The Atkins Diet

Angie Quinley

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It sounds too good to be true...a diet based on the idea of eating all the food we were brought up to think was taboo when it comes to weight loss.

But that's the basis for a the Atkins Diet....all protein...regardless of fat and basically no carbohydrates.

For almost 30 years it's been cause for debate since Dr. Atkins ideas focuses so heavily on protein-packed fatty food.....but at the same time it does seem to help people lose weight, at least for the short term.

Dr. Linda Stern with the Virginia Medical Center says, "What we found after six months, is that the subjects on the low carbohydrate diet lost more weight, on average 13 pounds compared to 4 pounds and additionally had certain parameters that improved."

For example, blood sugar levels in diabetics improved, bad cholesterol did not increase and triglyceride levels went down.

The long-term effects of the Atkins diet is the more controversial issue.

Diane Schrader is a registered dietician with Blessing Hospital, she says "It doesn't allow for milk, starches, whole grains....many of the national organizations do not support it based on its lack of various nutrients."

Over time, Atkins is a a nutritional problem considering it's based on the premise of putting your body in a state of ketosis to lose weight.

Diane Schrader went on to say, "Ketosis is when your body burns fat, it's what an uncontrolled diabetic person will go through because their body isn't able to utilize carbohydrates, glucose for energy."

Exercise isn't heavily emphasized with Atkins either and as with many popular diets, a national study showed less than one percent of those who chose Atkins were able to maintain their weight loss once they went off of the program.