Whats everyones thoughts on atkins?

Wai Jia: The Kung Fu Forum Kung Fu Training and Health
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I have two conflicting opinions. One, from one of my oldest freinds, and ER nurse - Atkins is the worst thing you could ever do, it causes all sorts of health problems, doctors won’t allow paitients to do it. Gian, I’m gonna hurt you if you try it.

The other from another close friend

Atkins is the bomb, gives explanations about sugar, glucose levels (contradicted by the other one btw) and metabolisum of fat burning vs sugar and such.

My issue is this, although atkins seems to make sense when explained by atkins followers, when I tried it I really felt like the life had been sucked out of me, Including getting dizzy spells if I stood up too quick and everything. This lasted 3 weeks till I said the hell with it and went back to eating whole pinanples for breakfast. I didn’t lose anything at all, and infact gained a bit. Going back to eating a diet of like 50% raw fruites and veggies however resulted in a 10 pound loss over 3 months (with little training)

I admit to not knowing much of it, and just followed the diet recomendations of my “Pro” atkins freind.

My friend that is “for it” lost 50 pounds, but was grumpy as hell, and she worked out alot the whole time (although claims not to have worked out at all now)

Anyone have atkins experiances, pro and con,and can annyone explain the bio Chemistry from a NON atkins perspective? (Ie does the biochemistry reallly work the way atkins says it does, or is it all just medical/tech pshyco-babble?)

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It is disenteric, or at least thats what I’ve heard for the first week or something.

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What is disenteric?

4

I’ve made a lot of mistakes in training over the years.
So for starters, take anything I say with a grain of salt.
I’m just giving my experiences and trying to give input, coz input on a thread is better than no input and letting it sink to the bottom.

In training a while back, i pretty much had to quit a school for a while because I was overdoing it everytime i went there, was constantly injured or too sore to move outside of class, and wasn’t getting any better. As a result, i learned to take it easier (although I keep having to re-learn this lesson anytime i start back up) and push myself to a point.

In dieting, in 2003 I dropped 50+ pounds in 6 months.
As I said in my blog thread, I did this by eating under 1000 calories a day (close to 600 on a lot of days); and working out about 3 hours a day, 6 days a week. Assuming 1000 cal per hour, that’s upwards of 18,000 cal per week (heck let’s be conservative and say 15k); while taking in 3,600 cal on those 6 days. With a conservative estimate of 9k calorie deficit over a 6 day period, it’s not hard to see I lost a ton of weight. I was also a wreck. By the end of it, I would die in sparring after the first round. My strength (as much as I didn’t want to admit it) fell pretty drastically. I was going out of my mind with hunger; but I was getting small again and that was all that important.

After I lost [EDIT: and started eating again] I ballooned right away, which isn’t surprising. Within a month or 2 I’d already put 35 pounds back on.

Again, I learned that going hard core is probably not the best way to go.

It’s important to do the age old “listen to your body”. I hear steroid pumping bodybuilders drop that phrase all the time and it kinda makes me laugh; but it’s an important lesson.

A long term slight change will be much better for you than a short term drastic change for sure.

Some people do very well on low carb diets. They don’t get grumpy, they don’t have a hard time sticking to it, and they lose a lot of weight.

From what you said, you’re not one of these people. You seem like you’d do better if you got more natural foods. Maybe not go 100% vegetarian, but maybe “clean up your diet” with that in mind.

I’m still trying to find what works for me. I know a few things that work pretty well; but fighting the urge to continue bad habits is hard. It’s causing me to examine my daily routine and see what i need to tweak in order to make the changes that I need to achieve my goals.

You may need to re-evaluate your habits, your daily routine, your mood/disposition, and maybe your home/work life in order to institute the changes you need to make.

[EDIT: All that being said, I don’t think Atkins is all that healthy a program. The Zone is probably a lot better as it promotes balance.]

5

Here’s the bestest diet in the world, EVAR!

Protein from clean sources: at least 1gram/lbs of bodyweight
Carbs: Complex - fruits, veggies, whole grain rice, etc. It’s amazing what a difference the processed stuff makes.
Fats: moderatin. I get most of mine from the hamburgers or steak I eat. Not a whole lot. Protein is the only thing I really watch for, amount-wise, aside from overall caloric intake.

I personally, do two-three shakes a day, plus a can of tuna and a 1/2 can of spinach twice a day, and a small, regular-food dinner.

6

I guess I’m really looking for an explanation of the bio chemistry of atkins from somone NOT gung ho about it.

I want to know if the atkins diet actually effects the body the way they say it does from a bio chemical perspective.

I have heard it causes spikes in blood sugar to the point that is spills into the urine. This is from my friend the ER nurse. She is in a position to routinly see the test results.

My other friend says atkins “Controls” blood sugar to keep it from spiking or droping off.

Now, I am assuming ER nurse is right because she has the education, and daily experiance to test theories, where as the other is just reading atkin’s books. But what I want to know is “Why” does that diet casue spikes in blood sugar when you aren’t really eating any sugar/carbs. What is the bio mechanisum for this??

What is making the blood and urine tests come back with high sugar levels?? And why do atkins proponents think the opposite happenes?

7

I can’t really speak on that, only to say that it really messes with your insulin sensitivity.

Do some online searches for Ketosis to see what is going on biochemically with that diet.

8

http://www.circularstrengthmag.com/23/jacques.html

9

An active person NEEDS carbs for fuel. Akins is all about the low carbs. So for me, if your active, stay away from Atkins.

