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The Atkins Diet: The rest of your life

Your dream body is possible ... with the Atkins diet
Click picture to enlarge

THIS week we have been bringing you everything you need to know about the slimming revolution of the decade – The Atkins Diet.

We showed how to introduce yourself to the weight loss plan that allows you to eat fat but cuts out starchy carbohydrates such as pasta, bread and spuds.

We then explained how to move on from the two-week Phase 1 to Phase 2, where you manage menus while still losing weight.

Then we told you about Phase 3 and slowing the process down as you reach your target weight.

Today SINEAD DESMOND and JANE BARNES give you the final part of the jigsaw – how to maintain your ideal weight for the rest of your life.

Below, two doctors give their opinions of the diet.

How you keep the weight off


FOLLOW these tips and the Atkins Diet could work for you ALL your life.

Keep an eye on what you are eating – remember that fresh meat, fish, poultry, vegetables, nuts, seeds and occasional fruits and starches are the foods nature intended you to eat.

The refined carbohydrate stuff you buy in the supermarket puts money in somebody else’s pocket and unwanted pounds on your body.

Watch out for sugar and white flour. Look at the labels of any packaged food you are considering buying and steer clear of those that contain sugar, syrup and honey.

Read labels for the carbohydrate content of foods.

Try new foods and fill your diet with the things you want to eat. That way you can avoid going back to foods you have enjoyed in the past but which are not good for you.

Develop a menu that is appealing, tasty and satisfying. Once you are happy with eating healthy foods, your future is almost bound to be more healthy.

Drink caffeine and alcohol in moderation only.

Remember that addictions to sweets, carbohydrates and junk food can be managed only through giving them up.

Stop your weight from creeping up again quickly by returning to the Induction and Ongoing Weight Loss phases for as long as it takes to get back to your goal weight.

Swear that you will never allow yourself to be more than 5lb and two weeks’ worth of Induction away from your goal weight.

Click here for Phase Four

Click here for Phase Three

Click here for Phase Two

Click here for Phase One


FOR Atkins Diet recipes and a carb counter log visit www.atkins.com


Don't do it

Says Sun GP Dr Carol Cooper
THE idea of cutting out carbohydrates has been around for ages, even before Atkins’ first book.

Years ago I read another diet based on the same principle.

I lost weight, mainly because I couldn’t stop laughing long enough to eat.

It is not a healthy diet.

Dr Atkins’ regime is loaded with saturated fat (as in meat, eggs and cheese) so can increase the risk of heart attacks and gallstones.

It is very short on fibre, too — no wonder followers get constipated.

And it can lead to dehydration, a vital point in hot weather.

Even in the short term, eating a lot of fat without carbohydrates leads to a potentially serious condition, ketosis — the body produces excess chemicals called ketones.

This makes your breath reek of nail varnish remover and can make you nauseated, dizzy and weak.

Atkins thought this was a good idea because nausea and vomiting might make you less hungry, but I doubt many other medics would agree with him.

Ketosis also occurs in starvation, so in this sense his diet is just a fancy way to starve yourself thin.

The emphasis on protein has got to be good, hasn’t it?

Well, actually, no.

Eating large amounts of protein raises levels of uric acid, a chemical that can trigger gout and cause kidney stones.

You would lose weight with Atkins, because overall your calorie intake drops.

But the method is far from ideal.

Perhaps my comments are unfair.

After all, Dr Atkins is no longer around for a head-to-head debate.

He had a heart attack in 2002 and died this year after a fall.

I aim to stay healthier than he did — so I’m off to enjoy my favourite pasta.

Do it

Says nutrition expert Dr John Briffa

THE belief many doctors hold that the diet is bad is not necessarily true.

Lower-carb diets can suit many people.

I broadly support them.

Many patients I see have been told to eat low-fat diets to help their ailments but their problems do not shift.

Here, low carb diets can be very effective.

I believe we should eat the diet we have evolved to eat — not what doctors tell us.

Too many carbohydrates in our diet can cause a range of problems, including insulin resistance syndrome.

Some types of carbohydrate release sugar into the bloodstream too quickly for the body to cope, including bread, pasta and potatoes.

The increase in blood sugar raises insulin which is produced to store fat in the body.

Sugar is then used to fuel the body instead of fat reserves.

So low-carb diets can be very effective for weight loss.

