Atkins

[feral]

Has anyone tried it? Does it work?

 

[Dagna]

I haven't tried it yet, but my mom has. Or at least, a low-carb diet. She restricts her carb intake to like less than 30 or 50 carbs a day and she has lost a ton of weight. Her blood pressue also dropped quite a bit and her Dr. has been slowly reducing her BP meds. She also excersizes though and tries to not eat too much red meat or fat. Lots of chicken and fish and green vegetables. But it works great for her. And my fiancee's grand mother is on a reduced carb diet, but it has been modified slightly by a nutritionist/Dr. since she has high blood pressure and diabetes. So yea, if you have any medical problems, check with your Dr. before trying it,but from what i've seen, it works.

 

[Grizzly]

Has anyone tried it? Does it work?

Hi feral - I am on it right now and the weight is just falling off. I did the two-week induction diet and lost 16 pounds. I'm currently in the on going weight loss phase and I have lost 30 pounds total. Last week I started an excersize program (mostly weight lifting) I'm feeling pretty good.

What I found the most amazing thing about the diet is that it really suppresses your appetite. I have actually skipped a couple of lunches because I forgot to eat! That has never happened to me before.

If you are thinking about trying it, let me make a few recommendations.

1) drink alot of water. The diet produces ketones which are hard on your kidneys.
2) Reduce or eliminate caffeine. The first time I tried this diet, I kept my caffiene intake the same, and I found that it was starting to give me headaches.
3) keep the artificial sweetner to a minimun. I found that it also gave me headaches and made me tired in the afternoon.
4) Get those Keto strips and keep track of your ketones. Whith the strips and some science, you can figure out just how many grams of carbs a day you can eat and still stay in ketosis (weight loss).

 

[King Element]

Hi feral - I am on it right now and the weight is just falling off. I did the two-week induction diet and lost 16 pounds. I'm currently in the on going weight loss phase and I have lost 30 pounds total. Last week I started an excersize program (mostly weight lifting) I'm feeling pretty good.

What I found the most amazing thing about the diet is that it really suppresses your appetite. I have actually skipped a couple of lunches because I forgot to eat! That has never happened to me before.

If you are thinking about trying it, let me make a few recommendations.

1) drink alot of water. The diet produces ketones which are hard on your kidneys.

2) Reduce or eliminate caffeine. The first time I tried this diet, I kept my caffiene intake the same, and I found that it was starting to give me headaches.

3) keep the artificial sweetner to a minimun. I found that it also gave me headaches and made me tired in the afternoon.

4) Get those Keto strips and keep track of your ketones. Whith the strips and some science, you can figure out just how many grams of carbs a day you can eat and still stay in ketosis (weight loss).

Grizzly, protein has an appetite suppressing effect and most people say they eat less on low carb diets. Also, high ketones should not cause any problems if your kidneys are functioning normally.

 

[Key Of David]

I'm not a big fan of Atkins because I don't believe we were just meant to eat meat and almost nothing else all the time. You need a variety of foods everyday to sustain a healthy body. Sure you could live on an Atkins diet for a while and even loose some weight.....but restricting carbs to just below what you actually use on a daily basis, staying away from animal fat, and watching any other fat you may eat (don't be excessive), you can lose weight on your own....all it takes is a little effort on your part.

God Bless!!

 

[peterc]

Atkins works, so does South Beach.
South Beach offers more eating options

 

[peterc]

Low carb diets are fine for a limited period of time. Too long and your seratonin levels get wacked.

 

[Key Of David]

Thats fine to say....but I just wouldn't do anything for any period of time that messed with my liver or my kidneys.

Its just not a healthy diet...

 

[King Element]

I think its a healthy diet if you follow the directions from the book. Many people still think that it's all about eating nothing but meat, but that's just the early stages of it. Later on, you add in vegetables as you like.

I eat a large salad with grilled chicken for lunch most often. When I'm out with others, they usually say something like, "hey, I thought you were doing the Atkins. You taking a cheat day or something?" Many people don't realize that it's mainly during the induction phase that meat is the primary calorie source. In the different phases more and more natural carbs are added in to the diet as you wish. For instance, I'll even have a banana or some dates for breakfast -- although I don't each much fruit because the majority of them commercially bought are genetically engineered to be sweeter and with less fiber than nature intended. If you don't believe me, go find an apple tree or blackberry vine and start eating. They're usually pretty bitter and so loaded with fiber that eating several can cause a bit of upset stomach and irregularity if you aren't careful. So to the people who say a diet in mainly fruits is healthy, I disagree because most fruits that are bought are not considered to be what nature intended.

