Atkins Diet

One of the most fascinating things about the health industry is that every once in awhile, a dieting craze will sweep the nation.  One such popular diet is the Atkins Diet, which was on everyone’s minds just a couple of years ago.  However, the Atkins Diet may have been a victim of its own success.  Many people dismiss its health attributes but it may be due to the way it was misconceived.  For awhile there, many people equated the Atkins Diet with letting you eat as much fatty meats and cheeses as you want.  However, no diet can allow for such reckless eating.  By reading about how the atkins diet really works, you may find that this approach to eating is the key to living a healthier life.

Developed by Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1960s, the Atkins Diet Plan is one of the most popular low-carbohydrate diets around.  The Atkins Diet Menu Plan is one of the most notorious aspects of the Atkins Diet.  Dismissing other dieting theories, the atkins diet claims that one of the biggest causes of rapid weight gain is due to carbohydrates.  Additionally, the Atkins Diet Menu is well known for its acceptance of food that contains saturated fat.  This is because the Atkins Diet identifies food containing high amounts of trans fats to be a cause of nutrition problems.

The Atkins Diet is fascinating because it dismisses many common theories regarding eating a balanced diet.  The atkins diet is known for its atkins diet recipes that restrict the amount of carbohydrates a person eats.  From a scientific perspective, the akinsdiet works by reducing your body’s consumption of unnecessary carbohydrates.  By limiting the amount of carbohydrates your body has, the atkins diet works by effecting your body’s metabolism.  What results is that your body’s metabolism switches from burning glucose to burning stored fat.

The Atkins Diet Menu Plan is known for reducing the amount of food that will increase your body’s blood sugar level.  It is a four step plan that begins with its Induction phase.  In this phase, you will find that the Atkins Diet is at its most restrictive.  You are supposed to limit your daily carbohydrate intake to 20 grams.  The Atkins Diet Menu during the Induction phase will include meat, cheese, cream, salad vegetables, and vegetables that contain a small amount of carbohydrates.  Additionally, in this stage you are prohibited from drinking caffeine and alcoholic beverages.

The Induction phase is known as the stage where dieters experience rapid weight loss.  Following this stage, you are now in the second phase of the Atkins Diet – the Ongoing weight loss (OWL) stage.  During this part of the Atkins Diet, you are able to increase your carbohydrate intake by 5 grams per week.  During this stage, your body will reduce its cravings for food.  As this stage continues, you will be able to add more carbohydrates to your diet, depending on how your weight loss is progressing.  Some carbohydrates heavy foods you are able to add to your Atkins Diet Menu Plan during this stage include: alcohol, berries, fresh dairy, grains, legumes, nuts, and starchy vegetables.

Following this stage of the Atkins Diet, you will be able to enter the third phase of the atkins diet – Pre-maintenance.  During this phase of the Atkins Diet, you will be able to increase your carbohydrate intake by 10 carbohydrates a week.  In this part of the Atkins Diet, your goal is to determine the most carbohydrates you are able to eat daily without increasing your weight.  Once you have reached this goal, you will enter the final stage of the Atkins Diet – Lifetime Maintenance.  This part of the Atkins Diet refers to determining the proper eating plan that you can follow that will allow you to not gain extra weight.

While there are many criticisms of the Atkins Diet, much of these complaints are caused by misconceptions of the atkins diet.  Although some nutritionists worry about the healthiness of the first phase of the Atkins Diet, one of the benefits of this diet is that it provides a dieter with a lifetime eating plan.  If you want to change your eating habits to induce a healthier life, you may find that the Atkins Diet is right for you!