Atkins and His Critics(He's Right...Mostly.)
March 12th 2007 15:50
I wade yet again into the bounteous waters of diet discussion. Here is what I think I know. The evidence seems to be mounting that the conventional wisdom about diet is in need of change.
There is more and more science being released to the public that a diet rich in grains and their flour is an avenue to weight gain and/or diabetes. Since many grain based foods are laced with sugar and corn syrup to make them more appealing, the insulin spiking capacities of both are thus combined in many of the foods we are eating and this excess insulin in the system day after day is a formula for insulin resistance and thence obesity and adult onset diabetes. It is also safe to say that the majority of the diet of the majority of people is made up of these very foods. Therefore, without swimming against the dietary stream the individual is predisposing himself to this fearsome combination.
This lone swimmer will have to develop on his/her own a dietary regimen which somehow can avoid the perils of a carbohydrate based diet. Not only does he/she have to determine on his own that the carbohydrate rich diet proposed by dietary experts is hopelessly wrong- headed, but he has to determine which of the alternatives offers the best chance of helping to avoid the damage that the masses are in for. There are several competitors for supremacy in the non carbodhyrate field.
The most famous low carb diet is Atkins. It preaches what seems at first to be a heresy,when it tries to decriminalize eating things like eggs and butter, which have become as criminal as smoking in the West. The problem with Atkins is that it works. This leaves it critics to fall back on what they claim is its hidden dangers. The adherent soon is losing weight and has some problems being worried about the future when the pounds are melting away.
If you try this diet it seems like a good idea to have your basic blood chemistry checked before and after. If you find your cholesterol skyrocketing etc, you might conclude that the low fat, higher carb experts are right. If these benchmarks are falling, you might conclude that Atkins is on to something. I personally think that the world will eventually come over to some improved successor to Atkins, but for now, if you feel uneasy, I would not try Atkins. You will lose weight on Atkins and that is why it has hit the public consciousness.
There is a problem with Atkins,however, that the traditionalists have failed to highlight in their attacks on it. If you eat very few carbohydrates for week after week you can expect two results-one good and one bad. On the good side you will soon begin to feel less hungry in general- a lot less hungry. That is because high carbs throw your natural system off so much that you experience a high insulin"false hunger." After a few weeks if thus euphoric condition,however,the other shoe drops and you get a massive craving for carbs. At this point there is often a precipitous fall off the wagon and many people never really get going back on again.
If your try Atkins and are successfully losing for awhile, undergo a carb pigout, and fall off the wagon for good, you can expect to gain the weight back with a vengeance. You will soon be an avowed enemy of Atkins, because, you will claim, you cannot keep the weight off, if you ever abandon it. The fact is eating sugary carbs is not a great idea and that will be the source of your failure.
The question is whether there is an approach to diet that includes the effectiveness of Atkins without the pitfall of a an eventual carb breakdown. Yes is the answer. I will discuss it in my next post. Your servant,as always.
He's back.Is he a failed Atkins dieter? No, he eats sugary carbs.
This lone swimmer will have to develop on his/her own a dietary regimen which somehow can avoid the perils of a carbohydrate based diet. Not only does he/she have to determine on his own that the carbohydrate rich diet proposed by dietary experts is hopelessly wrong- headed, but he has to determine which of the alternatives offers the best chance of helping to avoid the damage that the masses are in for. There are several competitors for supremacy in the non carbodhyrate field.
The most famous low carb diet is Atkins. It preaches what seems at first to be a heresy,when it tries to decriminalize eating things like eggs and butter, which have become as criminal as smoking in the West. The problem with Atkins is that it works. This leaves it critics to fall back on what they claim is its hidden dangers. The adherent soon is losing weight and has some problems being worried about the future when the pounds are melting away.
If you try this diet it seems like a good idea to have your basic blood chemistry checked before and after. If you find your cholesterol skyrocketing etc, you might conclude that the low fat, higher carb experts are right. If these benchmarks are falling, you might conclude that Atkins is on to something. I personally think that the world will eventually come over to some improved successor to Atkins, but for now, if you feel uneasy, I would not try Atkins. You will lose weight on Atkins and that is why it has hit the public consciousness.
There is a problem with Atkins,however, that the traditionalists have failed to highlight in their attacks on it. If you eat very few carbohydrates for week after week you can expect two results-one good and one bad. On the good side you will soon begin to feel less hungry in general- a lot less hungry. That is because high carbs throw your natural system off so much that you experience a high insulin"false hunger." After a few weeks if thus euphoric condition,however,the other shoe drops and you get a massive craving for carbs. At this point there is often a precipitous fall off the wagon and many people never really get going back on again.
If your try Atkins and are successfully losing for awhile, undergo a carb pigout, and fall off the wagon for good, you can expect to gain the weight back with a vengeance. You will soon be an avowed enemy of Atkins, because, you will claim, you cannot keep the weight off, if you ever abandon it. The fact is eating sugary carbs is not a great idea and that will be the source of your failure.
The question is whether there is an approach to diet that includes the effectiveness of Atkins without the pitfall of a an eventual carb breakdown. Yes is the answer. I will discuss it in my next post. Your servant,as always.
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Comment by Claire S
After avoiding carbs for a few weeks, even as little as a week, many people find their cravings are diminished or gone. I have experienced this in the first 1-2 weeks. No, it's not to say some people will "never" experience cravings...but hopefully they will be fewer and far between.
As for the weight gain...go off ANY diet plan...low fat, low carb, whatever...and go back to eating "normally" (whatever you used to do) and you will gain the weight back. I guarantee it. Low carb is a lifestyle, such as anything else. If you see something as "a diet", i.e. short term, you will fail.
This is where most people trip up. They say, "Oh, I will do this for awhile to lose weight." Then they start eating the old way again and they put the weight back on! Big surprise? I'd say not!
I respect your opinions and this blog. I think you have some great things to say!
Keep it up!
Comment by JohnR/Nomythfitness.com
You have said it all when you used the word "lifestyle." If you use a diet like spenders use bankruptcy you will never be thinner.
We are on the wave of the future. Glad for the company.