Diet Review - The Atkins Diet
By Elizabeth Ramer
The Atkins Diet Plan was created by Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1960's. He made changes to a diet he read about in the Journal of the American Medical Association, because he had his own issues with weight. After success with the diet, both for him and patients, he then wrote Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution in 1972 (which I still have), and then the revised Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution. A lot of disagreement surrounds this diet, and many people have had success with it.
Atkins recommends staying away from:
Refined carbohydrates
Sugar
Flour
High fructose corn syrup
Saturated fats are not a problem, but avoid the trans fats from hydrogenated oils
There are 4 stages in the Atkins Plan:
Induction Phase:
The first phase of this low carb diet is designed to put your body into ketosis. Ketosis means that the body will produce ketones from the fat, and is used as fuel instead of carbs. It causes you to lose some weight fast as your body burns carbohydrates from your reserves. This phase is also very strict. Meat, eggs, oil and butter are allowed. A certain amount of cheese is allowed as well.
Ongoing Weight Loss:
In this phase of the Atkins plan, a carbohydrate ladder is followed by slowly building up your carbohydrate intake, you still lose, but you're learning your glycemic intake levels, and curbing your cravings.
There is a full list of allowed food in the Atkins Diet book, but some of the food you're allowed to have is vegetables from the Induction phase, nuts, berries, some fruit and starchy vegetables.
Pre Maintenance:
You enter pre maintenance as you approach your goal. Carbs are increased again, until you
Sugar-Free Strawberry Jam
Ingredients
3C strawberries (about 3 pint. strawberries)
3/4 C water
1 box “SURE-JELL for Lower Sugar Recipes” Fruit Pectin
1/2 C Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granular
Bring boiling-water canner, half full with water, to a simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids ...
Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
1C fresh cranberries
Water to cover them
1C cold water
1 Tbsp unflavored gelatin (or one packet)
Sweetener to taste (I use 2 or 3 packets of Splenda)
Rinse berries and simmer on stove until all the berries are popped. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. You may strain the berries if you ...
Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
Cooking spray
2 Tbsp. wheat (or oat) bran and 1 tablespoon soy flour, mixed together
1C soy flour
1/2 C sugar substitute (recommended: Splenda)
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 C heavy cream
1/3 C club soda
1/2 C blueberries (if not sweet, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar
substitute)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a ...
Turnip Fries
There’s no such thing as low carb french fries, but turnip fries make a nice substitute.
Turnip Fries Recipe
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Peel turnip, slice off stalk end bit
Cut into fry-sized wedges
Spray lightly with non-stick spray (olive oil is a healthier substitute)
Put in container or ziplock baggie
Sprinkle in choice of low ...
Low Carb Bread
Many people believe bread is out of the question on low carb diets. False! The first thing you need to do is start making sandwiches with one slice instead of two. This isn’t a big deal. In many European countries (like Poland) they make their sandwiches ...
Lasagna Recipe
Here’s a low carb lasagna recipe without noodles:
Ingredients for Meat Sauce
1 - 1.5 lb lean hamburger
3/4 C fresh tomatoes, chopped fine
3/4 C water
1/2 C fresh mushrooms, chopped
1/2 C Hunt’s tomato juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic seasoning
Italian seasoning
Cook these items in saucepan for about 45 minutes.
Put a small amount on bottom ...
Good Fruits and Bad Fruits
A low carb diet doesn’t mean you should avoid fruits. The key is to choose fruits that require a high amount of energy to digest so you burn more calories during the digestion process. This is known as thermogenesis. The more energy required to digest a fruit, ...
Lifetime Maintenance:
A bigger range of food is allowed once you have achieved your weight loss objective. Carbohydrate consumption is increased a bit more as well. You stay at this stage for the rest of your life. Should you start to gain weight, you go back to a previous Atkins diet phase until you lose weight.
Advantages of the Atkins Plan:
If you're a meat lover, this is the diet for you.
