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(1323 reviews)
Editorial Review: Designed to catapult your body into a state of fat meltdown, Dr. Atkins's diet has taken America by storm. It targets insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. The bodies of most overeaters are continually in a state of hyperinsulinism; their bodies are so adept at releasing insulin to help convert excess carbohydrates to fat that there's always too much of the hormone circulating through the body. This puts the body into a bind; it always wants to store fat. Even when people with hyperinsulinism try to lose weight--especially when they cut fat but increase carbohydrate consumption--their efforts will fail. This is why Dr. Atkins refers to insulin as "the fat-producing hormone." Dr. Atkins's diet is extremely low in carbohydrates, which helps to regulate insulin production and decrease circulating insulin; less insulin soon results in less fat storage and fewer food cravings. The diet is far from torturous, though--those who've tried it attest that hunger is not
Customer Reviews:
1 of 1 found this review helpful:
Atkins Works!, 2008-06-20
I initially read and practice his work years ago and lost 65 pounds AND kept it off ever since. Low carb is bringing us back to the basics of food, replacing the fast food and processed food of our generation.
It is too bad he didn't live to see the Low Carb Craze which he started from her personal beliefs.
Low Carb works and is healthy!
Merna
Pocket of Pearls: A 30-day pocket workbook to start hearing a softer voice inside of you!
1 of 1 found this review helpful:
Great Book, 2008-06-02
I lost all of the weight I needed to on this diet-and then some! It is a healthy diet. You do eat veggies, even fruit eventually. I think that people should educate themselves before saying negative things about anything! If you don't want to eat like this, okay. Don't. Your life is your own. But hey, the diet does work for those interested. ;-)
3 of 4 found this review helpful:
ATKINS WAS RIGHT ALL ALONG, 2008-05-07
I am the author of a new book entitled GENOCIDE;HOW YOUR DOCTOR'S DIETARY IGNORANCE WILL KILL YOU. I am a family physician with over ten years experience introducing a low carbohydrate, more fat, more cholesterol, more protein diet into my patient's lives. Through this dietary approach I have cured type 2 diabetics, treated people with high blood pressure with little or no need for meds, seen tons of weight lost and the list goes on and on.
Atkin's book is easily one of the best books ever written on low carb dieting. The three books I recommend my patients read are Atkins, Protein Power, and of course my own :-)
Unfortunately most physicians will never read this book and if they do they will dismiss it as an opinion, not based in fact. For some reason, the scientific method is not followed in dietary clinical trials. The scientific method should be: I have an idea (theory, supposition, opinion, hypothesis whatever you want to call it), I perform an experiment to either prove or disprove my idea; if I prove my theory-great-look how smart I am. But if the results do not prove my idea, I am supposed to re-evaluate my initial idea, not call the experiment flawed or the results inconclusive.
The reason the dietary clinical trials appear contradictory is because the researchers in these trials start off with a conclusion--not an idea-- perform an experiment, and when the results of the experiment do not support what the researchers already 'think' they know; they now call the experimental design flawed or the results inconclusive, which is generally not the case.
I have literally treated thousands upon thousands of my patients with low carb diets over the last decade. I love when the labs come back with higher HDLs, lower triglycerides and normal blood sugars. I love teasing my patients and ask if they are eating more fat and cholesterol. When they say yes, I ask them "Well, if you are eating more fat and cholesterol, then why did your fat level drop and why did your HDL rise, and why did you lose weight?" I always get a smile back, because my patients know what I am getting at. And what I'm getting at is the fact--and I mean FACT, that low cholesterol, low fat diets DO NOT WORK to any degree to help people stay off or reduce their medications.
This book should be required reading in all medical and undergraduate colleges. If physicians actually understood the correct way to tell their patients to eat--many disease processes would become extinct--instead of the human race.
Allow me to end my post with the three biggest dietary myths in America;
MYTH # 1
Eating fat makes us fat. FALSE. The truth is that eating fat does not make us fat, unless we're eating too many carbohydrates along with that fat.
MYTH #2
Eating cholesterol containing foods causes heart disease. FALSE. There has never been any study which has shown, convincingly, that eating cholesterol containing foods causes heart disease.
MYTH #3
Probably the biggest dietary myth out there is that the calorie actually means something in human nutrition. FALSE. The calorie means nothing in human nutrition.