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disenteric mean it causes disentary

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Atkins made me feel horrible. I was training my usual amount (3-4x a week, 2-3 hours at a time). I was low energy, I fatigued easily, and I got headaches.

I read more about ketosis at the time and actually realized it’s a pretty sketchy condition to maintain and can be dangerous for some people.

Atkins did help me break my love of simple carbs though, now I eat almost none but get lots of complex carbs.

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Ill tell you something. People have kept physically fit for a long time, long before the Atkins family line was even started im betting. You dont need some guy telling you how you should not eat a particular food type because it has carbs. thats silly. Especially if your an active person. Maybe if your an American couch potato it might help you out. Another thing. Do you really want to take health advice from someone who died prematurely?

13

I just found this hilarious quote on the atkins diet.

THE ATKINS DIET you can’t even eat an apple anymore without some bacon chugging ketosis-zombie telling you about the insane amount of carbs inside. It’s bad enough that they’re selling low-carb toilet paper in the grocery stores to appeal to these idiots, but they’re putting such a drain on the beef supply that I can’t buy a good steak without taking out a second mortgage on my house. I just keep thinking about the line Daniel Stern’s character said in “City Slickers” after Curly died, “The man ate bacon at every meal…you just can’t do that!” Here’s a tip, when the autopsy they performed on the guy that founded your diet shows that his veins had turned into a network of Slim Jims and Vienna Sausages, it’s time to rethink your plan.

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I can’t seem to find too much on the bio mechanics of it, however it appears in one year it’s not any more effectve than just eating right and doing Kung Fu

15

No sh1t

lol, this french lady just wrote this book, I think it is called French Women don’t get fat…

It basically says to limit portions and to not eat until you are full…

16

Your nurse friend is right. I’m an EMT and have studied the endocrine system. You need carbs to fuel you, to provide adequate amounts of glucose. When your body has no glucose (carbs), it starts to burn fat for fuel. The burning of fat produces ketones and turns your body more acidic than it should be. And your brain can’t use fat for energy, just glucose (carbs).

About the blood-sugar spike–Glucose is a large molecule that attracts water wherever it goes. When the blood has a lot of glucose the kidneys can’t filter it and large amounts of glucose spill off into the urine. Thus making one dehydrated and hypoglycemic.

I’m guessing that if a pro-atkins person has a low blood-glucose level suddenly raises their BGL it will put them into insulin-shock. What I mean is that this person’s body now has to put out more insulin than it’s used to and the glucose won’t move into the cells fast enough (hyperglycemia).

Iwould advise against this diet, ESPECIALLY diabetics.

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Where does the Glucose come from in a low carb diet? Is it lots of Glucose from somewhere, or a lack of insulin that casues the problem?

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OK, here’s my take on the Atkins diet. I’m not a big fan of it, but I’m not a big fan of any of the ‘fad’ diets.

The Basics:
Your body uses three different types of molecules for energy production.
#1 Carbohydrates
#2 Fat
#3 Protein

In the biochemical chain of events, protein is basically the ‘emergency’ food source. It’s only used as a last resort, and generally when people are suffering from serious starvation. Think of using protein for energy as your body eating itself (its own muscles) to survive.

With the Atkins diet, the idea is to completely skip step #1 (carbs) so your burns fat and protein. By not eating the carbs, your body is forced to burn off your fat stores and the protein that you eat for energy.

As far as diets go, I can’t argue with the fact that people to adhere to Atkins are generally successful losing weight. In a way, it makes sense. Just bypass all the carbs so your body burns the fat stored up.

But I do have a problem with several points of the Atkins diet

#1–Your body was not designed to burn protein for energy. Again, it’s designed as an ‘emergency’ function, not something to be sustained over a long time. Processing large amounts of protein for energy is hard on both your liver and your kidneys.

#2–consumption of saturated fat should ALWAYS be moderated. I’m not an expert on the rules of Atkins, but I remember seeing friends of mine on the diet eating craploads of saturated fat and saying that it is OK. IT’S NOT! No matter what kind of diet you have, eating lots of saturated fat (and trans fat) is bad. The shyt sticks to your arteries and clogs them up. That’s what leads to heart attacks.

More to come in a sec.

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My conclusions about the Atkins diet:

The Atkins diet is effective, but why do it? There are other ways to diet that are just as easy to stick to, and much better for your body.

Dieting is simple. Fad diets will come and go, with creative new ways to lose weight, but the best way to diet will always be the one that has been around for the last 50 years:

EXERCISE AND EAT RIGHT

It’s simple. Watch what you eat, and make sure that the calories you put in your body are fewer than the calories you burn. It’s simple, it’s effective, and it’s natural!

Protein from clean sources: at least 1gram/lbs of bodyweight
Carbs: Complex - fruits, veggies, whole grain rice, etc. It’s amazing what a difference the processed stuff makes.
Fats: moderation. I get most of mine from the hamburgers or steak I eat. Not a whole lot. Protein is the only thing I really watch for, amount-wise, aside from overall caloric intake.

If you want to diet, try Vash’s. It really is the best diet ever.

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One more thing: a lot of recent research on Atkins shows that there is a good chance that the main reason that people lose weight on that diet is calorie control. Even though people don’t notice, they are consuming fewer calories on the Atkins diet, because their meals are smaller without the carbs.

If you want to look at some of the stuff, go to WebMD.com and type Atkins diet in the search engine.