Sooo...does Atkins really work??

sophie2324

Full Member
I fancy a diet where you can eat loads after cambridge, but from what I'm told Atkins is extremely unhealthy. Is this true??:thankyou:
 
Hi My GP tells me low GI is the healthiest way to go - ie low carb but low fat as well ... unlike Atkins. maybe you should check that out? Good luck
 
Ive never tried Atkins, but what about WW or SW, you can certainly eat plenty on both of those :)
 
Hiya Sophie.

When you say eat loads can you explain what you mean? Do you mean eat loads of meat or just generally eat loads?

Atkins in my opinion can't be good long term because of the high fat content but it depends who you believe!! I tend to think anything that says you should avoid certain fruits can't be 100% right but that is just my opinion.

Why not look at all the diets when you finish and make your decision. I recommend that people just calorie count when they finish Cambridge as ultimately it is the amount of calories you consume that dictates whether you gain or lose weight.

Mike
 
i did atkins for 5 years and for me it was great, I lost 10 stones in a year and kept it off for 4 years, eating meat fish egg cheese and vegetables was enjoyable for me and really suited my lifestyle, i was full of energy, very healthy and fit enough to play for a second division rugby team.
I am back here because of a series of very traumatic events in my life which meant i started binging on really unhealthy foods so put a lot of weight on.
If you decide to do atkins it is essential to read the books so you know about taking vitamin pills, ensure you eat enough vegetables and work out how much water you should drink
 
I agree with Mike that the amount of fat present in Atkins cant be "healthy" but I am re-reading my atkins book at the mo, and there is nothing to suggest that you HAVE to eat the fat they suggest.

in fact last time I did atkins I struggled to eat anything by day 3, and fryng steak mushrooms in butter for example was more than I could handle so i just cooked veg in the meat juices and avoided adding any extra fat. I wasnt keen on the cream in the coffee either, but I watered it down a bit.
 
By the way the reason Atkins works is that you are in ketosis and hence aren't hungry that much and hence tend to eat less because you aren't ever really hungry. A recent study (this was in the express about 5 weeks ago) said the average person on Atkins eats less calories than someone not on a diet and that is down to the fact you aren't hungry.

More information --> Atkins - Atkins
 
I did Atkins for five months a few years back. I lost a stone and a half in the first couple of months, but my weight loss simply stalled after that - I maintained perfectly though!

The high fat content in Atkins is only unhealthy if you eat a high fat content! As 'not-so-little' says, you don't have to eat a lot of fat. After the initial joy of being able to eat as much bacon, eggs, steak, etc, as I wanted (!), I soon got sick of it, so would often eat chicken/lean meat with low-carb salad or veg, and other similar 'healthier' stuff. Like Mike says, Atkins mainly works because you're in ketosis and have a suppressed appetite - I still tend to eat low-carb a lot of the time now, as it stops me wanting to binge on biscuits and cakes! Carbs are definitelt a 'trigger food' for me, as they are for many people.

Good luck with whatever you decide. :)


Jo x
 
I fancy a diet where you can eat loads after cambridge, but from what I'm told Atkins is extremely unhealthy. Is this true??:thankyou:
No! See http://homepage.ntlworld.com/nigel.kinbrum/Long%20term%20effects%20of%20ketogenic%20diet%20in%20obese%20subjects%20with%20high%20cholesterol%20level.pdf

Note that high cholesterol (bad), high LDL-c (bad), low HDL-c (bad), high triglycerides (bad) and high glucose (bad) all return to normal within weeks on a ketogenic diet. This was a long-term study (just over 1 year). Provided that fat intake is balanced (a mixture of sat fats, mono fats, omega-6 & omega-3 poly fats), eating a diet where 50% or more calories come from fats is healthy. Cheers, Nige.
 
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If you don't follow Atkins' advice to the letter then you are not doing Atkins, you are doing some other plan.
True.
Personally I wouldn't do it; low carb+high protein+low fat = protein ('rabbit') starvation ie Kimkins and look at the damage she did. My advice for Atkins eaters particularly in induction is to make sure that your fat intake always exceeds your protein intake.
As long as protein intake is <200g/day, this is within the capability of the ornithine cycle in the liver to produce urea. Fat calories can be less than protein calories under this condition without producing rabbit starvation. I still wouldn't recommend doing it, though!
 
I think she must be talking through her ****!

well thats not very nice, im not talking through my backside at all!!!, my cdc said that the atkins had been banned because of something to do with the muscles of the heart, thats why i was suprised to see a thread on it.
you've really upset me now, you dont even know me so how can you say things like that:whoopass::cry:
 
Hi Cora. Can your CDC be a little more specific?

As far as I know, the Atkins diet is heart-healthy due to the decrease in total chol, LDL-c, TG's, HbA1c, fasting glucose & blood pressure and the increase in HDL-c. I've been on it for 11 years and I'm still doing fine. Nige x
 
i dont know, when i met my cdc i told him my partner was thinking of going on the atkins diet and thats when he told me it had been banned because of what it does to the heart, oh well, obviously he had been mis informed.
 
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