The Focus and Peculiarities of Atkins Diet - Essay Example

? Atkins Diet Born on October 17, 1930, Robert Atkins (Bowden, pp. 20-23) laid the foundationstone for a revolution in the field of diet and health science by publishing his book “Atkins Diet Revolution” in the year 1972. Since then, until the year 2003, until the death of Atkins, he published over 17 books but it was during the last years of his life that his diet plan received widespread recognition and following. Based on the four phases of “induction, ongoing loss, pre maintenance, and lifetime maintenance” (Bowden, pp. 20-23), the main principle of Atkins diet was to deprive the body of carbohydrates so that the body could shift the metabolism of the body from breaking down the glucose to converting the stored body fat (Insel, Turner & Ross, pp. 130-132). This way the person has greater chances of losing weight and less chances of getting fat again. The Atkins diet focuses its energy on decreasing the intake of sugar, glucose, and carbohydrates. Furthermore, the focus also remains on decreasing the intake of fiber. Towards the end of the day, the subject, along with weight loss, gradually finds himself with a reduced appetite (Bowden, pp. 20-23). However, this type of diet in not at all ideal for vegetarians since Atkins diet includes high quantities of meat as an attempt to increase the protein and minerals content in the diet. Atkins program is different from other diet programs because it goes on to take the way of moderation. Rather than forcing its followers to force themselves to remain hungry or deprive oneself of the needed food, Atkins Diet follows the mantra of never be hungry. During the first phase of induction, this is also the toughest and strictest phase of the entire course, people start off the program by restricting their daily carbohydrate intake to less than 20 grams (Insel, Turner & Ross, pp. 130-132; Hensley, pp. 85-89). Furthermore, people follow a liberal intake of “meat, fish poultry, and eggs and alcoholic beverages” (Lutz, Allan & Allen, pp. 64-65) does not remain a part of the diet. In the second phase of ongoing weight loss, the subject gets a chance to steadily increase his or her carbohydrate intake everyday and observe the minimum level of carbohydrate level, which would be required to continue the weight loss process. In the next phase of pre maintenance, the subject would increase his or her carbohydrate level again to find the level where the weight remains steady. The last phase is of lifetime maintenance where the subject ensures that he or she does not forget the habits acquired in the previous stages (Lutz, Allan & Allen, pp. 64-65). Despite the fact that supporters and proponents of Atkins Diet put forward the evidence that the diet has helped people from diverse backgrounds to lose their weight and escape the vicious circle of obesity, the diet appears to be falling short on the basic five characteristics of a nutritious diet. Adequacy, which is the first characteristic, refers to the provision of 100 percent nutrients through the diet. Quite clearly, Atkins Diet ensures that the person ends up getting a high protein and saturated fat diet with little or “no carbohydrates, fiber, minerals, and vitamins” (Hensley, pp. 85-89). The second characteristic is of a nutritious diet is that it has be “balanced” (Lutz, Allan & Allen, pp. 64-65; Hensley, pp. 85-89). By blocking carbohydrates and fiber, the Atkins Diet fails to fulfill the balanced part of the criteria. However, the Atkins Diet is perfect match for the third criteria of nutritious diet, which is about moderation (Sharkey & Gaskill, pp. 96-98). As mentioned earlier that neither Atkins Diet tells people to eat with full force nor does it tell them to stay hungry for longer periods. Instead, it tells them to adopt s diet, which will not add to their weight but will help them burn the existing calories. The fourth criterion is about calorie control Atkins Diet appears to be hitting the bull’s eye on these criteria as well. With low carbohydrate intake, the calories remain up to a certain limit and people themselves take up the charge of ensuring that their calorie intake remains under their control. Lastly, for a diet to be nutritious it has to be following the rule of variety. It appears that Atkins Diet does not restrict diversity or variety under specific food groups (Lutz, Allan & Allen, pp. 64-65). Since the day one, American Heart Association (AHA) has remained a strong critic of most parts of the Atkins Diet. First, AHA does not recommend high protein diet for the purpose of weight loss. Too much reliance on meat and eggs, which are high in protein and saturated fats, may mean that the body is going to be deprived of more healthy foods or other contents such as important minerals and vitamins. Second, AHA claims that many people already eat diets, which are high in protein, cholesterol, saturated and unsaturated fat content. By following the Atkins Diet, they increase their intake of proteins and fats to an even higher and dangerous level and decrease their fiber intake, which may end result in many diseases as osteoporosis, stroke, heart diseases, kidney stones, and liver disorders (Bowden, pp. 20-23; Hensley, pp. 85-89). Historically, the American Diabetic Association has remained a strong critic of Atkins Diet, however, lately; the ADC has come forward and showed the flexibility to accept the fact that low carbohydrate diet can play an important role in decreasing the risk of diabetes. However, the ADC does not think that the evidence is conclusive or strong enough to change their dietary recommendations and they still believe that a diet with extremely low carbohydrate content would be damaging for the patients in the long run (Sharkey & Gaskill, pp. 96-98). American Kidney Association (Sharkey & Gaskill, pp. 96-98) is one of those organizations, which have been critical of Atkins program. Their rational behind the same is rooted in the fact that Atkins remains ineffective in the long term, although, it may be able to show some results in the short term. A study conducted by “University of Pennsylvania and at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center” (Bowden, pp. 20-23) found out that the average weight loss by the participants during the first six months was partially nullified by the weight gained by those participants in the next six months. The difference was similar the total weight loss with the help of other weight loss programs implemented in the control groups (Bowden, pp. 20-23). Towards the end, it is understandable enough to conclude that Atkins diet cannot be labeled as harmful for health but on the other hand, the long-term effects of Atkins diet are yet to be proved. There are various questions raised on the diet plan from some of the most reputable health and medical organizations in the United States. Furthermore, a considerable majority of the institutions, which have been very vocal in the support of Atkins Diet, have appeared to be receiving funding from the Atkins foundation thus raising serious doubts. Nevertheless, this does not provide conclusive evidence for rejecting the benefits of the diet plan altogether but the bottom line here is that there still is room for debate and research on this topic which could focus on both, the long term and short term effects of Atkins diet in unbiased manner. Works Cited Bowden, Jonny. Living the Low-Carb Life: From Atkins to the Zone Choosing the Diet That's Right for You. Barnes & Noble Publishing, 2004. Hensley, Pattie. Quick Weight Loss Diet Plans. Cengage Learning, 2008 Insel, Paul, Turner, R. Elaine. & Ross., Don. Discovering Nutrition. Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2009 Lutz, Wolfgang, Allan, Christian B., & Allen, Christopher. Life Without Bread: How a Low-Carbohydrate Diet Can Save Your Life. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2000 Sharkey, Brian J., & Gaskill, Steven E. Fitness and health. Human Kinetics, 2007. Read More