More and more doctors are paying attention to the research and reports from nutritionists and other scientists. Basically, the maintenance phase of Atkins is a diet that is devoid of processed carbohydrates. I don't know how anyone can say that this is unhealthy. But everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

The people who say these diets are unhealthy because of cholesterol are ignoring basic biochemistry (and the recent research findings). Those who say the diet is hard on kidneys, the research is clear that an Atkins diet might not be a good idea if you have pre-existing kidney problems. Other than that, if the book directions are followed and someone gets a medical check-up before starting then there appears to be little, if any evidence that it's an unhealthy diet.


Anyone who does the Atkins short term is a fad dieter and will probably be unhappy in the long run.

 

[Key Of David]

To look at what little of the plant kingdom may have been genetically engineered and then to say "eat mainly animals" is to ignore the fact that most animals today bought in the store with the intention today of eating have probably been mistreated and/or misfed. We wouldn't have mad cow disease if it weren't for forced canabolism in that dept. I realize genetic purety isn't existant amongst every plant in the world....but I don't see people dying because of "mad banana". So fruits are a little sweeter....do they actually raise your glycemic levels THAT much more than they did 20 yrs ago?

 

[Dagna]

Oh by the way, my mom on the low carb diet only has one kidney due to one being removed due to cancer. Her kidney levels are fine and she's been on the diet for over a year now.
And it's not just eating meat. You can eat quite a few different vegetables and even fruit. Theres a cookbook out in Barnes & Noble for low-carb dieters. It has a ton of different recipes and hopefully will prove that it's not about eating nothing but meat. I would suggest taking a look at it. I already bought it and plan on starting today actually. I noticed that i only started to gain weight when i moved away from home and was eating a ton of pasta, potatoes and bread. Believe me, gaining 50 lbs in a year & a half is enough for me.

 

[King Element]

To look at what little of the plant kingdom may have been genetically engineered and then to say "eat mainly animals" is to ignore the fact that most animals today bought in the store with the intention today of eating have probably been mistreated and/or misfed. We wouldn't have mad cow disease if it weren't for forced canabolism in that dept. I realize genetic purety isn't existant amongst every plant in the world....but I don't see people dying because of "mad banana". So fruits are a little sweeter....do they actually raise your glycemic levels THAT much more than they did 20 yrs ago?

There's actually quite a bit that is genetically engineered. Nearly all fruit available in grocery stores in the United States is the result of such tampering. It's not just sweetness or lack of fiber that's being tampered with. In fact, with the exception of dates, figs, bananas and coconuts nearly all of the others have been tampered with genetically and considered to be neither indigenous or natural. That's why I feel that eating fruit in the spring and summertime and mainly when you find it in "in state" as you find it in nature is what I would consider a healthy practice -- Atkins diet or not.

As to glycemic levels, it goes beyond that -- and yes, fruits today have changed the glycemic indices when compared to many years ago when such alteration was not in practice -- however, it goes back a long way, further than 20 years ago. It's not just about glycemic levels in regards to the sugar content of fruit. Sugar breaks down into short chain triglycerides in the blood stream and fills the liver with glycogen to the extent that nearly all fat loss is stopped while liver glycogen is full. That doesn't say anything good of what it does for elevating blood cholesterol levels. The insulin changes that occur as it is offset the sugar elevation to some degree and so it's not a full record to look only at blood sugar levels. With insulin changes, comes inefficient fat burning, as any bodybuilder worth his or her salt can tell you. However, balanced blood sugar levels are critical not only to bodybuilders but also to us regular folk as well. Increases in dietary sugar have already been outlined and the ramifications made clear by Bear on this board in the following topic:

http://www.christianforums.com/t84886

Even still, these items are not indigenous to most of our diets as they are considered tropical fruit (excluding those people who are in Hawaii). It's not only the genetic makeup of the fruit and how they have been altered to form different types of fruit for our culinary pleasure, but also in how they are being harvested and grown. Many of these fruits are being grown in soil that is not only mineral depleted, but they are being sprayed with wax based pesticides that are quite difficult -- if not impossible to remove with washing. Many of these pesticides penetrate the "skin" of the fruit and are embedded in the fruit flesh itself. Take soybeans for example; genetic inclusion of the actual pesticide is so widespread that if we stopped doing it today a million years from now the genetic difference would still be seen. The same goes true for corn products. So while I agree that much of our meat products comes from poor sources and contains contaminants that are not healthy, this also applies to fruits and vegetables as well. Therefore, regardless of which dieting strategy one upholds -- any food you eat should be as organic as possible.