You'll keep your sugar level down
You'll burn fat
You can eat whenever you want
Things to watch out for when starting Atkins:
People say that they can't do Atkins because it makes them feel weird, dizzy or just generally funky. Compare it to the alcoholic who has stopped drinking: they go thru DT's – detox on some level, some have it really bad, and some don't. You can – and should – expect a reaction with any diet that you go on that eliminates the garbage in your body.
Disadvantages of the Atkins Plan:
I've had friends say they get really tired, feel sick to their stomachs, and experience headaches in the beginning the Atkins Diet Plan. Carb withdrawal? I haven’t cut my carb intake too much in the recent past, so I can’t judge.
Low carb intake. I'm happy to switch to healthier carbs, but I won't eliminate them.
Elizabeth Ramer has been on a diet since 2nd grade, and is following the You on a Diet weight management program. Stop by and read my blog,and subscribe to my feed.
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Sugar-Free Strawberry Jam
Ingredients
3C strawberries (about 3 pint. strawberries)
3/4 C water
1 box “SURE-JELL for Lower Sugar Recipes” Fruit Pectin
1/2 C Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granular
Bring boiling-water canner, half full with water, to a simmer. Wash jars and screw bands in hot soapy water; rinse with warm water. Pour boiling water over flat lids ...Cranberry Sauce
Ingredients
1C fresh cranberries
Water to cover them
1C cold water
1 Tbsp unflavored gelatin (or one packet)
Sweetener to taste (I use 2 or 3 packets of Splenda)
Rinse berries and simmer on stove until all the berries are popped. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. You may strain the berries if you ...Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
Cooking spray
2 Tbsp. wheat (or oat) bran and 1 tablespoon soy flour, mixed together
1C soy flour
1/2 C sugar substitute (recommended: Splenda)
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 C heavy cream
1/3 C club soda
1/2 C blueberries (if not sweet, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar
substitute)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a ...Turnip Fries
There’s no such thing as low carb french fries, but turnip fries make a nice substitute.
Turnip Fries Recipe
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Peel turnip, slice off stalk end bit
Cut into fry-sized wedges
Spray lightly with non-stick spray (olive oil is a healthier substitute)
Put in container or ziplock baggie
Sprinkle in choice of low ...Low Carb Bread
Many people believe bread is out of the question on low carb diets. False! The first thing you need to do is start making sandwiches with one slice instead of two. This isn’t a big deal. In many European countries (like Poland) they make their sandwiches ...Lasagna Recipe
Here’s a low carb lasagna recipe without noodles:
Ingredients for Meat Sauce
1 - 1.5 lb lean hamburger
3/4 C fresh tomatoes, chopped fine
3/4 C water
1/2 C fresh mushrooms, chopped
1/2 C Hunt’s tomato juice
Salt and pepper to taste
Garlic seasoning
Italian seasoning
Cook these items in saucepan for about 45 minutes.
Put a small amount on bottom ...Good Fruits and Bad Fruits
A low carb diet doesn’t mean you should avoid fruits. The key is to choose fruits that require a high amount of energy to digest so you burn more calories during the digestion process. This is known as thermogenesis. The more energy required to digest a fruit, ...Cutting Calories Doesn’t Work
Rob Faigin uses simple math to refute the theory of cutting calories:
Consider this: whatever your current daily calorie consumption average is, let’s say that you increased it by an average of 400 calories per day for a year, without deliberately changing your activity level. Then let’s say you increased ...Natural Hormonal Enhancement by Rob Faigin
Natural Hormonal Enhancement by Rob Faigin is quoted frequently on this site. The book contains over 1700 references to the world’s leading medical and scientific journals. From the back cover:
Recent research has demonstrated that aging, health, and body composition are more closely related than previously suspected, and hormones ...
Low carb diet are excellent for losing weight, but as with all diets you need to take care and use some common sense when undertaking such a diet.