Atkins on the Go
Jul 4th, 2003, 08:41 PM
#21
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My two Atkins travel solutions are already listed above. Baked chicken and salad bars at grocery stores and buffet restaurants like Golden Corral and Old Country. Otherwise, quality sit down restaurants are the best bets.
Jul 5th, 2003, 05:35 AM
#22
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There was a significant study -results just released- which showed that people who ate high amounts of saturated (animal) fats carried more fat around the abdomen and internal organs. That's proven to be more dangerous for your heart. Another reason to avoid Atkins.
Jul 5th, 2003, 07:24 AM
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The biggest knock against Atkins in medical and dietetics communities is that there is simply no long term data (20+ years) on the effects of a high fat low carb diet.
There have been many times when medical science has determined that long term effects are the opposite of short term effects.
Example: hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal women. This was standard practice for over 20 years until studies last year showed worsening of heart attack and stroke risks with very long term follow up.
Most people with in depth medical knowledge about physiology and long term health will tell you that anything which is extreme is probably unhealthy, whether it's extreme amounts of vitamins, sleep, oxygen, exercise, stress, carbs, protein, or fat. The body is a complex machine and the old adage "moderation in all things" seems to hold in almost all cases.
There have been many times when medical science has determined that long term effects are the opposite of short term effects.
Example: hormone replacement therapy in post-menopausal women. This was standard practice for over 20 years until studies last year showed worsening of heart attack and stroke risks with very long term follow up.
Most people with in depth medical knowledge about physiology and long term health will tell you that anything which is extreme is probably unhealthy, whether it's extreme amounts of vitamins, sleep, oxygen, exercise, stress, carbs, protein, or fat. The body is a complex machine and the old adage "moderation in all things" seems to hold in almost all cases.
Jul 5th, 2003, 09:17 AM
#25
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Most people I encounter who knock the Atkins diet, including the so-called experts and talking heads on TV news shows, simply don't understand the diet. The biggest misconception I usually see is that people think Atkins dieters are running around eating slabs of bacon for breakfast and porthouse steaks for dinner every night. Nothing could be further from the truth. Atkins encourages chicken, fish, pork, turkey, and, yes some red meat. Another big misconception is that the diet is NO carb, rather than LOW carb. No where does Atkins say to stop eating carbs completely. In fact, the whole plan is predicated on starting at 20g of carbs/day and increasing that gradually until you reach a daily amount that basically keeps your weight in check. That could be anywhere from 40g/day to 100g/day, depending on the individual. That allows you to take in some amount of breads and other products with some carbs.
What most people don't like is that the junk foods that are the staple of the American diet (fast food, chips & dips, cookies, etc.) are extremely high in carbs (calories and fat too) and people don't want to give them up.
It's true that there are no long-term studies of Atkins. However, I have heard of several people who were diabetic or near-diabetic and several who had very high blood pressure before trying Atkins. All of that went away after they were on the diet for a period of time. It's anecdotal evidence at best, but it is a plus. I'm sure others know people in similar situations who had similar results. I would also submit that the weight of evidence (no pun intended) comes down squarely against a low fat diet as contributing to weight loss. There are volumes of evidence that show Americans are more obese now than ever, most of that increasing volume coming during the low-fat hey day.
Finally, most people who stick to Atkins, as noted in other replies, rarely if ever feel hungry. Contrast that with a diet high in carbs where a few hours after a meal one is looking for more food. There are many things we don't know about how the body operates, but my view is that the body was NOT designed to be in a state of constantly craving more food. That is consistent with the Atkins diet, and again, represents another plus for the plan.
By the way, I am not an MD and have absolutely no affiliation with Atkins or any other low carb outfit or manufacturer. I can say that I have lost 26 lbs. since the start of the year on Atkins and have never felt better.
What most people don't like is that the junk foods that are the staple of the American diet (fast food, chips & dips, cookies, etc.) are extremely high in carbs (calories and fat too) and people don't want to give them up.
It's true that there are no long-term studies of Atkins. However, I have heard of several people who were diabetic or near-diabetic and several who had very high blood pressure before trying Atkins. All of that went away after they were on the diet for a period of time. It's anecdotal evidence at best, but it is a plus. I'm sure others know people in similar situations who had similar results. I would also submit that the weight of evidence (no pun intended) comes down squarely against a low fat diet as contributing to weight loss. There are volumes of evidence that show Americans are more obese now than ever, most of that increasing volume coming during the low-fat hey day.
Finally, most people who stick to Atkins, as noted in other replies, rarely if ever feel hungry. Contrast that with a diet high in carbs where a few hours after a meal one is looking for more food. There are many things we don't know about how the body operates, but my view is that the body was NOT designed to be in a state of constantly craving more food. That is consistent with the Atkins diet, and again, represents another plus for the plan.
