I had a friend who asked me about the Atkins diet. He was an ~60 yr old male who was slightly overweight. I told him I really didn’t like it that much, and explained why. He argued with me about it for a while, and then decided to do it anyway.
He stuck with it for about 3-4 months. Pure Atkins, not very much exercise. It worked out wonderfully. He lost about 30 lbs.
Then about 6 months later he had to go have emergency triple bypass surgery.
And the doctor said no more Atkins. Put him on a diet of low saturated fat, and told him to exercise.
Also, Atkins is bad for anybody who is extremely active (i.e. martial artists). You don’t want to go exercise to build up muscle (protein) only to have your body use the protein for energy instead of muscle development.
The process of making glucose (sugar) from its own breakdown products or from the breakdown products of fats or proteins. Gluconeogenesis occurs mainly in cells of the liver or kidney.
Yep, I believe so, although probably not in the short term.
Ketones are chemicals that the body makes when there is not enough insulin in the blood and it must break down fat for its energy. Ketone bodies can poison and even kill body cells. When the body does not have the help of insulin, the ketones build up in the blood and then “spill” over into the urine so that the body can get rid of them. The body can also rid itself of one type of ketone, called acetone, through the lungs. This gives the breath a fruity odor. Ketones that build up in the body for a long time lead to ketoacidosis, which is a serious illness that can cause coma and even death.
Acetone?? Holy smokes!! That stuff is used in acetlyne tanks to reduce the volitilyty of acetylne so it’s not explosive under presures greater than 15 psi!!!
Awesome link!! Your google skills are sperior to mine!! I bow to my master!!
Seriously though, that last link gave me the answers to my questions. The acetone thing is interesting though. It says it gives you “Sweet” Breath. I wonder how many think that is a good thing?
The diet looks like it would be horrible for Kung Fu. Also, I have Gout, I can guarentee it would put me into severe pain in a short time.
When I tried it before, I was on allopurinaol, so it hid the effect but I controll my gout with Cherry cider now, which is REALLY good for you, but totally not Atkins freindly.
It was horrible for kung fu. I was a freakin’ slug. No wind, no strength. I’d go home and collapse after class.
also the phrase “sweet breath” is a euphamism. ketosis makes your mouth taste like something died under your tongue.
Don’t do Atkins, RD. Cut out sugar, convenience foods and simple carbs, eat lots of lowfat dairy, grains and fruit and veggies, lean protein and drink water all day.
oh yea, and another charming side effect is constipation. My boss stayed on Atkins for months (he talked me into trying it) and he had to take lots and lots of fiber supplements just to be comfortably regular. The train just was not leaving the station.
Originally posted by Ming Yue 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.
the people I know who have tried it say the same thing. It makes sense - your major sources of energy are carbs and fats, and you are cutting one. I’m curious though - were you fatigued while training, or afterward?
Originally posted by Ming Yue It was horrible for kung fu. I was a freakin’ slug. No wind, no strength. I’d go home and collapse after class.
nevermind, there’s my answer. I was wondering because the body’s main source of energy while working out is carbs. While resting, it’s fat…after the workout, it seems like you’d get a second wind because of that.
in the three weeks I was on it I lost about 10lbs and have kept it off. I consistently get a lot of excercise though, I think most people don’t exercise on Atkins and then regain the weight after the diet because they return to “normal” eating AND don’t work out.
