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Atkins

Atkins is a Famous Diet

The Atkins Diet was created by Dr. Robert Atkins and written about in his book about a “new diet revolution’ in 1972. Dr. Atkins is no longer alive, but today his diet has become a phenomenon and one of the most popular diet plans in the world. Now there are tons of products including meal replacement bars, pre-packaged foods, shakes and more bearing the Atkins logo.

Dr. Atkin’s diet is a high protein diet that severely restricts carbohydrates, and it even goes so far as to suggest few or no carbohydrates are even necessary for proper nutrition. When you begin the diet, you start with a phase known as Induction, where the amount of carbohydrates you eat is severely restricted, moreso than in any other part of the plan. In fact, 10 grams of carbohydrates or less per day is necessary during the first part of the Adkins Diet plan.

The fat intake during these first days is very high, though, as it tends to be the entire time you’re on the plan. This is one of chief criticisms of the diet, from the medical community as well as other health experts. And many find the severe carbohydrate restrictions are too much. Even during the regular part of the plan, you can forget eating things like pasta, rice or bread or anything sweetened with real sugar.

You can still have desserts and even some “baked” goods, if you wish, but it’s necessary to use a lot of artificial sweeteners and baking mixes that use things other than white flour, like high protein soy flour, almond flour and other substances.

Most of the bad foods one must avoid while on the Atkins Diet are unfortunately foods we’re used to eating in everyday life, like breads, crackers, potatoes, pasta, rice and even vegetables. During Induction, to get less than 10 carbohydrates per day, even your vegetable intake must be restricted. This is because some vegetables like carrots and onions contain a few more carbs than veggies like broccoli or green beans. Fruit contains far too much sugar to be eaten during the restrictive portion of the program, and most of the time it’s not allowed during the regular plan either, depending on the type of fruit and the amount you eat, of course.

Good foods for the Atkin’s Diet include things like: meat, cream, whole milk, butter, bacon, sausage and other high fat, low and no carbohydrate foods. In fact, the diet has been advertised as allowing you to eat that bacon cheeseburger and breakfast of sausage and eggs so that you won’t feel deprived. Unfortunately, it’s easy to go overboard and eat too much saturated fat, something that most experts see as unhealthy, even though the diet does let you lose weight.

The theory behind the diet is that the lack of carbohydrates forces your body to burn fat for fuel, instead of the carbs you eat. You can lose weight on the Atkin’s diet if that kind of eating suits you, but you should try to focus on healthier fats than those that come from meat.