I've been reading other low carb books like the Zone etc and feel a bit discouraged because they all say that being in ketosis is bad for you because you burn up muscle and make partly broken down ketone bodies. I must say, I'm more muscelly now than I was but worry that what they say may have some bearing on my health. I don't want to eat more carbs because this way, I'm losing a pound every 7 to 10 days. They all seem to agree that saturated fats are bad for you. What does it all mean!

Hi Maren,

I'm not an expert, I can only tell you this: I feel so good on this WOE that I don't believe it's bad for me. My body should be shouting loud if I was mistreating it (like I did on carbojunk diet all my life).
I'm sure our experts will explain this better.
Don't worry!
Cheers!
Alina

Dear Maren,

If you eat enough protein you will not burn up muscle. If you're still worried do some exercise - you can actually build muscle.

Yes you do produce make partly broken down ketone bodies. This is how the plan works - but these are excreted by the kidneys and in your sweat and (unfortunatly) maybe your breath. Just be sure to drink plenty of water and all these unburned ketones will be flushed out.

I've been on Atkins for nearly 2 years. I've lost about 40lbs and generally I've never felt so good in my life.

Robert

P.S. I think a mixture of fats is good for you. I have fish oils, olive oil and the fat on meat daily.

Maren,

I have heard this also, but I look at it this way in may case at least, I have an awful lot of fat to burn through before I need to worry about burning mussel.

In the past I use to diet by trying to eat at all, or bearly anything when i did (as you can tell it didn't work). I think this way is a whole lot healthier. And I get to eat

Dr. A explains this in his book, which I don't have in front of me, but its something along the lines of....your body is burning something for fuel...if its burning carbs, you are in glucosis, which means the fat is being stored and not used for energy. If you are not in glucosis, you are in ketosis, which is your body using stored fat for fuel. You are in one or the other (unless of course you had alcohol and it burns that off first...lol)...SOOO...as the good doctor says...how can it be unhealthy for someone who is overweight to burn their stored fat as fuel????

This is oversimplified, but I'm sure someone who is better at explaining things will post and do a better job...lol. Of course you also have to take into consideration that some of these diets aren't that terribly different from Atkins and they have to have something a little different in order to make their diet "the one". I'm suprised the Zone says that...they limit carbs, too, I thought.


L (who can't believe people think Atkins is unsafe, but starving yourself is fine...lol)

I agree with everyone who has posted, plus Atkins pulls you OUT of ketosis in premaintenance. He is assuming that your goal weight is a healthy weight and that you no longer need to burn fat. You are leaving ketosis as you have burned off most of your extra fat and before muscle starts to get burned off-at least that is the way I understand it. Of course, you would have problems if you a) choose too low a body weight goal (or bf% goal) and b) don't go through all the stages of Atkins.

I downloaded a body fat percentage spreadsheet program that uses several measurements to calculate bf% and lean muscle %. I have noticed that both my bf has gone down and my lean muscle has gone up. Doesn't look to me that I have lost muscle-looks like I have gained muscle.

Maybe my memory is failing me, but in my college nutrition class I was taught that your body looks for energy in the following order
-carbohydrates
-fat
-protein

It moves on to the next source after the first is depleted.

An aerobics instructor I had years ago used to say the same thing. She would also say that you had to exercise past the 20 minute mark to go from burning carbs to burning your fat stores.

I would venture to guess that if you were burning muscle, your body has some other health problem, or you are too skinny to supply your own body's energy needs. I agree that a diet that includes a good supply of protein as well as lots of veggies would not pose the "muscle burning problem."

Maybe some extremists on the Atkins plan who go for long periods of time eating no more than 15g of carbs a day (before subtracting fiber) are at a risk. But that's probably because they end up with other nutritional deficiencies as well.

I don't think we can single out one component of diet and nutrition and point a finger to it as a single, solitary cause of health problems. The body needs such a diversity of foods to help it function properly. Even on Atkins, as you decreased your carb intake, you increased your protein and veggie intake. I'm eatiing more fresh veggies each day than I have in a long, long time.


So go ahead! Eat that protein! Burn that fat! Listen to your body!

Do we really need a study on looking both ways before crossing the street to know it's dangerous not too!? Then why do we have to have years of research to know that this WOE is right for us? Besides, years of research say that a high carb, low fat diet is the way to go, and look at the fat people dropping dead like flies.

Amy Mc

The answers to many of your questions can be found in Hot Links in the Newbie's Questions section. Look for the links to ketosis questions, eating fat, and It's a Way of Life.


Beth