The idea that all fat is bad for you is not necessarily true.

Quality, not quantity, is important.

A low-carb lifestyle can be very effective, especially for men.

For women, losing weight can be more complex as there may be problems with hormones or the thyroid.

Even so, basing a diet on carbohydrates can cause problems.

We have only eaten large amounts of carbs for the past 10,000 years — a blink of an eye in evolutionary terms.

The Atkins diet can be too extreme, especially in the induction phase.

I wouldn’t advocate restricting vegetables.

Also, I would not suggest shop-bought sausages but would recommend organic meat and eggs.

A modified version of the Atkins diet may suit many and could help control their weight.

anne,they told lynda that she might be in on thursday.all that effort they went to and hardly showed any reader,s stories.crazy!

I was astonished to read Dr. Cooper's unethical tactic and responded accordingly:

talkback~the-sun.co.uk
letters~the-sun.co.uk

Regarding the recent column by Sun GP Dr. Carol Cooper, "Don't do it" from part 3 of your The Atkins Diet: The rest of your life:
She writes:
"Even in the short term, eating a lot of fat without carbohydrates leads to a potentially serious condition, ketosis — the body produces excess chemicals called ketones.
Atkins thought this was a good idea because nausea and vomiting might make you less hungry, but I doubt many other medics would agree with him."
This is an outrageously incorrect accusation Dr. Cooper makes! I challenge you and her to cite where Dr. Atkins espouses Ketosis because "Atkins thought this was a good idea because nausea and vomiting might make you less hungry".
There is absolutely no such reference available, because he never wrote nor said such a ridiculous thing. Dr. Cooper is playing a very unethical, distorting and downright dishonest behavior which I'd think the Sun would not approve of. If Dr. Cooper fails to cite a credible reference quoting Dr. Atkins having ever said / written that he wants his diet followers to lose weight through binge/purging bulimic practices (vomiting), I think you have to question Dr. Cooper's motives and professionalism.

Although readers of Dr. Atkins books know better than to believe such an outlandish claim, it's the Sun's responsibility not to so easily allow such misinformation to be printed for its readership.
Astonished,
(me)

The British potato and bread industries have recently announced a major advertising campaign to extol the virtues of eating their products. By the number of anti-Atkins newspaper reports currently being printed, it looks like a deliberate concerted effort to rubbish the good Doctors work.
The article in todays Daily Telegraph which says the Atkins Diet

"is a mass experiment into public health based on "pseudo science", a leading nutritionist said yesterday."

indicates that there is some real heavy handed PR work going on.

However, as I am now 20 lbs lighter, sleeping better and have a choresterol level down 20%, I think I'll just ignore them.

Finnz

Yes, I think I'll enjoy another slice of that pseudo science as I celebrate nearly 30 pounds gone, looking better than I have in the last decade and feeling better than I felt ten years ago!

I'll get off this diet when the weight is gone, and not one bloody second before. And even then I will never go back to eating sugary, starchy crap, and especially not wheat--thanks to LC I have discovered that I've got a sensitivity to it. So the carb pushers can just go cry in their beer.

How anyone can claim that we "need" potatoes and grains to be healthy, is completely beyond me.

Emily

For starters, this has been disproven by study after study. Second, the specific Saturated Fat in Beef (Stearic Acid) has been shown in studies to have little to no negative effect on Blood Cholesterol. On top of that, Beef fat [and most other meat-based fats] are about half Monounsaturated. Monounsaturated Fats have been shown in numerous studies to lower LDL (Bad Cholesterol) and raise HDL (Good Cholesterol). Beef [and other meats] raise HDL (Good Cholesterol) which protects you from Heart Disease. In addition, a diet low in grains tends to lower Triglycerides which is another indicator of heart disease. Commonly ignored is that Triglycerides soar when a person eats lots of Grains and Ployunsaturates [as they would on a LF/HC diet.] As for eggs, she needs to check her info...Eggs, are low in Saturated Fat and high in Unsaturates which improve your Cholesterol. Most LFers begrudgingly admit this, but qualify it with "but, 1 egg has your whole day's worth of Cholesterol." They seem ignorant of the fact, NOT ONE, not even a single study has ever shown a direct link between Dietary and Blood Cholesterol. Even LF advocates begrudgingly admit that they aren't "sure exactly how" Dietary Cholesterol effects Blood Cholesterol [if at all.]