Atkins was a true pioneer in the correct way to eat.
Genocide: How Your Doctor's Dietary Ignorance Will Kill You!!!!
2 of 2 found this review helpful:
Gves you the extra edge to lose weight, 2008-04-20
Atkin's was a very observant and intelligent doctor. He has an incredible voice in his prose, full of confidence and knowledge. I've tried several diets, and while I can lose some weight on all of them, Atkins is the easiest for me. Under weightwatchers I am always on the edge of hunger and I don't lose that much weight - even religiously following the guidelines, and I find the diet not that satisfying.
Under atkins' diet I am not hungry most of the time and I find the diet very satisfying and fulfilling, I can make a lifestyle change. Of course, it would be better if it didn't have so many animal fats in it, but it's better to lose weight eating fat than not to lose weight. I plan to slowly cut down the fat content as I lose weight to make it a more healthy long term diet.
He has great references, the one thing that gets boring for me is too many individual stories about how some person has done great on his diet. I'd rather see more long term, large participation studies in the book (but I know not that many have been done.)
The main point of the book is that you aren't wht you eat, but you are what you eat turns into inside your body - and what the food in your body does is not intuitive and a bit surprising. For instance, it used to be recommended that you shouldn't eat cholestrol (eggs,for instance) as it could increase your cholesterol levels, however, the effect is so small as to be almost unmeasurable, there are other things in your diet that have much more effect over cholesterol levels than the amount of cholesterol you eat. Likewise, the amount of fat you have is not directly related to the amount of fat you eat. It turns out that fat on your body comes from high levels of sugars in your food which the body quickly digests and stores the excess immdiately into fat as your blood sugar rises, thus more sugar (carbohydrates) equals more fat. The body then quckly goes to low blood sugar, which causes you to be hungry and to eat more sugar, causing your weight to quickly spiral out of control.
Why is this? Because for millions of years the human body has evolved in an environment that had no manufactured food! We ate vegetables, meat, fruit when in season, nuts, and that's about it. Until the last 10,000 years (which have only made minor changes in our genome) we never had the opportunity to consume refined grains and sugars or concentrated alcohol. All of these things are more efficient in $$/calorie, but screw up the body's naturally evolved caloric intake system. Dr. Atkins understood this and has designed a diet to take this into account. It turns out that fat takes longer to digest (as does fiber with carbohydrates) so that as the claories from these types of food are digested in your blood stream, the blood sugar level is raised so slowly that the excess is burned, not turned into stored fat; in fact, the body starts to burn the stored fat to even out this gently changing blood sugar level due to calorie intake - this diet really does burn fat.
I can say that for me it really works. I eat until I'm full, when I'm hungry I can snack on food that I like and I feel satisfied and I get down to my ideal weight. Now, long term I plan on eating less meat and more vegetables, but getting the weight off first is key. The best thing about this diet is that you lose body fat faster than you lose weight, and excess internal body fat is linked to all sorts of bad health things - like diabetes (type 2), higher blood pressure, hardening of the arteries and heart attacks. This is a great diet, especially if you have plateaued on other diets and need that extra something to get you through.
I reccommend it over fat restriction diets any day. Now, my wife does not do as well on this diet, so it's not for everyone, but for my metabolism, this is a great way to eat and stay healthy.
The book itself is extremely well done, diets planned for the first few weeks (every meal.) Tables of carbohydrates per food type, glycemic levels, recommendations for how to eat and how much exercise you should be doing. Solutions to problems on the diet and how to correct them, recommendations for suplements with reasons and explanations that can help you figure out what you really need. It's well laid out and easy to use and a fascinating read. It's a great book and a great tool to help you lose body fat and get to your ideal long term weight goal.
1 of 1 found this review helpful:
Might Be Right for You, 2008-03-24
No diet is right for everyone all of the time.
However, despite many misunderstandings and myths, this diet can help some people A LOT.
Don't be afraid to try this diet, but make sure you read the whole book carefully first and do research by reading about other low-carb diets and low-carb websites.
The most important contribution of this book is that it can encourage people to experiment with all foods to find the diet that best fits them at the time.
The fact that Dr. Atkins challenged the mainstream dietary advice helped open the door for people that need high-fat and/or high-animal-protein and/or low-carb diets at any phase in their lives.
This diet may or may not be right for you, but do some research to find out, because for some people it can be great.
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