What is the atkins diet ?
The Atkins diet (officially Atkins Nutritional Approach called) is a low-carb diet or, rather, a low carb lifestyle that was devised by the American cardiologist Robert Coleman Atkins, based on scientific research on the effectiveness of various low-carbohydrate weight loss programs, which he read in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Dr. Atkins diet used at the time of his study and promotion to fight his obesity. In 1972 he popularized the diet with his book Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution. In 2002 a revised version of the book, Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, which he adapted some of his ideas, but remained largely faithful to his earlier concept.
The aim of the Atkins lifestyle
Lifestyle aims to promote overall health and increase the chances of a long and healthy life, at a healthy weight. This concerns in the first place is not about weight loss, but rather to keep a healthy weight and finding a diet appropriate for a healthy human body. This is achieved by determining your Critical Carbohydrate Border or Critical Carbohydrate Level (KKN), according to the theory that you gain control over your fat burning and so fat and weight. Furthermore, you can influence the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in a positive sense.
Theory of the Atkins Diet
The Atkins diet is believed that the greatly increased use of 'free' refined carbohydrates (sugar, fructose and starch) in the Western world of the 20th century was responsible for the large increase in lifestyle diseases such as obesity (by the surplus of carbohydrates converted into fats) and diabetes type 2 (due to a depletion of insulin). Furthermore, many people come by consuming too many refined carbohydrates (often low-fat) not to their daily requirement of essential fats and proteins, which are essential in contrast to refined carbohydrates and also contain vitamins and minerals. A balanced Atkins diet primarily consists of lots of vegetables with limited carbohydrates (which besides energy also have nutritional value because they contain fiber and vitamins) combined with meat or fish for protein (essential building block for muscles and other structures in the body) and fats (essential building blocks for cell membranes, energy and fat-soluble vitamins). Due to the relatively high content of proteins (and fats) the muscles to be spared for degradation to serve as energy. The human body converts the proteins into glucose and fats, so as to replace the direct intake of these substances. That's one of the reasons why the Atkins diet is high in protein.
Theory behind the Atkins Diet
After eating carbohydrates are those absorbed into the bloodstream. This results in a rise in the blood sugar level. An excessive rise in blood sugar is harmful. To avoid an excessive increase in the pancreas produces insulin. Insulin primarily ensures that the glucose is taken up into the cells. In addition, insulin ensures that the blood sugars in the liver may be converted to glycogen and stored. The liver has a storage capacity of 100 to 200 grams. In the muscles can be stored even 200 to 500 grams. The remaining carbohydrates are converted into fat cells in the fat, the blood sugar level has fallen sufficiently. As a result of too many carbohydrates you can be fat: only when there is a shortage of carbohydrates and glycogen, these fats are burned. For each person, the amount of carbohydrates and glycogen that the body burns without going on accumulation of fats, different. The Atkins diet also goes in search of this personal amount of carbohydrates, which we call the Critical Carbohydrate Border.
Taking too many carbohydrates also causes varying blood sugar levels, which can cause cravings, mood swings, concentration problems (ADHD), depression, and sleep problems. The aim of the Atkins diet is stabilizing insulin production and blood sugar levels so. Because the diet is low in carbohydrates, the body enters a ketogenic state. This metabolic switch to burning fat or ketosis. Because the fat cells gradually cede the fat and liver of these ketones is to serve as energy, comes after a transition time, a steady supply going. Through this steady supply of energy creates a low stable blood sugar level without peaks and would include as decreasing appetite.
The Atkins diet is used by some to get rid of excess fat. Studies even show that the followers of it often lose weight faster than with a low-fat diet, which often is carbohydrate, eliminating the triggers fat burning, and that because of the shortage of fat intake leads to a deficiency of fat-soluble vitamins and essential fats. Probably harder you fall off the Atkins diet because the diet:
- Activates fat burning,
- It reduces hunger (due to low blood sugar levels stable and fats and proteins have a larger / longer filling feeling than carbohydrates)
- Carbohydrate snacks (sugar swings) let alone.
In addition you lose, including the many drinking (part of the Atkins diet) ketones in the urine. When the concentration of ketones in the blood, the kidneys filter the excess passive way through the urine. This next ketones in the blood can also be detected in the urine.
Atkins himself formulated two theories about his diet.
-Our bodies should work much harder by the lack of carbohydrates. We need to convert fats and proteins into energy instead of the "easy" carbohydrates and therefore we use more calories.
-Another reason is the process that is known as ketosis. Because we are mainly going to use fat as fuel, and this hopefully will draw on fat reserves, there is an incomplete burning fat. Arise from these free fatty acids and ketone bodies fat breakdown. These ketone bodies enter the bloodstream and leave the body through the urine (ketonuria) and exhaled air. According to Dr. Atkins was also a reason why the diet patients could eat as much as they wanted: ketones calories you unused by could flush the toilet
Scientific research has shown that neither theory is correct, because a person gets its energy from proteins and fats, only 22 calories more used than someone who gets its energy from carbohydrates. In other words, the burning of fats and proteins hardly took more energy than burning carbohydrates. Also, the idea that calories in the form of ketones can lose was swept aside when an investigation revealed that between two people on an Atkins diet only 1 calorie burned more than their counterparts on a low fat diet.
General theory
We can roughly distinguish three different fuels for our body. The most efficient (ie with the highest energy yield, but with the least nutritional / building material) are carbohydrates. We can also convert fats and proteins and carbohydrates in energy, even though the body has no preference for that, as they have important structural functions as a building block of the human body. Therefore the combustion of protein and fat goes nowhere near as fast as that of carbohydrates and needs more oxygen.
