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The Atkins Diet, otherwise known as the Atkins Nutritional Approach, adopted as a weight loss approach by Dr. Robert Atkins after reading about a low-carbohydrate diet in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Since then he has popularized the Atkins diet for weight loss through a series of books that began with Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution in 1972.
Thousands of people have lost weight with this particular diet through the years, with a few updates to his philosophy aiding the success of the plan along the way.
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Just Who is Dr. Atkins and Does His Diet Really Work?
Atkins diet plan promotes a diet high in protein and low in carbohydrates. This theory is influenced by the belief that, since your body can store protein more efficiently as muscle without storing any as fat, you will start to burn the fat you already have stored to replace the deficiency in carbs in your diet. Therefore, as your body burns off the excess fat and doesn’t store new deposits, the Atkins diet will lead to weight loss.
The Atkins franchise, a business formed to promote Atkins diet food and products to serve individuals on the Atkins plan, has been controversial over the years. This is mostly due to the fact that the diet is a complete departure from the standard dietary recommendations of the food pyramid, which strategically places carbohydrates as the base of the diet due to their necessity in providing energy for bodily functions. However, because it has led to success in so many documented cases, the diet has become well-known as a viable weigh loss option.
Two years after the death of its founder in 2005, several factors led to the dwindling of the success of Atkins Nutritionals, and the company filed for bankruptcy. Six months later, at the beginning of 2006, the company re-emerged in hopes of regaining ground in the dietary market, with a highly visible brand name on several food products and related merchandise. While the diet plan itself has received a new lease on life, with a number of celebrities assisting in its promotion based on personal experience and benefit, the Atkins diet food has been much less successful than hoped. Most of the true followers of the Atkins diet do not feel it's necessary to make use of dietary supplements to further their success.
However, in the original plan, Dr. Atkins stressed the importance of both nutritional supplements and regular exercise and activity in addition to the restriction of carbohydrates in order to aid your body’s metabolism in restructuring itself to burn protein and fat. In many circumstances, users mistake the diet as a license to eat as much red meat as they want, though the point is to eat not only more meat but also more fruits and vegetables. Eating too much red meat can lead to other complications in health, including high cholesterol and even risk of excessive plaque in the arteries and blood clots. Even at low levels of carbohydrates, a diet rich in fiber is important in maintaining normal bodily functions without bloating, constipation, or diarrhea affecting daily life.
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