Does anyone know if the Atkins Diet really work? I noticed both Subway and Mcdaonald's are using this as a selling point. At Subway, it's in a wrap with the usual fixings (sold as low carb). At McDonald's it's a burger without the bun! :shock: (sold as high protein). When you have low carb, it has to be high protein or high fat no? hahahaha

I guess in marketing, perception is sometimes more important than reality.

Um....i guess it depends who you talk to. There are some people who seems to think it works. However there are also many people including the healthcare professionals who think it is not a healthy diet and is not a long-term life-changing solution. i always eat a high-carb diet as i dislike meat and i do not have any weight issue

Thanks for the reply. I am not a nutritionist but I also think a low carbohydrate diet in the long term can't be good for you. Don't we need some carbohydrate to burn fat?

Hi, yes it can work with a few modifications.

- get your carbs from fruits and veggies. it is not necessary or good
to cut out all or too many carbs.

fruits and veggies represent good healthier carbs and supply
phytonutrients your body needs.

eating a bunch of carbs from white flour, white rice, white bread,
potatoes and other grains will not do your pancreas and liver any
favors as these are high glycemic foods which will lead to obesity,
heart disease and diabetes. so eat these in moderation.


protein is important and its even more important to get the right
sources of protein. no one will lose weight and get healthy by
eating sausages and other bad fatty meats

- get your protein from from quality sources like soy and organic
grass fed beef and organic chickens, wild salmon, organic eggs

the only thing wrong with meat is the way it is raised. if the cattle
are fed a bunch of grains, anti-biotics and hormones, this is not going to be good for the cattle and it certainly is no good for
you to eat it.

-get the right fats - omega 3 fats which your body needs

wild salmon, eggs, nuts like almonds,cashews,brazilian,hazelnuts
walnuts and pecans are some examples of food which supply the
good omega 3 fats.

Lee Cummigns

Hey Lee,

I see that you are a nutritionist. Can I ask for your advice on wild salmon versus farmed salmon? There has been talk on the news lately that one type is better than the other. I can buy farmed salmon at a much lower price than wild salmon. Nutritionally and realistically, what do you think feasible and which do you prefer and why?

Thanks in advance Lee!

Dear Bowmah, we've recently received numerous inquires about farmed salmon. I'm happy to let you know that we've just completed a review article and will be up on the website in less than 2 days. Will email you directly once it's up.

Regards,

I agree with Lee. I have been low carbing for 18 months and been at maintaince since May 18th of last year. Lee has given you some good idea's of what low carb really is. All this hype about low carb products is just that, hype. I don't eat any of that stuff. I eat lean, lean meats, eggs, lots of dark green leafy greens and vegi's. I eat some, not all fruits, mostly berries and melons. I also eat sprouted grains now that I'm at maintaince. I don't eat any of the processed foods out there now. Most of them have hidden carbs and thats why many are not losing weight on the low carb way of eating. If you follow the plan, stay away from sugar, white flour, rice and potatoes you will lose weight.

Hi Julie,

Thanks for the good tips! It's just way too hard to stay away from pasta and potatoes! hehe

Hi out there. I'm not sure about my faith in the Atkin's Diet. High protein and low carb diets were all the rage back in the 60's but faded out. The best bet is always a sensible diet with portion control and exercise. Extremes are never good in dieting, at least for a long term solution. It seems McDonald's and Subway are just using the Atkin's popularity to sell more. That is just my opinion, but a dietitian newsletter I belong to recently discussed this and it was very interesting. Here is the link:

http://www.megrd.com/Newsletter/may.html

I hope that helps...

Brandy

Thank You Brandy - that is an EXCELLENT article! I've also written an article about low carb diets a few months ago. Here is the link:
http://www.healthcastle.com/nutrition-weig...carbdiets.shtml

Talk to all of you later,

I'm sorry you all don't agree with me. What's wrong with eating lean meats, vegi's, dark greens, someberries and melons. I also eat some whole grain bread. I feel it's a whole lot better than eating junk food and being overweight and yo yo ing.

Hey Jewels,

I don't think anyone is disagreeing with your choice of foods. Regardless if you call it the Atkins Diet or not, the foods you listed are definitely healthy in my opinion.

Hey anyone else notice I have TWO smilies under my name! Cool!!! 8)

I really have never done so called Atkins but have just cut out white flour, sugar, pasta and rice. I do eat lc yogurt too. I feel it's quite healthy for me. Low carb has gotten a bad wrap but it's probably all the processed junk out there right now. Of course many on the lc bandwagon still don't eat good, way too many bad fats. JMHO
Julie

the atkins diet certainly leads to fast weight loss,however there are other health issues here. with the fat intake increased there are potential problems with high ldl/low hdl amounts.cardiac vulnerable people should be forewarned.
there are also hydration/electrolyte imbalances in people on the diet for more than a year.the ldl fraction seems to level off at the 1 year point...so the jury is still out on the overall safety of this diet.

Being on a lc woe has improved my lipid profile.
2003
Chol. 196
HDL 50
Ratio 3.0
Trigl. 141

2004
Chol. 220
HDL 83
ratio 2.8
Trigl. 61
LDL 134

Now my Dr. is happy about my ratio going way down. It wasn't too bad before but my HLD, the good one, went way up. I asked him about my LDL and he said not to worry about it as the ratio was excellent.

gee..brandy's link really wakes me up! that really help me up. anyway, i think it depends on how the person takes their food. like jewel, it seems like what she's taking is not 100% incorrect. it's a good diet too.. nah.. i don't what to say, but in my experience of this low carbs high protein diet, i didn't manage to maintain my weight. i did lost 10kg in a month but after that, i did not loose anymore weight. and now, i need to strictly control my carbs cause if not, i'll put on weight in such a sudden! need to do some changes with my diet i guess..

Good luck with the diet change Dafnia.

thank you.. well.. i have another 'wink smiley' under my nick! it's cute! :wink:

Thanks for sharing Jewel and Congrats!

I dont believe that atkins is a good diet at all, but it does make people aware of how their food ratios should go. Most folks dont understand how food affects them, and the atkins craze will at least get some of the ostriches to pull their heads out. I have overviewed many of the new "fad" diets and I dont find any specific one appealing. I only take a little of the knowledge from each and adjust it so that it is a more healthy diet. That is how I came up with the diet I am currently on. I emphasize high protien/low fat, very high fiber, and portion control. I dont eat many carbs at all, I limit them to high fiber carbs and vegetables, and fruit juices. I only eat meats and beans that are low in fat, and have a high protien content. I consider these "free" foods that can be eaten in higher amounts (meats I am refering to are fish and fat free poultry). I also take a mutivitamin to make up for anything I may have missed for vitamins and minerals. I dont add salt to anything, and I eat low sodium foods anyway (I truthfully cannot stand the taste of salt). I eat as a minimum 12-20g of fiber daily through oatmeal and cereals that are low calorie. I try to find foods with more soluable fiber if I can. Fruit juices are another part of my diet, but I am very careful with them. They need to be controlled portions. If you compare a soda with a glass of OJ that is the same size, you are actually drinking almost double the calories of the soda when you drink the OJ. That is why there is a serving size on the container. I do not eat carbs such as pastas and starchy foods. I drink a lot of water and I exercise everyday. I have found that with strict portion control and food ratio awareness, I have been quite successful. I have lost 18lbs in a matter of 2 months and have lost about 5 inches from my waist. I am still losing 1-2 lbs every week.
As a final note, I will say that there are too many people who are looking for a magic diet that will allow them to eat what they want and still lose weight. People need to realize that any goal causes sacrifice, and they must find what is the most important to them to make the right choice.