By the way, I am not an MD and have absolutely no affiliation with Atkins or any other low carb outfit or manufacturer. I can say that I have lost 26 lbs. since the start of the year on Atkins and have never felt better.
Jul 5th, 2003, 10:43 AM
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My husband recently had a bout of severe dizziness so we were sent to a cardiologist and a neurologist for tests. (We were doing low fat dieting at the time, not Atkins).
Both doctors were ON the Atkins diet!!
Both doctors were ON the Atkins diet!!
Jul 5th, 2003, 04:27 PM
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People's blood pressure/cholesterol comes down on the Atkins diet because they are losing weight. Once they gain the weight back (most do) their blood pressure/cholesterol goes through the roof. Atkins is not a healthy diet to follow and people get excited about the short term resuults.
50% of dieters will gain their weight back in 6mos. 80% will gain their weight back in 2 years. 99% will gain their weight back in 4 to 5 years. Think of it another way. How many people do you know that have used Atkins are still maintaining their weight after several years?
A doctor who is on the Atkins diet is not the sharpest tool in the shed. I would doubt seeing an overweight doctor in the first place. If they don't know the basics about staying healthy why would you trust their diet suggestions? And yes, my spouse is a physician.
A healthy balanced diet with exercise is the only way to properly lose weight and stay healthy but most people just don't want to work for it. Good luck to those trying to lose weight, I've been there and know what it's like.
50% of dieters will gain their weight back in 6mos. 80% will gain their weight back in 2 years. 99% will gain their weight back in 4 to 5 years. Think of it another way. How many people do you know that have used Atkins are still maintaining their weight after several years?
A doctor who is on the Atkins diet is not the sharpest tool in the shed. I would doubt seeing an overweight doctor in the first place. If they don't know the basics about staying healthy why would you trust their diet suggestions? And yes, my spouse is a physician.
A healthy balanced diet with exercise is the only way to properly lose weight and stay healthy but most people just don't want to work for it. Good luck to those trying to lose weight, I've been there and know what it's like.
Jul 5th, 2003, 05:43 PM
#29
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strings, I know a number of people who using Atkins have managed to keep the weight off. The statistics you site about people regaining the weight are applicable to ANY diet, not just Atkins, and they say nothing about how safe or how effective Atkins (or any other diet) is. What those statistics really show is that people have a difficult time sticking to eating healthy.
Jul 5th, 2003, 05:57 PM
#30
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Mileking, have those people kept the weight off > 5 years? I agree those statistis apply to any diet but again, when you go off the Atkins diet your blood pressure/ cholesterol go through the roof. It is not a healthy diet. I too am one of the 1% and the way I did it was by following a balanced diet and exercise. Atkins is a "fad diet". It made one man rich by teaching the entire society bad eating habits. He also had a heart attack and probably suffered a stroke at the time of his death. A mediterranian diet is a much better choice for longevity. But, one can take the risk and see for himself. Many of my spouses patients are on the Atkins diet and lose weight but have the same results as mentioned above. I wish anyone the best of luck when trying to lose weight.
Jul 6th, 2003, 07:50 AM
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This doctor was a top notch neurologist and not overweight--he just wanted to lose a few pounds.
He had his mother on the diet also and she had a history of high cholesterol and blood pressure. Both had improved.
He had his mother on the diet also and she had a history of high cholesterol and blood pressure. Both had improved.
Jul 6th, 2003, 12:24 PM
#32
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Connie, no one is arguing about the Atkins diet's capacity to induce short term weight loss.
I think the bigger questions which are being asked relate to whether it works over many years (can people live with such a diet) and is it SAFE long term.
I think the bigger questions which are being asked relate to whether it works over many years (can people live with such a diet) and is it SAFE long term.
Jul 6th, 2003, 01:17 PM
#33
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The key is to making it a way of life.
Many people make the mistake of looking at the first phase of the program and thinking that is the way it is forever. It actually only lasts a very short time and then you gradually add more carbs and lower the protein to a more balanced proportion.
Except for sugar, there really isn't anything you can't eat--in moderation-- which is the way everyone should eat certain things.
This diet is basically what diabetics have to follow and they certainly do it for life.
For me, I don't have the energy and emotional highs and lows that I used to have. That makes me want to stay with it.
Many people make the mistake of looking at the first phase of the program and thinking that is the way it is forever. It actually only lasts a very short time and then you gradually add more carbs and lower the protein to a more balanced proportion.
Except for sugar, there really isn't anything you can't eat--in moderation-- which is the way everyone should eat certain things.