Eating carbohydrates stimulates the formation of the hormone insulin. Insulin offers the possibility of excess glucose into glycogen, which is stored in muscles in anticipation of a higher anaerobic energy requirement (eg. A sudden short-duration exercise). However, insulin also stimulates the conversion of carbohydrates into fat (and their storage).
When you eat less carbs, do so less insulin and save less fat. Also adding protein to a diet inhibits the appetite and ensures that men should do to eat less than they would normally.
When the amount of drops available glucose in the blood, also changes the insulin / glucagonbalans in the blood. Glucagon does the opposite of insulin, namely the conversion of glycogen in the muscles in the fuel glucose. By lowering insulin levels blood will contain a greater concentration of glucagon. This will gradually convert the glycogen stores in the liver and muscles into glucose so that the body's energy from other sources will need to meet.
The energy from fat is not immediately available, because fats are first broken down into glycerol and fatty acids. Glycerol is similar to glucose, and will also provide the same way energy. Fatty acids, however, are a different, slower way aborted before they begin to contribute to the energy supply. This is the reason that Atkins has an induction phase.
Criticism of the Atkins Diet
The Atkins diet is not uncontroversial. Against the Atkins diet is introduced that the weight loss in the beginning of the diet would mainly be due to fluid loss and not fat loss. The dramatic weight loss would be caused in the first weeks because the glycogen reserves are addressed. In addition, compounds made with water, so that also loss of moisture occurs. This loss of fluid can not be completely overcome by the drinking water because it lacks the glycogen reserves in order to retain the moisture. In the first 1 to 4 days, the argument of fluid loss could knock because ketosis ascent should be brought. However, there are ketones already after 1 to 2 days in blood and urine to show as a sign of ketosis.
The question is not whether people who follow the Atkins diet does have enough power, but whether they also can deploy quickly enough as glycogen. The fact is that more oxygen needed for the combustion of fats and proteins and this could come less energy during a short anaerobic condition. However, if there is sufficient oxygen appears prolonged aerobic condition people with low carbohydrate diet better able to achieve top performances than those with a high-carbohydrate diet by having independent of glycogen and significantly less affected by the drop in blood sugars and protein burning about should.
The production of ketone bodies would not only have an appetite suppressant effect, but would at some also nausea and fatigue entail. This would be the follower of the diet (too) consume few calories. In addition, the ketone bodies are also along the exhaled air and disappear from the body via the urine, with the known Atkins breath (floral odor) as a result. Also, when the reaction in the conversion of fat is too severe, it can lead to the formation of ketone bodies which can cause a large degree of acidity in the organism. However, since the ketones are used as a fuel, these processed into H2O and CO2, and the acidification of the body can be buffered. Only in the exceptional case in Type 1 diabetes where insulin is no longer available and as glucose into the cell can no longer stacks the glucose and ketones in the blood because it can not be burned. Is there a ketoacidosis, which is often confused with ordinary ketosis, where the combustion of ketones does not take place this accumulation.
Furthermore, the high intake of unsaturated fat is not harmless, it creates risks of cardiovascular disease, not to mention it can increase cholesterol. Several scientific studies show precisely that the Atkins diet lowers the risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Atkins was therefore in favor of a proper ratio of saturated and unsaturated fat from meat, fish and vegetable sources. The cholesterol diet can indeed increase, but increases in particular the HDL which is correct with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease is associated, and further to normalize the blood pressures by the diet. Possibly this is because the body first uses the unsaturated fat for fat burning and as a very beneficial effect may have on the lipid composition of the body.
The kidneys are indeed constantly addressed to urea, process a byproduct of the breakdown of proteins. At higher protein consumption have kidney so to process more urea and this would in the long term can be a problem, except that urea such a small molecule that passively filtered by the glomerulus, so it is not an additional tax for the kidneys.
A lower consumption of cereals, fruits and vegetables would be a lack of vitamin, antioxidants and fiber entail, were it not that Atkins prescribes lots of vegetables and just urging to 'free' to let refined carbohydrates represent the carbohydrates from fruits and whole grain rice after the first phase will be introduced gradually. Atkins tries just to keep rein for nutritious substances by proteins and fats including the fat soluble vitamin and using the carbohydrate intake for a more than usual amount of vegetables. Due to the composition of the diet would be too little vitamin B and fibers get inside in the long term. Atkins therefore advises you to take vitamin preparations and state bran and flaxseed as fiber replacement.
It stipulates that the Atkins diet would be difficult to maintain and thus would have minimum effect on the long term. The goal of a successful diet is indeed sustainable weight loss and maintain a healthy weight with a healthy diet. During the Atkins diet one will indeed lose weight faster than with a traditional diet that is low in fat and restricted in calories. But long-term reduces this effect (by the introduction of carbohydrates). The Atkins diet would be a dissociation diet, where one so certain things not allowed food (carbohydrate is carbohydrate-free), and others are much (much is relatively a lot of vegetables with protein and fats needed and thus to stop if you no longer hungry have). Such a diet would be to keep most people difficult to sustain, in a Western culture in which advertising for 'free' carbohydrates and trans fats over work and a lot of miscommunication is about how life really is meant by Atkins.
A recent study shows that a low carbohydrate diet mainly on animal sources (such as the Atkins diet), the risk of death increases by 23%. The risk of dying from cardiovascular disease increases by 14% and cancer by 28%. A low-carbohydrate diet high in vegetable proteins and fats, however, reduces the risk of death by 20% and the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease by 23%.