The Atkins Diet : Fad or here to stay?

[Cascadian]

It seems like everybody is into the Atkins Diet thing. Too bad Dr. Atkins had to die before the whole thing took off. I am a little suspicious of this diet. I think eating moderately, watch the fat, and plenty of exercise does the trick. IMHO!

John

[ForrestGump]

1. Fad, albeit a long-lived one

It's booming now, and it'll bust or, at least, taper off. It's been here before (Atkins' book came out in '72 and was not new in that low-carb diets have been proposed before) and it'll come back.

The jury seems to be divided on whether it's good for you or not -- some of that division the natural variability in scientific/medical consensus and some undoubtedly a reaction to pure profit -- but I don't see how it can possibly be good for you. Bottom line is that diet -- watching calories or, at least, that old-fashioned exercising moderation -- and exercise are the only ways to really control weight effectively and safely. I know that there've been modificatiosn to reduce fat intake, that may Atkins dieters had totally out of control (that stuff's just not good for you in excess), but I still fail to see how a dietary program that'll allow steak smothered in bacon and cheese but forbid an apple could possibly be beneficial. Messing with your physiology, and pushing your body into ketosis and who-knows-what-else, is fundamentally Not A Good Idea.

Want to limit carbs in a more sane way? Just reduce your intake of refined sugars. Moderation. Hardly a revolutionary concept. Unfortunately, not much money in it, either. Ans Americans don't tend to be well indoctrinated int he concept of moderation. I include myself here, to some extent, of course.

ANY diet that advocates total (or nearly so) exclusion of a food group is not going to be sustainable or prudent.

[SarahB]

13. Atkins

I've been doing this for over a year and I'll have to say that before I did, I was extremely wary. For years and years, I tried to do the whole low-fat, food pyramid, American Heart Association/Weight Watchers method with exercise. I felt hungry and headachey and my weight got partially off, but then even with continued "healthy" eating habits, it simply would not budge. I was frustrating to be doing everything I was supposed to do and still remain often 40 pounds over my recommended weight.

After my zillionth bout of failed Weight Watchers, I saw Dr. Atkins somewhere (I think it was Donahue actually when he had his brief stint on MSNBC). I decided to buy the book. I guess it just made enough sense for me to try it. Maybe I was just frustrated enough to give it a chance. Atkins is not about eating bacon and sausage and no produce. In fact, it is recommended that people eat lots of fish high in Omega 3's, chicken, and quality red meats and highly limit the nitrate laden meats. There are some vegetable restrictions at first, but that being sticking to the un-starchy varieties. Later, you can have them, but in moderation. Who's going to argue that corn would have more nutritional value than spinach anyway? The no fruit thing is a fallacy too. It just recommends eating less sugary fruits more high in nutritive value like berries and melons. Perhaps, if one is (ahem) a really tall, big, active type of guy, an apple would be just fine but for a smaller women oodling with estrogen (likes to hold onto those fat cells), she'd be better off sticking to cantaloupe instead. When it comes to minimal grains, 8-11 servings is just too much for some of us and perhaps 1 or 2 small servings of a very high in fiber variety is better. Also highly recommended is exercise for anyone in addition.

When you look at it, I don't believe it is a fad. Atkins done in it's healthiest form is rather like a caveman/hunter gatherer approach to nutrition. Over 90% of our history as humans encompasses this time period and what did we eat? Meats, leafy greens, some fruits, and nuts primarily. Pasta is essentially a processed invention, as many other carbohydrate laden foods. I don't believe for many of us, our bodies were designed to handle all of this. Yes, those who do 10-15 mile runs are going to need more than those of us who walk a couple miles, but that's a given.

I guess different things may work for different people, but for some of us, a baked potato can give us a high and send us crashing- literally and that stuff needs to be either avoided or drastically limited. I hope this way of eating does not prove to be problematic long term, because I finally look the way I want to look and have an almost normal BMI (25.3 darn it). The main thing is I feel better. I used to be rather depressed and tired all the time. Now I'm still at times an emotional person, but not depressed by a long shot and absolutely zooming with energy. (Plus, it knockout some awful PMS symptoms and cholesterol going from a whopping 289 to under 200.)

Anyway, not trying to be personal and I know my experience is anecdotal and overall, anecdotal evidence is just that, but there's a lot more to this way of eating than sometimes the nutrition "industry" puts out and many of the studies being done (that never were before) are starting to offer some validity.

[DS1]

15. Hear hear

The apple comparison is commonly used, I used it just last weekend before learning that it's just an induction thing. Besides, while you ~could~ go for the hot dogs wrapped in cheese wrapped in bacon thing, that's just stupid.

:shrug:

[SarahB]

16. Yep

I eat more produce now than ever before. You could loose weight eating nothing but that kind of junk maybe, but I suspect over time you'd end up malnourished. When done in a healthy way, it's pretty balanced. Starchy foods really have very little in the way of nutrition anyway.