This diet is basically what diabetics have to follow and they certainly do it for life.
For me, I don't have the energy and emotional highs and lows that I used to have. That makes me want to stay with it.
Jul 6th, 2003, 01:19 PM
#34
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What's funny is as an old home ec teacher who has studied nutrition, I was soooooo resistant but we had relatives that had lost a lot of weight and kept it off for a long time and my husband kept asking to try it. So, I took the time to read the newest book and I was sold.
Jul 6th, 2003, 02:08 PM
#35
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If you're really interested in this sort of diet, you can expand beyond Atkins and the other medics and into the field of anthropology, where we find that humans evolved eating game, fruits, and veggies, hardly any sugars, and very little grain, and then only when it was in season.
With the advent of agriculture, grain storage, and cities, health and growth patterns faltered. Since people never had access to regular unlimited amounts of hi-carb foods until 6,000 years ago, which is the blink of an eye in evolutionary terms, it's no wonder that hi-carb diets pack on the pounds, induce diabetes or insulin resistance, etc. People were just not built to eat all those carbs!
White flour, the foundation of 90 percent of bread, baked goods, pasta, etc., is basically empty calories; most of the vitamins on that nutrient label are added artificially. It's cheap, versatile, and it keeps well, but nutritious it's not.
There's an entire movement and body of anthropological and medical research around Paleolithic diets, which seems to be the way we were meant to eat
With the advent of agriculture, grain storage, and cities, health and growth patterns faltered. Since people never had access to regular unlimited amounts of hi-carb foods until 6,000 years ago, which is the blink of an eye in evolutionary terms, it's no wonder that hi-carb diets pack on the pounds, induce diabetes or insulin resistance, etc. People were just not built to eat all those carbs!
White flour, the foundation of 90 percent of bread, baked goods, pasta, etc., is basically empty calories; most of the vitamins on that nutrient label are added artificially. It's cheap, versatile, and it keeps well, but nutritious it's not.
There's an entire movement and body of anthropological and medical research around Paleolithic diets, which seems to be the way we were meant to eat
Jul 6th, 2003, 05:19 PM
#36
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1. Curiously enough, there's an article on diets in the current issue of Consumer Digest. It states that Atkins diet should be "avoided by those with kidney problems and those worried about CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE".
What's the #1 cause of death in the US?
(Hint: it's cardiovascular disease).
I'm only reporting their conclusions.
2. For Anonymous: Your statements not only don't stand up to reason, they're just plain false, and easily proven so.
For one, you stated that "...with the advent of cities...health and growth patterns faltered".
Huh?
You must be kidding.
People are a foot taller today than they were 250 years ago. They live 20 years longer on average. Infant mortality is a fraction of what it was.
And your reasoning about the diet of "primitive man" makes no sense whatsoever.
You want to live more like "primitive man"? Well, he likely had no teeth by the age of 30, and seldom lived beyond 35.
The disease profiles of primitive man were not even remotely like those of today because humans didn't live as long. Cancer was an extremely rare disease 2000 years ago. Because people ate better? No. Because people didn't usually live long enough to get it.
In the US <1% of cancers occur in the pediatric population. It is a disease which becomes more common with advancing age.
You can eat the perfect diet and stay the perfect weight and do everything else 'perfectly', and you're still going to die of something.
But the nature of the morbidities humans suffer changes with technology. 200 years ago women frequently died during childbirth, kids often died of simple infections, cancer was uncommon, occupational death was commonplace, etc.
Somewhere you read something from someone trying to sell you something. They must have succeeded. But somewhere along the line someone got mixed about the facts.
Jul 7th, 2003, 09:07 AM
#37
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From the sounds of it, those who are objecting to Atkins in these posts must have had their heads in the sand for at least the past year or so. There have been several studies with their results released and discussed even on the nightly national newscasts that prove Atkins is a good thing. Even the American Heart Association had to admit it's diet couldn't hold a candle to Atkins - ALL the stats from the Atkins group were better than the Heart Assoc group. Other studies just like that one came back with the same results.
Dr. Atkins didn't call his plan a "diet" but said - and explained why - it has to be a lifestyle change. If you follow the plan, and change your lifestyle accordingly, you will not gain the weight back. If you treat Atkins like a diet - just like with ANY diet - and go back to eating everything in sight or junk foods once you reach your goal weight of course you'll gain it all back and then some. Duh. But if you follow the plan from Induction to On-going weight loss to pre-maintenance and then to Lifetime maintenance you get to add in more foods, more carbs and the weight doesn't come back.
Oh, and for the poster who said Dr. Atkins had a heart attack - he did, but it wasn't in any way related to his eating plan - there are other factors that cause heart attacks. Also, he died because he slipped on an icy walkway and hit his head and never regained consciousness - he did not have a stroke.
