Throughout the history of health and nutrition, there have been fads. Right now, omega-3 fatty acids and fiber are popular along with the ban on trans fats. During the 1990s, the big craze was avoiding carbohydrates, and one of the main opponents was cardiologist, Dr. Robert Akins.
Dr. Akins is the father and creator of the Akins Diet. He believed people are overweight because of they eat too many foods high in refined carbohydrates – flour, sugar, and high fructose corn syrup. His diet plan was based on the concept of ketosis, which occurs when the body switches from burning sugar as energy to burning fat.
The diet works in four phases. During the Induction phase (phase one) which lasts two weeks, participants are put on a restrictive diet of no more than 20 grams of carbohydrates, 75% of which must come from vegetables not including legumes (beans). The reason for this is to kick the body into ketosis faster. Fatty foods, like meats, poultry, fish, and eggs are allowed to be consumed freely. Other fatty foods like butter and olive oil are permitted up to four ounces in quantity. Also, you are only allowed to drink water and to take caffeine in moderation.
The Induction phase generally shows the greatest results for participants. When combined with exercise, reports of ten pounds being lost a week are quite common. Unfortunately, the conversion to ketosis (fat burning instead of glucose burning) results in bad breath and a metallic taste in your mouth.
In the second phase, the Ongoing Weight Loss phase, participants are allowed to increase their caloric intake of carbohydrates by 5 grams each week. The diet has a specific ladder that participants climb in terms of which carbohydrates are allowed back into their diet. In the order of allowance, you can have vegetables in larger quantities, nuts, berries, alcohol, beans, fruit, and finally whole grains.Once participants are within ten pounds of their goal weight, they enter the Pre-maintenance phase. This third phase is all about mastering the amount of carbohydrates you can have without putting on any weight. Once this is achieved, you move onto phase four, Lifetime Maintenance. This allows for whole, unprocessed foods to be utilized fully, but if weight gain occurs, you are to drop back to a previous phase until ketosis is achieved again.
The diet was widely acclaimed in its time. Around 2003 and 2004, at least one out of every twelve people had tried the Atkins diet or was on it. This caused pizza and rice sales to decline by about 5% and companies began manufacturing foods and beverages that were lower in carbohydrates. Although most of these (Coca Cola’s C2 and Pepsis’s Edge) did not last on the market, they were later reformulated into products we still use today (like Coke Zero and Pepsi One).
The Atkins Diet works for several reasons. First of all, most participants get bored with their food selection and end up restricting their calories to less than they usually have. Any reduction in calories can have significant improvements on health and weight loss. Secondly, the reduction of refined sugars and high fructose corn syrup improves diabetic conditions and lowers triglyceride levels. Third, the emphasis on unprocessed, raw fruits and vegetables encourages the avoidance of empty calories from snacking on chips and junk food.
The Atkins Diet, however, fails in terms of its positive effects on cholesterol. In fact, an experiment from the University of Maryland comparing the Atkins Diet (85% calories from fat) to the South Beach Diet (30% calories from fat) and the Ornish Diet (10% calories from fat) found that with weight gain kept constant, the Atkins Diet raised cholesterol by 16 points, the South Beach Diet lowered it by 10 points and the Ornish Diet lowered it by 25 points. Moreover, the Atkins group showed early signs of atherosclerosis (artery stiffening), whereas the South Beach and Ornish group demonstrated improved artery flow. The catch of the experiment was since no one could lose weight, people in the Atkins group had to eat more foods than they would have desired, including more saturated fats that might otherwise not be consumed. This suggests that if left alone, Atkins dieters may not do so poorly with their health conditions.
For whatever reason, the Atkins Diet is still around but not as popular as it used to be. Its founder died in 2003, but its ideas of avoiding high fructose corn syrup and processed foods still live on today in many diet plans. Overall, it is not a horrible concept and has been proven to work time and time again. If you’re a meat eater and a dairy lover who isn’t a big fan of carbohydrates, then perhaps this diet is right for you.
