Atkins Nutritional Approach

The Atkins Nutritional Approach, popularly known as the Atkins Diet or just Atkins, is the most marketed and well-known low-carbohydrate diet.

Strengths :

• With Atkin's diet people can lose considerable amounts of weight, really-really quickly.
• This in turn can be very motivating.
• Encourages to cut out most processed carbohydrates and alcohol.

The Theory Behind it :

“ Atkins involves the restriction of carbohydrates in order to switch the body's metabolism from burning glucose to burning stored body fat. This process (called lipolysis) begins when the body enters the state of ketosis as a consequence of running out of excess carbohydrates to burn. “

How Does It Works :

There are four phases of the Atkins diet, a dieter must follow :

Phase 1 : Induction

Induction is a brief, jump-start phase that triggers your body to predominantly burn fats. It is intended to cause the body to quickly enter a state of ketosis. Induction lasts 14 days, after which you should see significant results.

The ‘net’ carbohydrate value of a food refers to the amount of digestible carbohydrate a product contains.

· Carbohydrate intake is limited to 20 net grams per day (grams of carbohydrates minus grams of fiber, sugar alcohols, or glycerin), 12 to 15 net grams of which must come from greens vegetables.

· The allowed foods include a liberal amount of all meats, fish, shellfish, fowl, and eggs; up to 4 ounces (113 g) of soft or semi-soft cheese; salad vegetables; other low-carb vegetables and butter and vegetable oils.

· Alcoholic beverages are not allowed during this phase.

· A daily multivitamin with minerals is recommended.

The Induction Phase is usually when many see the most significant weight loss — reports of losses of 5 to 10 pounds per week are not uncommon when Induction is combined with daily exercise.

Phase 2 : Ongoing Weight Loss

The Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) phase of Atkins consists of an increase in carbohydrate intake, but remaining at levels where weight loss occurs. The target daily carbohydrate intake increases each week by 2 net grams. A goal in OWL is to find the "Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing" and to learn in a controlled manner how food groups in increasing glycemic levels and foods within that group affect your craving control.

The OWL phase lasts until weight is within 10 pounds (4.5 kg) of the target weight. At first weeks you should add more of the induction acceptable vegetables to your daily products. The next week you should follow the carbohydrate ladder Dr Atkins created for this phase and add fresh dairy. The ladder has 9 rungs (steps) and should be added in order given. One can skip a rung if one does not intend to include that food group in one's permanent way of eating such as the alcohol.

The rungs are as follows:

• Induction acceptable vegetables
• Fresh dairy
• Nuts
• Berries
• Alcohol
• Legumes
• Other fruits
• Starchy vegetables
• Grains

Phase 3 : Pre-Maintenance

Carbohydrate intake is increased again, this time by 10 net carbs a week from the ladder groupings.
The key goal in this phase is to find the "Critical Carbohydrate Level for Maintenance", this is the maximum number of carbohydrates you can eat each day without gaining weight.

Phase 4 : Lifetime Maintenance

This phase is intended to carry on the habits acquired in the previous phases, and avoid the common end-of-diet mindset that can return people to their previous habits and previous weight.

Whole, unprocessed food choices are emphasized, with the option to drop back to an earlier phase if you begin to gain weight.

Side Effects :

Some short term side effects are known

• bad breath
• Tiredness
• Weakness
• Dizziness
• Insomnia
• Nausea
• Constipation

So Does This Really Works :

Several studies published, have concluded that dieters on the Atkins diet have achieved weight loss comparable to or greater than other diets, up to 1 year. Blood lipids have also improved, and no serious adverse effects have been observed. There are no rigorous studies to show the results after 1 year.