WRONG !!! Pre-Atkins [when I ate 500g carbs/day,] I would go days w.o sitting down (shitting). Since going on Atkins, I go several times a day. I eat plenty of fiber [even on Atkins.] But, when I was LFing, the fiber didn't seem to help.



There are two approaches to LCing: A Ketogenic State or Reduced Calorie intake through Satiation. Atkins choses the Ketogenic State. Ketosis is a natural state. In fact, your body ONLY BURNS FAT WHEN IN KETOSIS. Your body has two main states: Glucosis (Carbs --> Glucose --> Fat/Energy) and Ketosis (Fat --> Ketones --> Energy) There is an intermediate state known as Glucogenesis (Protein --> Glucose --> Energy). When your body begins the switch from Carb to Fat Burning, it may enter Glucogensis. At this stage it will look for Protein in order to create Glucose (Carbs) [because it hasn't switched to Ketosis yet.] If you are not consuming adaquete protein, it will canabalize your lean muscles. A person properly following Atkins should go through Glucogenesis only once and have sufficient Dietary Protein to prevent muscle loss. But, a person of a LF/HC diet will go in and out of Ketosis [frequently,] and will go through Glucogenesis many times...Without adaquete Protein [and only a small caloric deficit] they will burn mostly muscle. The plain and simple is that in order to burn fat, YOU MUST BE IN KETOSIS. LFers will never admit it, but when they eat Low-Calorie, the body eventually runs out of carbs, and switches to Ketosis (FAT BURNING) and may pass through Glucogenesis (Protein --> Glucose), resulting in muscle loss. A person on a LF Diet will go in and out of Fat and Muscle Burning states frequently. A person on Atkins, should remain in a Fat Burning state. No bouncing in between Glucosis, Glucogensis, and Ketosis.



As opposed to Glucosis which makes you the size of a house ??? I know which I would chose.



BULLSHIT !!! Pre-Atkins I had constant heartburn. You know what I did to try to stop it ??? Drank Pepsi. I would drink a Pepsi every time I got heartburn. Eventually, 1/2 my daily carbs would come from Pepsi Colas, which I drank to try to stop the burning/nausea caused by eating too much starch. Since going on Atkins, I haven't had heartburn/nausea [except once when I ate some potatoes] and do not drink as much Diet Soda as I used to drink Pepsi, because I no longer have a fire in my throat.



She is partly correct. Ketosis (Fat Burning) occurs whenever your body runs out of carbs. This can occur by either eating plenty of Fat and Protein, but eating low-carb or when you eat so little food (Low-Calorie dieting) that you run out of carbs. They still don't get it...Ketosis is a natural state. You have to be in Ketosis to burn fat. You CANNOT lose fat without entering Ketosis. Atkins achieves Ketosis by cutting carbs. Low-Calorie diets achieve it by cutting everything (calories) and inducing starvation.



She forgot the second half of the sentence: "IN THOSE WITH EXISTING KIDNEY DISEASE." A healthy kidney/gallbladder has no problem handling extra protein. It is only when those organs have been left unused for years or damaged due to Diabetes [or other carb inuced condition,] that they are weakened to a point where protein can strain them.



Three years ago [when I started really piling the pounds back on,] I was eating exactly what was listed as "maintnance calories" for a person of my size [w. minimal physical activity.] By the time I started Atkins, my [average daily] caloric intake was 1,500 kcal/day below "maintnance calories" for my size [w. minimal physical activity,] yet I was still gaining, albeit at 1/3 the prior rate. My calories have since dropped, but [based on my change in size] are still 1,500 kcal/day below "maintnance calories." How is it that if calories are all that count, I gained 100 pounds in 3 years while in a "caloric deficit" ? But, that I lost 10 pounds/month with a similar "caloric deficit" ? The only difference was my levels of carbs and fat.



His "heart attack" was caused by an infection. His fall was caused by an icy sidewalk. Alot of people slip and die on icy sidewalks every year...It just isn't as well televised as more violent, less frequent causes of death (stray bullets, shark attack, lightning strike, etc...) Her insuitation [that Dr. Atkins was unhealthy] was uncalled for and blatantly wrong. Until he died, Dr. Atkins looked very good for his age.