[ForrestGump]

26. Nothing wrong with starchy foods if you're burning them off,

though perhaps that opinion's based in the carbohydrate loading recommended by the late Jim Fixx in the '70s, but a lot of (most?) Americans these days can't exercise enough to match their caloric input. No question that much of this input is in the form of carbs -- especially simple carbs such as those in sodas and even in products that you wouldn't necessarily think of as sugared (sauces, seasoning mixes, chips, etc) -- but an awful lot of 'empty' carbs come from fat (McDonalds, etc, etc, etc).

People in the highlands of New Guinea are malnourished in that they subsist largely on sago and sweet potatoes -- they're protein-deficient. I know vegetarians in LA who're malnourished because they eat junk food that just happens to exclude the meat components...vegetarianism is not a natural mode of eating, as far as I'm concerned, and if you want to do it right you have to acknowedge that and consciously ensure that you're getting all of the right bits or you're liable to end up similarly protein-deficient.

Too much protein's a bad thing, too, in terms of human physiology. But you;re right -- a low-carb dieter who eats minimal meat and dairy and maxes out the vegetable portion may well be closer to an ideal diet than many.

[geniph]

30. Empty carbs can't come from fat

as lipids are not carbohydrates. Empty CALORIES come from fats. And there are healthful fats, too, like the omega-3 fatty acids in fish, or monounsaturated oils like olive oil.

The problem is with raising blood glucose too quickly. It's true, if you need quick sugars for a burst of energy (say, if you're running), you can get away with these foods, but without vigorous (and immediate!) exercise, what high-glycemic-index foods do is to quickly raise your blood sugar, which causes you to release a lot of insulin very quickly. When insulin goes up, you start instinctively craving foods that will raise your blood sugar quickly again. This leads to a vicious cycle of eating things like sweets and chips, crashing, then craving more of the same. More nutrient-dense and higher-fiber foods will be digested more slowly, and you won't get that huge quick rush of insulin into the bloodstream.

[ForrestGump]

32. Oops...I meant CALORIE

See how the all-pervasive 'carb' this and 'carb' that can affect a person's psyche? This Atkins stuff is psychologically damaging. :D

[ForrestGump]

23. Good points

I know that vegetables are an important component and, yes, I think that a lot of people on the Atkins diet eat more than they would otherwise. I still don't see it as an inherently healthy way to eat...maybe some of that comes down to belief that nutritional extremes are rarely beneficial and, more to the point, that 'diets' so often don't work as mere short-term fixes unless the dieter's ready to make long-term changes. Besides, I've always been a big fan of high-fiber diet, and exclusion of beans is heresy. :P

Americans have long eaten excess protein and fat, but if the Atkins diet accomplishes one thing perhaps it'll be an awareness of how pervasive and how overladen are our foods' sugar loads, especially in processed food. Congratulations on your success, regardless, and may you only feel better and better physically and otherwise as you progress through your program.

[KG]

2. gotta make it a lifestyle chioce.

when it come to each person body chemistry. it's not always as simple as 'eating moderately, watch the fat, and plenty of exercise'

[ForrestGump]

7. Nope,

but overdosing on protein and fat isn't good...Americans already downed way too much of both, and the results were reflected in stats related to serious health problems.

And even if the diet's rules (or rules of some variant of the low-carb diet) are more amenable to a less fat-saturated eating program, you can guarantee that many -- perhaps most -- of the diet's adherents will be very selective in skipping the parts of the plan they don't care to follow. For many it's an excuse just to eat fatty foods (we humans do tend to have an adaptive liking for fat and sugars) that have until now been forbidden people on weight-loss regimens.

Yeah, it can work in the short term -- so can any kind of malnutrition -- but at what long-term , systemic cost? Like any diet, it's overwhelming likely that adherents will rebound and gain weight once they stop or phase out the restrictions. Diets don't work, not unless you're prepared to make ongoing choices that result in healthier eating (that being, of course, not a 'diet' at all) , and even then exercise is probably the better key to weight control and perhaps even general health.

[ClintonTyree]

3. This diet...............

or variations of it have been around for 30 years or so. I remember trying a diet back in the early 70's that was in essence, the Atkin's diet although it hadn't been branded as such at that time. I'd say that the diet is here to stay, it is a proven way to lose weight quickly, however the health aspects remain suspect.

[Blue Gardener]

4. Please let it be a fad

I am really sick of hearing about it.
It's pretty simple...burn more calories than you take in, it doesn't take genius to figure that out.

[ForrestGump]

5. Yes, but you can burn it So much faster by subsisting on

grapefruit/collard greens/anchovies/spirulina/twinkies/heavy whipping cream!!!!!

