Why Atkins Works - But Do You Know The Truth?

The reason why Atkins diet works is fairly simple. The Atkins diet simply limits your carbohydrate intake and so by default you lose weight...but it's not sustainable over the long haul and it carries health risks as outlined below.  There are a number of issues to consider before you move forward with the Atkins Diet.

What do carbohydrates do and why is Atkins so focused on them?

1.Carbohydrates make energy.

2.Carbs protect your muscles. When you need energy, your body looks for glucose (sugar) from carbs first.

3.If no sugar (glucose) is available because your on a carb restricted diet, your body  begins to pull energy out of fatty tissue. Your body's next move  is to burn its own protein tissue (muscle). If this use of protiens for energy continues long enough, you run out of fuel and die. 

4. A diet that provides adequate amount of carbs keeps your body from eating its own muscles. 

5. Carbs also regulate the amount of sugar in your blood so that all your cells get the energy they need.

6.Carbs provide nutrients for the friendly bacteria in your intestinal tract that help with digestion.

7.Carbs help with how your body absorbs calcium.

8.Carbs also help lower cholesterol and regulate your blood pressure. 

This next part is convoluted, but stick with me here. The Atkins diet focuses on something called net carbohydtates that Atkins states are the carbs that impact blood sugar. Net carbs are determined by subtracting the number of fiber grams from the total number of carb grams (because fiber grams don't affect blood sugar). So a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich has 5 grams of fiber, 25% of your daily intake of vitamin C, 13 grams protein, and 30 grams of carbs. So by this calculation, this sandwich has 33 net carbs. Phase one of Atkins limits you to 20 net carbs per day! Eat this super nutritious PB&J food and you'll have to fast for almost two days to keep your Atkins diet intact. If your head is starting to hurt your not alone! This whole low carb plan is just ridiculous!

Carbs are not our enemies! We crave carbs becasue we need them to protect us against a host of ailments. The Atkins Diet works temporarily not because it limits carbs but because it limits food intake. The longer we go without carbs, the more our bodies crave them. Eventually you have to fall off a carb restrcited diet because we're programmed for survival to eat carbs...like whole grains, almonds and walnuts among others.  However, society sells us junk carbs like white bread, cookies, cake, donuts and on and on. 

Look, we have an obesity epidemic in much of the developed world. Much of the problem lies in how we are marketed to. One day it's,  "don't eat carbs", then it's, "don't eat fat"! It's nuts and it's driven largely by big food companies greed. Food companies have a game plan..to make money. You need a game plan too! 

What I'm oppossed to is the idea that food marketers can push us to buy and eat whatever we want as long as we're not eating carbs. Why the Atkins diet works and why it will fail is a trap. A restrictive diet, like Atkins, offers short term success and has apawned a marketers food craze that promotes even greater health risks and more obesity. To learn how modern society makes us fat click here...this is great!          

Look if you've read this far, your serious about finding a healthy eating and exercise plan that you can live with for the long haul. It exists, click here and read a little about what I believe is the best eating and exercise plan on the market today.

I hope this was helpful. Your comments below are welcomed. God Bless! 

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