to lose weight quickly. They are also often considered to be the types of plans that increase the risks of high cholesterol, heart disease and erratic or high blood sugar levels, but the Atkins diet can in fact increase triclycerides and cut down blood glucose. The Atkins diet can significantly lower high blood sugar levels and reduce the need for sugar in the diet. Diabetics must consult a doctor throughout the time that they use the Atkins diet, because it can have a major effect on their high blood sugar levels. Some people have claimed that the Atkins diet can balance high blood sugar levels in diabetics but that is as yet unproven.

Hyperglycemia, or high blood sugar levels, is often viewed as a step on the road to diabetes, but other causes of high blood sugar include eating large amounts of sugar or food and the presence of an infection or illness. Sometimes few symptoms are actually present with this condition, but many times symptoms tend to include blurry vision, fatigue, weight loss, increased appetite and excessive thirst. High blood sugar levels are a good indicator of heart disease risk, and that is one of the reasons why the effects of the Atkins diet on high blood sugar levels is so beneficial.

Can the Atkins Diet Cause High Blood Sugar Levels?

Generally speaking, the Atkins diet does not cause high blood sugar levels. However, the reason people undertake the Atkins diet is because they are overweight and need to shed some of this excess weight. According to Dr. Atkins, this weight gain is caused by over consumption of carbohydrates and sugars. When this happens, our bodies realize that the amount of sugar in the body is too high. Insulin is produced to gather the sugar and store it, but there is a limit to the amount that can be stored. Upon reaching the limit, the sugar is saved as a fat source. Continuous overeating can mean that the body becomes resistant to this process, storing even more fat by burning carbohydrates for energy. This results in low blood sugar or high blood sugar levels.

The best remedy for insulin resistance is a low carb diet such as Atkins, because it restricts the carb intake and allows the body to continue burning fat as an energy source. This can raise blood sugar levels, and in most cases it raises them to a healthier level rather than cause another type of medical problem. Therefore, the Atkins diet can cause high blood sugar levels, but it generally raises the levels of people with low blood sugar levels which is a beneficial action.

By: Roland Jefferson

About the Author:

Roland Parris Jefferson III is a Private online researcher based out of Los Angeles, California. For free tips, resources and easy recipes covering Atkins diet, please visit our High Blood Sugar On Atkins Diet Resource.

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