Fun Article About ' Atkins ' Diet

[Wile E. Coyote]

My next door neighbor has been on it for 10 years now and she is in great health. She is 50, but looks about 40 (not that this necessarily has to do with the diet).

I ocassionally go off the diet and have some ice cream or eat the bun with my hamburger, and I have not gained the weight back. It is true that returning to one's previous eating habits will make the weight return. But, like Diogenes said, Atkins is more of a nutritional plan than a fad diet. Atkins quite clearly says that it is a life change, not just a way to lose a quick 10 pounds.

The initial weight loss is encouraging. Once you get past the phase where you are dropping pounds left and right, it is easy to get discouraged, but I just think about how much energy I have and my motivation returns.

Oh, and I remember how hard the first week was. Eating that much fat and protein made my stomach turn. The headaches and weakness were a little scary, but I now realize that was my reaction to breaking my carb addiction. Now it doesn't seem to bother me at all. I like the diet choices. I do not crave potatoes and pasta anymore. Even popcorn is slowly being less of a need. And I love popcorn.

 

[BTox]

Then you'd characterize the Western diet incorrectly. Saturated fats (ie animal fats), animal protein (especially red meat) are a wonderful source of nutrition for which we evolved.

I think you've got it all backward. Saturated fat and red meat are okay on a limited basis. Too much of both in the diet is associated with increased risk of heart disease and cancers.

And don't fall for this "we evolved eating red meat and saturated fat so it's good for us" crap. It's hogwash.

The polyunsaturated fats, the artery-clogging transfats and the year-round availability of simple carbohydrates are key parts of the Western diet which have been shown to be very unhealthy.

By whom? On that list, only trans fats have shown some evidence of being unhealthy. Excess red meat and saturated fats are the problem.

Omega-3 fatty acids are saturated fats, not polyunsaturated.

Flat out, 100% wrong. omega-3 fatty acids are all polyunsaturated.

Please don't let this get into a semi-vegetarian argument, otherwise it could go on for ages.

Who said anything about semi-vegetarian? I'm touting the mediterranean diet as most healthy, which is not vegetarian

 

[Zep]

I've said my piece on this and won't repeat it again. And I see there's some very intelligent interchange on this happening (with lots that I agree with) and not a shouting match. So I'll simply let it roll on and lurk in the background.

 

[Beausoleil]

Someone mentioned "Fast Food Nation". I preferred "Fat Land" since it had more explanations that seemed to make sense. But is it true high fructose corn syrup is particularly bad because fructose promotes insulin resistance and stimulates fat deposition in large quantities? The coverage in the book was convincing enough to make me avoid the stuff. Worrying that many children now have diabetes.

Surely there is something beyond "the western diet". It seems to me there are far more very obese people in the US than in Western Europe - one good thing about spending time there is that it makes me feel thin! In addition to the HFCS problem, "Fat Land" point to palm oil and very poor advice about exercise - low intensity exercise (e.g. housework) is not as good for you as high, and it's much better to do a sustained block of an hour than 6x 10 minute bursts. His idea is that the US is at the extreme end of a trend that other western countries are varying distances along.

 

[Rat]

Well I'm not on the Atkins diet, and I'm a couple of stone overweight, so it must work.

And if it's largely down to blood sugar, could this be why I feel like crap every day after ten or more (UK) pints?

Here's putting an end to intelligent interchange.

Cheers,
Rat.