Ummm...Atkins isn't a high protein diet if you follow it correctly; it's a high FAT diet. Only 25-30% of your daily calories should be coming from protein with 65-70% of your daily calories coming from fats and balance from carbs.
Your profile shows you haven't read Dr. Atkins' book. You might want to try it if you're going to critique it.

Taken from a recent news article :



References
1. Volek JS et al.: A Ketogenic Diet Favorably Affects Serum Biomarkers for Cardiovascular Disease in Normal-Weight Men. Journal of Nutrition, July 2002.

2. Brehm, BJ et al.: Effects of a Low Carbohydrate Diet on Body Weight and Cardiovascular Risk Factors, University of Cincinnati, Abstract presented at 85th Annual Meeting of the American Dietetic Association (ADA).

3. Westman, E, et. al.: Effect of 6-Month Adherence to a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet Program. American Journal of Medicine, July 2002.

4. Stern, L et al.: A Pilot Study Comparing a Low Carbohydrate and Low Fat Diet on Weight and Glycemic Control in Obese Diabetics. The Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA. Abstract presented at 62nd Scientific Sessions of the American Dietetic Association (ADA).

5. Foster, GD: Evaluation of the Atkins Diet a Randomized Controlled Trial, University of Pennsylvania. Publication pending.

6. Sondike S et al.: The ketogenic diet increases weight loss but not cardiovascular risk: A randomized controlled trial. J Adol Health, 26: 91, 2000

Nat

You're right. I have not read the book in its entirety. I should've prefaced my posting with 'In my opinion'. I trust opinions are allowed on this site?
Many people hold their eating plans very near and dear to them ~ like religion ~ and will defend it to the enth degree.
I apologize if I offended anyone. I thought posting in the Zone forum would be predominantly frequented by Zoners.

Thank you for the references.
In hindsight I should not have made the Atkins reference post. It is my (yes somewhat unknowledegeable) belief it is not a long term, healthy, balanced (nutritionally) way of eating. But that is only my opinion.
It is truly not my intent to discredit any woe or "convert" people to my woe. It is my belief the Zone can offer many healthful benefits beyond weight/fat loss.
I'm here to help those with questions about the Zone woe and to offer any Zone assistance I can.
Respectfully,

We are all trying to improve our health and either lose weight or keep our weight under control. Does it really matter how we are doing it as long as we feel good about it?

Everyone has their opinion about the WOE they have chosen. We could all go to bat for our favorite, but why bother. We all have the choice to choose how we live our lives and that includes what we eat.

We need to stop attacking each other and start learning from each other.

I, myself, have chosen the Zone over Atkins. I have read Atkins several times and have tried it in the past. For me the Zone just seemed like a better choice. I did lose weight on Atkins, but after a few months I started to not feel well. I tried adjusting it by choosing lower fat meats and not eating the egg yolks (not too hard since I don't like them anyway), but that didn't seem to help too much. I know of a few other people who have done Atkins, but were not able to continue on it for more than a year because of health problems.

Now, I am not saying that their health issues were related to Atkins because I don't know that.

For those of you on Atkins who are able to maintain your health...Hats off to you!

For those of you on the Zone...Hats off to you too.

Take care everyone!

It's perfectly fine to talk from your experience, such as "In my experience, such-and-such happened."

What we strive for is a balanced and sane point of view and always ask for references in this type of discussion that support any claims being made. In this way, we can keep the discussion at a "discussion" level and not get into any personal stuff. You may have noticed that the three people who came into the ketosis discussion - who also happen to be Mods/Mentors - are not Atkins followers, so probably have no vested interest in trumpeting Atkins or any plan as the Holy Grail, only in providing real facts on low-carbing. We drop by most, if not all of the forums regularly.



There are many reasons for choosing a certain plan. Many people are carb or food addicts. By eating in a certain way, it provides them with a feeling of sanity that they may have never felt. From there, they can tackle the larger issue of addiction. It would be a mistake to think that everyone is here for the sole purpose of losing weight. For certain people, it's a happily embraced side effect.



There were no attacks in the ketosis discussion. It was an exchange of information that hopefully assisted the people in this thread in learning as well as the many lurkers here who read the forums but never post.

Karen

And we're happy to have you here to offer your knoweldge and assistance. And who knows, you may learn a little about other LC plans as well.

Nat

Sorry Karen,

I didn't mean to offend!

Absolutely none taken!

Karen

I think the key is really finding out what works best for you.

After consulting my naturopath I've been put on a zone-type diet
to control my insulin levels which are pretty wacked out right now.
I previously followed Atkins and found that it really set me up to cheat and the back and forth between low-carb, high-carb is not doing me any good. A more balanced approch is where I am at now. I don't eat any wheat products, milk or any artificial/natural sugar (direct doctors orders). Instead I use complex non-wheat carbohydrates like brown rice, rice pasta, lentils and oats.

After some experiementation with the low-carb plans, you'll definatley find one that works for you.