At best, I feel fruit should be a seasonal dietary inclusion. When I hear about people saying "eat 6 servings of fruit per day" I laugh a bit. If this is a natural diet, when was the last time you went for a nature walk and found raspberry vines, a couple of watermelons, some juicy apple and orange trees? Fruit does not last long in nature and it also doesn't save very well, so eating fruit year round is not even what most non-tropical natural settings consist of.

Oh by the way, my mom on the low carb diet only has one kidney due to one being removed due to cancer. Her kidney levels are fine and she's been on the diet for over a year now.

And it's not just eating meat. You can eat quite a few different vegetables and even fruit. Theres a cookbook out in Barnes & Noble for low-carb dieters. It has a ton of different recipes and hopefully will prove that it's not about eating nothing but meat. I would suggest taking a look at it. I already bought it and plan on starting today actually. I noticed that i only started to gain weight when i moved away from home and was eating a ton of pasta, potatoes and bread. Believe me, gaining 50 lbs in a year & a half is enough for me.

I'm glad you mentioned that, I had a kidney removed 6 years ago. My BUN and creatinine levels are near perfect especially this past year. My surgeon warned me against high protein diets mid last year and I laughed and told him that I had already researched it and had been doing the Atkins diet for quite some time at that point. He sheepishly laughed and said "well, I guess there's always a detractor in every group...your kidney is handling it just fine." Since then he has taken more of an interest in low carb diets and admits that more and more of his patients are on low carb diets and are doing much better than what mainstream medicine would have expected.

Dagna, if you haven't seen this link before, check it out. It has a lot of recipes submitted by people and contains some real gems.

http://www.dietlowcarb.com/cookbook/

 

[catalyst]

Ketogenic (low carb) diets are fine long term, and are used to treat a variety of medical conditions, up to and including grand mal epilepsy. Children with grand or petite mal may be placed on a ketogenic diet for periods of up to four years without undue difficutly, or any restriction of the normal growth process. Ketogenic diets have also been shown to reduce LDL ('bad' cholesterol), improve HDL, moderate the insulin response in patients suffereing from various insulin related disorders, includes diabetes mellitus.

Ketogenic diets have been shown to significant blunt the huger response, and in at least one study, individuals on a ketogenic diet consumed on average of 300 kcal/day that high carbohydrate dieters.

References available upon request.

 

[thekingster]

Be careful with the Atkins Diet.

Admittedly, this diet works for many people who have lots of weight to lose since throwing the body into ketoacidosis does wonders for burning up available fat stores. Typically those with 40 or greater pounds to lose see the greatest results.

That having been said, proceed with caution. The harmful effects on the kidneys have already been alluded to - one which I will certainly endorse. Eliminate caffeine and increase your water intake exponentially.

One possible hidden danger: throwing the body into ketoacidosis, over the long-haul, has possible permanent effect on one's metabolism. That is to say that by doing this diet, and then returning to your pre-diet ingestion of carbs, might cause weight gain that can not be removed.

Steven King
The Kingster
Eyeing the Southbeach Diet...

 

[Bear]

I've never tried Atkin's, I need carbs to fuel my workouts, and I don't believe eliminating carbs to that extent is necessary anyway.

The few ways I've tried that have worked for me so far would be beverly international, Jay Robb (both those are similar anyway), and a carbohydrate cycling diet which I'm currently clean bulking with that can easily be modified for cutting (reducing body fat percentage).

 

[King Element]

TheKingster can you cite the references to which you have come to the conclusion that ketosis (NOT KETOACIDOSIS-- they are NOT the same thing) is harmful to the kidneys of a normal individual?

 

[SeRapH&CheRi]

I am currently on the Atkin's diet and have lost about 30 pounds (3 dress sizes!) and I still need to lose more. When I started the diet I started this walk/run program and am now running about 3-4 times a week; each of my runs are about 45 - 60 minutes, depending on the day. Anyways, my goal is to run the New York Marathon and alot of the training manuals that I've been reading have indicated the importance of carb intake while training. I am quite disciplined in terms of my carb intake and so I am quite concerned with the fact that I will need to increase it in order to train properly for long distance racing. Does anyone know if being on the Atkins diet affect my training?

