Few Mourn Death Of The Atkins Diet

A collective sigh of relief swept across the world when the Atkins Diet fad dissipated. Many people who were on the low-carbohydrate diet returned to bakery shops, welcomed back pasta and did not feel guilty about eating a piece of fruit. Meanwhile, friends and family of the former Atkins dieters did not have to put up with their bad breath and body odors. (One of the side effects of Atkins is ketosis, which creates a foul odor.) Atkins is still one of most well known low-carbohydrate diets. Dr. Robert Atkins, who died in 2003 at the age of 73, started the diet for himself and his patients. In 1972 his book, Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution, hit the bookshelves. Later, he revised the book.

The Atkins Diet has four phases. The first phase is called Atkins Induction. During the first two weeks of the Atkins diet, dieters get their bodies into ketosis where they supposedly burn fat instead of carbohydrates and stabilize blood sugar, which stops sugar cravings.

Many of the side effects of phase one are nasty: headaches, fatigue, nausea, sore muscles atkins and constipation. During phase one the dieter is not allowed more than 20 grams of carbohydrates a day.

If you see Atkins diet products on the shelves, you may have noticed something called "net carbs." Atkins differentiates between digestible carbs and fiber carbs. Dieters only need to count carbs that come from sources other than fiber since fiber has no effect on insulin levels.

After doing phase one of Atkins, dieters switch to phase two, which is ongoing weight loss. People stay on phase two until they have achieved their target weight loss. They raise their carbohydrate level to 40 grams a day.

During phase three, the pre-maintenance phase of Atkins, dieters can increase their daily carbohydrate count by 10 grams each week until their weight loss comes to a halt. If they begin to gain weight, they reduce their carbohydrate grams by 10.

Finally phase four of the Atkins diet is the maintenance diet for maintaining the target weight for life. Dieters have now found the amount of carbohydrates their bodies can tolerate without weigh gain.

The Atkins Diet fell from grace with a number of health organizations including the American Dietetic Association, the American Kidney Fund and the American Heart Association. They have all warned against the dangers of high-protein, low carbohydrate diets.

People on the Atkins Diet drastically cut back on the number of servings of vegetables, fruits, whole grains and other healthful carbohydrates. Their diets consist mostly of fatty, high-protein foods.

Most of the weight loss on the Atkins Diet is water weight. According to several research studies, average participants on low-carbohydrate diets lost weight during the first six months but then gained most of it back in the following six months.

Ironically, even though Atkins was a physician hoping to treat his overweight patients, most of his critics today are doctors. Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has a Web site, AtkinsDietAlert.org, to speak out about the dangerous effects of the Atkins Diet. They claim the Atkins Diet may lead to heart problems, high cholesterol, osteoporosis and kidney abnormalities.

Former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop also spoke out about the Atkins Diet, saying, "People need to wake up to the reality. It is unhealthy and can be dangerous."

In 2005, the company Atkins Nutritionals, which was founded by Atkins in 1989, filed for bankruptcy, ending what many people say was a deadly diet craze.

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