As the ultrafashionable, highprotein, low-carbohydrate diet means, Atkins is now becoming an argument on health issue. Inspired by short-time weight-loss, a lot of women tend to follow Atkins rules. Many people incorrectly believe that the Atkins Diet promotes eating unlimited amounts of fatty meats and cheeses, and that is a real cause of unsafe diet lifestyle.
4 Phases of Atkins:
Induction
The Induction phase is the first, and most restrictive, phase of the Atkins Nutritional Approach. Carbohydrate intake is limited to 20 net grams per day. The allowed foods include a liberal amount of most meats, hard or soft cheeses heavy cream, salad vegetables, or other low glycemic low carb vegetables.
The Induction Phase is usually when many see the most significant weight loss – reports of losses up to six or eight pounds (3 or 4 kg) per week are not uncommon.
Ongoing weight loss
The Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) phase of Atkins consists of an increase in carbohydrate intake, but remaining at levels where weight loss occurs. The target daily carbohydrate intake increases each week by 5 net grams. A goal in OWL is to find the “Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing” and to learn in a controlled manner how food groups in increasing glycemic levels and foods within that group affect your craving control. The OWL phase lasts until weight is within 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of the target weight. At first weeks you should add more of the induction acceptable vegetables to your daily products. The next week you should follow the carbohydrate ladder Dr Atkins created for this phase and add fresh dairy. The ladder has 9 rungs including Induction acceptable vegetables, fresh dairy, nuts, berries, alcohol, legumes, fruits, starchy vegetables, and grains.
Pre-maintenance
Carbohydrate intake is increased again this time by 10 net carbs a week from the ladder groupings, and the key goal in this phase is to find the “Critical Carbohydrate Level for Maintenance”, this is the maximum number of carbohydrates you can eat each day without gaining weight. This may well be above the level of carbohydrates inducing ketosis on a testing stix. So it is not necessary to maintain positive stix testing ketosis forever.
Lifetime maintenance
This phase is intended to carry on the habits acquired in the previous phases, and avoid the common end-of-diet mindset that can return people to their previous habits and previous weight. Whole, unprocessed food choices are emphasized, with the option to drop back to an earlier phase if you begin to gain weight.
Criticism
Atkins diet may increase risk of kidney stone
Dr Bill Robertson of University College Medical School in London claimed that Eating large quantities of meat, as extolled by the Atkins diet, is dangerous for two reasons, high levels of animal protein substantially increase the amount of chemicals that form kidney stones, such as calcium in the urine. Eating large amounts of certain vegetables, such as spinach, can enhance that effect because of the amount of the kidney stone-forming chemical oxalate that they contain.
Acidity from the typically high protein intake can cause Osteoporosis.
Opponents of the diet also point out that the initial weight loss upon starting the diet is a phenomenon common with most diets, and is due to reduction in stored glycogen and related water in muscles, not fat loss. They claim that no evidence has surfaced that any diet will cause weight loss unless it reduces food energy below the maintenance level, and reports have indicated that successful weight loss due to the Atkins diet may be the result of less food energy being consumed by the dieter, rather than the lack of carbohydrates.
Is Carbohydrates-based consumption a major factor of fat?
The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, a PETA-connected organization which is opposed to the Atkins diet, has noted that in East Asian countries such as Thailand or Japan, the average person’s diet consists of mainly carbohydrates such as rice and noodles, yet these groups have very low rates of obesity. The average Asian person is also thinner and slimmer than the average Westerner. This may contradict Atkins’ claim that high levels of carbohydrate consumption cause obesity.
Many people incorrectly believe that the Atkins Diet promotes eating unlimited amounts of fatty meats and cheeses. On the other hands, it can be regarded as a lifestyle which makes dieters control themselves and concern about nutrition in any kind of food. The best diet way is to consider the advantages and disadvantages of each plan and do it under doctor or nutritionist supervision.