[MaineDem]

6. In my opinion, a fad

And an unproven one. I worry about the long-term health ramifications.

Moderation, water, and exercise seem to be the ideal ways of losing weight.

[SheilaT]

8. Thirty years is a long time for a fad.

I recall it quite well from the early 70s. It got as much criticism back then, but not quite the press coverage that it's been getting in recent months. It never went away in all those years. Now that millions have decided low-carb is the way to go, it's clearly part of our culture.

[ForrestGump]

9. It was a very minor blip in the early '70s

(and before) and things lined up with the right amount of hype so that it hit the big-time in the '90s and onward. It's a cyclical fad, like flared pants and platform shoes...skinny vs wide ties, or whatever. Pretty much any diet that advocates cuting a food group qualifies automatically as a 'fad diet.'

[LuLu550]

10. It's been around for more than 20 years

and was responsible, to a great degree, in my gall bladder problems from the age of 19. Little known fact about the early Atkins diet...

[GOPisEvil]

11. The diet will always be around.

It's actually an excellent way for some diabetics to eat. But, I'm guessing its overall popularlity will wane at some point.

Eating sensibly and exercising regularly is the best way to maintain a healthy weight.

[sus]

17. my sister is diabetic

and she has to avoid protein. or limit it, anyway..

[GOPisEvil]

18. Well, I did say some diabetics...

...those that need to stay in ketosis eat an Atkins-like diet.

[Burma Jones]

12. If all Atkins accomplishes

is getting more people to lay off sugars and processed grains, then it has done a great thing. I think that a trend away from simple carbs is permanent since I see a lot of big money companies pushing low carbs. If you think Atkins just means loading up on bacon while avoiding carbs, you aren't getting it.

[liberalitch]

14. an on going understanding....

of what place proteins and starch and carbs should hold in our diets

[Calico Jack Rackham]

19. Just another example

of mindless American consumerism. If people would only learn to eat sensibly and exercise 3-4 times a week they would be fine.

[hippiechick]

20. I've noticed ...

... that since I've been on a sorta-Atkins (I can't live without fruit & milk), I've lost my love handles and am seeing my long-lost waistline again !!

IMO, carbs are the biggest perpetrator of beer guts and flabby tummies ...

I've lost 19 lbs in a year. Not drastic, but steady and hopefully irreversible.

:hippie:

[cally]

21. I think the South Beach type diet is here to stay

It emphasizes low fat meats and cheeses, lots of vegetables and limited carbohydrates after the initial induction. I know several folks who lost lots of weight on the low carb diets and reduced their cholesterol and blood pressure.

These low carb diets are what most doctors recommend for diabetics. The insulin needs go way down if you eat low carb. It helps to stabilize low and high blood sugar levels. Many doctors believe these extremes are what cause so much damage to diabetics.

[geniph]

22. South Beach isn't a low-carb diet

You never count carbs, or try to achieve ketosis, as you do on Atkins. Only in the first two weeks of South Beach are any carbs limited, and that phase isn't really necessary, except for its huge psychological advantage. I think people who are saying, well, just eat less and exercise more, aren't understanding the psychology that leads a person to be overweight in the first place. Most need some fast results from any kind of eating program to consider sticking with it, and South Beach did the trick for my (305-lb) husband. He lost 13 pounds and two inches from his waist in two weeks. But what's important is that his blood chemistry and blood pressure improved dramatically.

We've never eaten more fresh veggies and fish than we have since starting South Beach. The whole idea is to eliminate the highly-processed foods, the foods known to be unhealthful like the trans fats, the high-fat foods, and the empty calories from your diet, preferably permanently. You make an effort to eat foods that don't contain useless crap like high fructose corn syrup. You eat foods lower on the glycemic index, more nutrient-dense foods, which keeps you out of the whole sugar-addiction, craving, blood sugar cycle. It's just common sense, but what a lot of people don't seem to understand is that, for many overweight people, this kind of eating ISN'T common knowledge. Plus, foods that appear to be perfectly healthy can be grotesquely unhealthful - a whole wheat bread is not healthy if the third ingredient on the list is corn syrup or sugars. And it is appalling how many foods now have corn syrup added to them. No wonder diabetes is epidemic.

I have serious reservations about Atkins, because I don't think carbs are the problem. I think the TYPE of carbs are the issue - you want to avoid ones that raise blood sugar quickly and eat foods with higher fiber, that are digested more slowly. I can't get behind any diet in which a bucket of lard is a perfectly acceptable snack. South Beach makes much more sense to me. Calorie-restriction diets can work, but with much more difficulty; for one thing, if your body thinks you're starving, it'll slow your metabolism to a crawl, plus being hungry will lead to cravings. One of the benefits of both South Beach and Atkins is that you're never hungry; if you are, you eat something nutrient-dense. You snack on a handful of pistachios instead of a bag of chips (pistachios are great, because they take so long to open that your stomach has time to tell you you aren't hungry anymore before you eat 10,000 pounds of them).

