Can You Lose Weight Safely With the Atkins Diet?

The Atkins Diet which is now called the Atkins Nutritional Approach, is a diet created by Dr, Atkins based on a diet he read in the Journal of American Medical Association. It is a low carb diet which it is claimed induces the body to burn fat as fuel rather than carbohydrates. It was popular for a few years, but less so now due in part to the difficulty many had in keeping to plan and also because of considerable criticism and doubts expressed by members of the medical profession as to whether you could lose weight safely with this diet.

The Atkins Program

The diet is very restrictive in the early part of the program and requires that mineral and vitamin supplements are added to the diet to offset any deficiencies which might occur as a result of the very low calorie intake. The foundation of the diet is the belief that the prime reason for the over weight problem is the large amount of over refined carbohydrates in our daily diet which includes sugar, white flour and junk food.

Dr. Atkins also encouraged the consumption of protein.

Results

There seems no doubt that many have successfully lost weight when using the Atkins Diet, but also many have found it too difficult and were unable to carry on with it. The diet requires a real life-style change to carry out the plan and lose weight as it is intended.

Warnings

Warnings of the dangers of high protein - low carb diets with reference to the Atkins diet have been issued by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. They claim that scientific studies have shown that low carb diets raise cholesterol levels and accelerate calcium loss. Also major health organizations have raised questions about the risk they present with regard to heart problems, kidney abnormalities and osteoporosis.

Conclusion

While many have benefited from using the Atkins Diet and have been quite happy with the results they have obtained it needs to be treated with caution.

Much can frequently be gained by monitoring your daily food intake:-

*Cut down slightly on the size of servings

*Ensure you eat a mixture of vegetables with meat in moderation

*Drink plenty of fluid, (up to 8 glasses of water per day is the usual recommendation)

*Get a reasonable amount of exercise on a daily basis if possible

There are diets freely available on the internet and there are healthy balanced plans that can be purchased for a small outlay. Remember it is your health you are investing in.

Norm Pavelka brings you practical down-to-earth information related to safe weight loss. His desire is to help the millions of people throughout the world who are over weight or obese and are searching for a way to lose weight safely. They want something that will really help.

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