 

[King Element]

It can affect your athletic goals depending on several factors. Depending on how fast you oxidize fatty acids for energy, being on the Atkins diet can cause you to momentarily need to take breaks from extended duration exercise if your body is not quite used to being on Atkins (i.e., less than a year -- or less than 6 months in the OWL phase of the plan).

To offset this, and so you can compete in the NYC marathon you can implement several strategies and options (this also goes true for bodybuilders and other athletes):

1. get a small bottle of the amino acid "L-glutamine". First, experiment with 500 mg of glutamine to make sure your system can handle it (some people can't readily metabolize a lot of it, so 500 mg will give you a good idea if you can. If you can't (actually this is rare) then you will probably have some digestive upset that goes away after a while. If you don't notice anything at all then your body can handle it just fine.

Now begin taking increasing doses of the glutamine prior to and during your workouts. You can start out taking a half teaspoon which is roughly 2.5 grams, mix the powder with water and put it in a water bottle with you while you run. When you start to get a bit tired and run down, drink the water and glutamine. It will help to replenish muscle glycogen without having to take in extra carbs. As you run more and more, you can start to increase your glutamine intake to insure that you're getting enough glycogen replenishment. I've been doing this a long time now, and so when I'm doing endurance work, it's not unusual for me to consume 20 grams of glutamine (4 teaspoons) in water before exercise and then another 10 or 20 midway through when I become tired. All in all, this way you're sure to get the glycogen you need. Increase doses slowly and if you have a bit of constipation at any point, then back down and stay at that dose until everything clears.

If you decide that glutamine works great like I did, then you can save money by buying large quantities of glutamine at one time. I get 2.2 pounds of it for $40 at one place and the quality is great. Send me a message and I'll share the website with you if you like.

2. grab a few packs of smarties or sweet tarts. They contain a sugar (dextrose) that won't cause as many of the problems as table sugar will. Pop a few smarties in your mouth when you start feeling depleted, or at some point when you're into your exercise session. That will replenish your muscle glycogen without refilling liver glycogen stores (mainly you want to avoid fructose, high fructose corn syrup, etc.) I've found that sweet tarts are easier to take with me than smarties. Rest assured that your muscles halfway through your exercise session will be literally starving for glycogen. If you consume dextrose, the vast majority will be put directly to use in your muscles and none of it will be converted to fat. You can even eat a few smarties after your workout to ensure your muscles don't catabolize themselves to get the glycogen replenishment they need. Again, this won't convert to fat as long as you don't really really overdo it.

3. You can also buy dextrose by the powder and use it instead of either sweet tarts or glutamine, but it's too easy to mix too much and you're never really sure if you have taken too much.

4. I would also consider looking into sublingual ATP tablets used by bicyclists. Gives you short bursts of energy and replenishes the confactors that are required for conversion of fatty acids and protein to energy substrates.

5. Consider taking pyruvate as well. This is pretty cheap stuff and complements the low carb diet lifestyle when exercise is also involved. Just like ATP, it helps replenish the cofactors required for energy conversion from fatty acid and protein.

I also have other strategies that have worked quite well with my patients and you are welcome to send me a private message and I'll help if I can.

Good luck and tell me how everything goes.

 

[catalyst]

I've never tried Atkin's, I need carbs to fuel my workouts, and I don't believe eliminating carbs to that extent is necessary anyway.

The few ways I've tried that have worked for me so far would be beverly international, Jay Robb (both those are similar anyway), and a carbohydrate cycling diet which I'm currently clean bulking with that can easily be modified for cutting (reducing body fat percentage).

You doing a CKD?

 

[catalyst]

That having been said, proceed with caution. The harmful effects on the kidneys have already been alluded to - one which I will certainly endorse. Eliminate caffeine and increase your water intake exponentially.

Evidence please.

One possible hidden danger: throwing the body into ketoacidosis, over the long-haul, has possible permanent effect on one's metabolism. That is to say that by doing this diet, and then returning to your pre-diet ingestion of carbs, might cause weight gain that can not be removed.

Please differentiate between dietary ketosis and ketoacidosis.