Personally, I've battled keeping those extra pounds off all of my adult life. I've tried Weight Watchers, low-fat diets, etc. but until Atkins nothing worked, and nothing kept me satisfied and not feeling hungry or deprived all the time. Since January I've lost over 30 pounds and feel better than I have in years. My doctor did blood work on me after I'd been on Atkins for awhile and he was practically jumping up & down when he read the results. ALL of my stats were EXCELLENT - he said there was not one thing that needed to improve. My cholesterol went from 179 to 162, I have also been able to get off the high blood pressure medicatuon since my blood pressure is now well within the normal range. I intend to make Atkins my way of eating from now on.
Dr. Atkins didn't call his plan a "diet" but said - and explained why - it has to be a lifestyle change. If you follow the plan, and change your lifestyle accordingly, you will not gain the weight back. If you treat Atkins like a diet - just like with ANY diet - and go back to eating everything in sight or junk foods once you reach your goal weight of course you'll gain it all back and then some. Duh. But if you follow the plan from Induction to On-going weight loss to pre-maintenance and then to Lifetime maintenance you get to add in more foods, more carbs and the weight doesn't come back.
Oh, and for the poster who said Dr. Atkins had a heart attack - he did, but it wasn't in any way related to his eating plan - there are other factors that cause heart attacks. Also, he died because he slipped on an icy walkway and hit his head and never regained consciousness - he did not have a stroke.
Personally, I've battled keeping those extra pounds off all of my adult life. I've tried Weight Watchers, low-fat diets, etc. but until Atkins nothing worked, and nothing kept me satisfied and not feeling hungry or deprived all the time. Since January I've lost over 30 pounds and feel better than I have in years. My doctor did blood work on me after I'd been on Atkins for awhile and he was practically jumping up & down when he read the results. ALL of my stats were EXCELLENT - he said there was not one thing that needed to improve. My cholesterol went from 179 to 162, I have also been able to get off the high blood pressure medicatuon since my blood pressure is now well within the normal range. I intend to make Atkins my way of eating from now on.
Jul 7th, 2003, 09:18 AM
#38
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gplimpton,
Yes, you are right that the #1 cause of death in America is cardiovascular disease, howver it has been shown that the Atkins diet results in decreased total cholesterol and triglyceride levels and increased HDL (hih desity lipoprotien) or so-called good cholesterol levels. Therefore Atkins is the poerfect diest for those who are concerned about maintaining cardiovascular health.
Yes, you are right that the #1 cause of death in America is cardiovascular disease, howver it has been shown that the Atkins diet results in decreased total cholesterol and triglyceride levels and increased HDL (hih desity lipoprotien) or so-called good cholesterol levels. Therefore Atkins is the poerfect diest for those who are concerned about maintaining cardiovascular health.
Jul 7th, 2003, 09:53 AM
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To bashful and Elkin:
You have no data to back up the argument that Atkins is a healthy long term diet plan, because there is no such data.
Now that doesn't mean Atkins IS unhealthy, but until data becomes available you simply can't make statements like "Atkins is the perfect diet for maintaining...health".
At least not if you want to stick to facts instead of hopes.
Bashful's statement "Oh, and for the poster who said Dr. Atkins had a heart attack - he did, but it wasn't in any way related to his eating plan", makes no sense. How can you know anything about the status of Atkins' coronary arteries? That info has not been released, and if he DID have significant coronary artery disease, do you think he'd let that info become public? No way.
(BTW, I'm not against the Atkins diet per se. I am FOR scrutiny and evidence-based decision making when it comes to health care issues).
For anyone interested in a review of data about diets, Atkins in particular, which is not selling anything, here's a link: http://www.reason.com/0303/fe.mf.big.shtml
You have no data to back up the argument that Atkins is a healthy long term diet plan, because there is no such data.
Now that doesn't mean Atkins IS unhealthy, but until data becomes available you simply can't make statements like "Atkins is the perfect diet for maintaining...health".
At least not if you want to stick to facts instead of hopes.
Bashful's statement "Oh, and for the poster who said Dr. Atkins had a heart attack - he did, but it wasn't in any way related to his eating plan", makes no sense. How can you know anything about the status of Atkins' coronary arteries? That info has not been released, and if he DID have significant coronary artery disease, do you think he'd let that info become public? No way.
(BTW, I'm not against the Atkins diet per se. I am FOR scrutiny and evidence-based decision making when it comes to health care issues).
For anyone interested in a review of data about diets, Atkins in particular, which is not selling anything, here's a link: http://www.reason.com/0303/fe.mf.big.shtml
