The Atkins Diet Explained

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Atkins Nutritional Approach is popularly known as the Atkins Diet. It is a well known low-carbohydrate diet which was created by Dr. Robert Atkins. Dr. Robert Atkins used his diet on himself successfully before he started advocating it. He successfully used his diet on thousands of people before he began writing about it in a number of books that were later published. The Atkins diet restricts ‘net carbohydrates’ within your diet.

The Atkins diet limits the consumption of carbohydrates in such a way that causes the body to burn the stored fat instead of burning its energy-giving glucose. This causes a process called ketosis, a state in metabolism, in which the liver begins to convert fats into fatty acids. The Atkins diet also limits the carbohydrates that affect blood sugar levels.

Phases

There are four different phases of the Atkins diet: induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance.

Induction

The Induction phase is the first, and most restrictive, phase of the Atkins Diet. It is intended to cause the body to quickly enter a state of ketosis (in which the liver begins to convert fats into fatty acids).The Induction Phase is also known for its comparatively lower intake.
Carbohydrate intake is limited to 20 net grams per day. The allowed foods include a liberal amount of all meats, fish, shellfish, fowl, and eggs.

Ongoing weight Loss

During the Ongoing Weight Loss phase of Atkins Diet there is an increase in carbohydrate intake, but stays at a level where weight loss occurs. The dieter increases target daily carbohydrate intake increases each week by five net grams.

Pre-maintenance

Carbohydrate intake is increased again by 10 net carbohydrates a week. The key goal in this phase is to find the ‘Critical Carbohydrate Level for Maintenance’, this is the maximum number of carbohydrates one can eat each day without gaining weight.

Lifetime Maintenance

This phase is intended to carry on the habits which are acquired by the dieter in the previous phases, and avoid the common end-of-diet mindset that may return people to their previous habits and may cause them to gain weight. Whole, unprocessed food choices are emphasised, with the option to drop back to an earlier phase if you begin to gain weight.

Misconceptions About The Diet

Many people incorrectly believe that the Atkins Diet promotes eating unlimited amounts of fatty meats. Another common misconception arises from misunderstanding between the Induction Phase and rest of the diet. It is also misstated that people who are following diet do not consume enough vegetables and fruits.