Atkins and Carbohydrates: Myths and Facts

Go back 5 years, and the Atkins diet was all the rage as it allowed you to eat large amounts of red meat, eggs, cheese, butter and bacon – foods which were normally considered a sin – and not calorie count.

Instead this diet taught you how to limit your carbohydrates through a four-phase process, so your body is forced to use stored fats for fuel instead of carbohydrates.

How does the Atkins diet work?

Traditionally your body uses carbohydrates as a basic fuel for your body, with proteins and fats coming in second. However, the concept behind the Atkins diet is to reduce the amount of carbohydrates you consume and increase your protein and fat intake.

The Four Phases

1. Induction – during this phase you are limited to 20g of carbohydrates per day, consisting of salads and non-starchy vegetables.
2. Ongoing weight loss – this phase allows you to increase your carbohydrate intake to 25g per day, and by a further 5g per week until your body stops losing weight. When this happens, you have to cut 5g of carbohydrates from your daily amount. This amount will enable you to maintain your weight.
3. Pre-maintenance – during this phase you move from weight loss to weight maintenance. This means you can increase your carbohydrate intake by 10g each week as long as you manage to keep the weight off.
4. Lifetime maintenance – the final phase allows you to choose from a selection of foods whilst still limiting your carbohydrate intake.

Now at a glance, this seems like a sensible diet as it does not cut out red meats and dairy products, like so many other weight loss programmes. Instead you are allowed to eat large amounts of fish, poultry, red meat, eggs and cheese – as these are made up of protein and fat – and you don’t have to count calories.

Yet, like so many diets on the market Atkins is surrounded by myths which make achieving credible weight loss impossible.

To help you differentiate the myths from the facts, we have listed many of the common ones below:

Myth One: The Atkins diet doesn’t work.

FACT: backed by 50 studies, Atkins has been proven to deliver the strongest weight loss results and the most beneficial metabolic effects when compared to the Zone, LEARN and Ornish diets.

Myth Two: The Atkins Diet is unbalanced and only includes proteins and fat.

FACT: The Atkins diet encourages you to eat plenty of fibre enriched vegetables. The only restriction is that you limit –NOT eliminate – the amount of carbohydrates you have. In fact you are gradually allowed to increase your carbohydrate intake during each phase.

Myth Three: Atkins encourages you to eat high fat meats and dairy products which raise cholesterol and lead to heart disease.

FACT: Studies have found that eating fat whilst following a low carbohydrate diet does not raise your cholesterol levels. Similarly, Atkins encourages you to eat a variety of protein choices including fish, poultry, meats and eggs, which lead to a balanced fat intake.

Myth Four: The Atkins diet is too restrictive.

FACT: Compared to many diets, the Atkins diet actually allows you to eat a wide range of foods, all you are actually avoiding is processed carbohydrates i.e. sugar, white flour and refined grains.

Myth Five: The Atkins diet leaves you with low energy levels as you are getting an insufficient carbohydrate intake.

FACT: Carbohydrates are not your only fuel source. Your body is also equipped to use fat for fuel, so by reducing your carbohydrate intake, your body is forced to burn fat for energy. You may experience low energy levels whilst your body switches from glucose metabolism to fat metabolism, but once it has adapted you’ll have more energy
As you can see, when followed correctly the Atkins Diet can help you to lose weight.

In fact you could argue that it teaches you how to find a balance between your carbohydrate intake and your weight loss management so that fewer calories are wasted and are turned into fat.

So if you feel you eat a high carbohydrate diet, why not consider lowering your content and ensuring you eat a healthy balance of all your food groups? Credible weight loss is possible when you know how.

No related posts.