I'm not really even "on" the South Beach diet myself (I only weigh 115, anyway), but my husband is having an immense amount of success with it. He's lost almost 40 pounds and three pants sizes, and he's lost about 10 years in the process. We're not really adhering to any "diet" per se, but we needed the South Beach kick in the butt to change our (really, really bad) dietary habits. For that alone - getting people to stop eating food out of boxes - it's worthwhile.

I hope Atkins is a fad - it's surely raised the price of healthy foods, plus the invention of packaged, processed, "Atkins-approved" foods makes me shudder. Eat lean proteins and lots of berries and leafy veggies, and whole grain foods without added sugars, not packaged crap! You don't need books and packaged products, unless the books help get you out of your bad habits and psychologically motivate you to stick with it (no eating plan will work if you can't stay with it long-term). You need to change the way you think about foods, and learn to read labels.

[dolo amber]

27. Lard is such a great word

:D

Excellent points, geniph. I did Atkins for only a little over a week. Not because I couldn't hack it so much as I just don't want to/don't like to/can't possibly imagine increasing your meat/fat intake in lieu of veggies could possibly be healthy. EVEN for 2 weeks. Plus, I was at a friend's house (who happens to be a nurse) and my pulse started racing, I felt woozy and nauseous, and I was all flushed and clammy. She said it was possible that it was caused not by sugar withdrawl (I've never been hardcore with sugary stuff) as much as the fat increase. It's very rare on a *normal* day that I eat more than 2 small servings of meat, and while doing that I was eating larger portions 3 times a day.

Now granted, I've since studied it more, and I don't think I was exactly doing it right; I was doing the eggs/bacon breakfast, ham or turkey slices/veggies/dip lunch, and meat and greens for dinner thing pretty much the entire week. But even at that, I lost all of not one ounce when it was all said and done.

I've been looking into the South Beach thing very closely; it seems to jive more with my ideas of *good* eating. I don't need to lose a lot (maybe 15-20 lbs tops) so perhaps I'll give that a go. :)

[geniph]

29. I've gone from 134 pounds to 118 on South Beach

with VERY little effort. Now, it helps that my husband is the cook, and he's the one that has 80 pounds to lose, but still, I found South Beach quite easy to stay with.

The first two weeks are a bit hard, and you will discover if you have a sugar addiction. I did, which surprised the hell out of me, as I'm not much of a sweets binger. I guess cutting out a couple of cookies and a glass or two of wine a day was enough to actually give me sugar withdrawal (you can have wine again after Phase I, but if you have cookies, they have to be free of trans fats and processed sugars). The best thing you can do if you're headachy and otherwise suffering withdrawal symptoms on South Beach is to have a glass of V8 juice; gives you a fairly quick and healthy pick-me-up. You can have V8 juice even in the first two weeks.

You can skip the extremely strict Phase I if you like, but it is helpful in eliminating any food cravings and in changing bad habits. It also provides the fastest weight loss, and it isn't water weight - it really does come off the tummy.

One of the nice things about South Beach is that it can adapt fairly well to a vegetarian or semi-vegetarian diet. I don't eat any red meat, so Atkins is a tougher sell for me. If you eat fish and shellfish, South Beach is easy. If you're a vegan, it's tougher, but still possible, as beans, lentils, and the like are all permissible in Phase I.

[JohnLocke]

24. Like all diets, it'll have its adherents until science finds better ways.

[amazona]

25. it's a cyclical fad

As far as Dr. Atkins, he enjoyed quite a following in the 1970s, when writing a best-selling diet book and making a million dollars was real money, so don't feel too badly for him. The whole low-carb thing is one of the fads that cycle in and out, and he actually got to enjoy it in his prime, make tons of money, then die at a point in his life when he could once again see it on the upswing and feel justified for the years of neglect while high-carb diets had their day. I don't believe things could have realistically worked out much better for him, although it's a shame that he had to fall and die at a peak, I guess it's better than going out on a low moment?

Me, I look at around at what Nature intends for us to eat, and it is HARD to get your hands on enough protein/fat in a wild diet -- it would be mostly grains, veggies, fruits, you know, carbs that didn't run away -- so I don't believe in Atkins or the Zone or any of them but they seem to work well for some people for whatever reason.

[Touchdown]

28. You can't eat grains off the stalk.

Grains have to be ground, mixed, yeasted, leavened, boiled and baked for you to consume them. That's processing. Corn and potatoes can be eaten without cooking, but they are not easy, as they are hard to swallow. Even boiling is considered "processing".

[sniffa]

31. it'LL be repLaced by the thomas hamiLL diet