If you need to lose weight, you might be trying to decide which diet to follow. A healthy weight loss diet includes good nutrition from a variety of foods. The most successful diets also provide for longer term weight loss so that your weight does not cycle back up. Some individuals have found success using the Atkins nutritional approach, which is a popular low-carbohydrate diet for weight loss.
Weight Loss
A low carbohydrate diet such as Atkins may lead to rapid initial weight loss because a low carbohydrate diet acts like a diuretic. According to the Mayo Clinic, a low carbohydrate diet may also help to promote weight loss if you eat fewer calories. Your body digests fats and proteins slowly, and you feel full for longer when you eat them compared to carbohydrates. Since they are the main components of the diet, you might end up eating less overall and losing weight. Also, the diet limits your variety of food choices, which can also lead you to eat less food.
Net Carbs
Individuals following the Atkins low-carb diet count their net carbohydrates to meet their daily goals for carbohydrate intake. To calculate a food's net carbohydrates, subtract the grams of fiber in the food from the total number of carbohydrates. The theory behind net carbs is that the body only uses non-fiber carbohydrates for energy, and eating fiber does not interfere with fat metabolism. This system encourages you to choose high fiber foods to lower the net carbs.
Induction
Induction is the first phase of the Atkins diet. It requires a daily limit of 20g carbohydrate so that your body burns fat rather than carbohydrates for fuel. In this phase, you can eat foods without carbohydrates such as meat, fish, poultry, and fats. You can also eat low carbohydrate vegetables such as lettuce and mushrooms. During induction, you cannot eat pastries, baked goods or other high carbohydrate foods. The Atkins diet claims that this phase boosts your metabolism. Induction lasts for at least two weeks.
Later Phases
The three phases of the Atkins low carbohydrate diet after induction are ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance, and lifetime maintenance. These phases gradually increase the amount of net carbohydrates that you can eat. The focus is on choosing nutrient rich carbohydrate sources such as vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Phase two, or ongoing weight loss, lasts until you are within five to 10 pounds of your goal, and phase three focuses on slowing down your weight loss. In lifetime maintenance, or phase four, you can eat about 45 to 100 grams of carbohydrates per day to maintain your weight.
Considerations
It is true that most people who carefully follow Atkins low carb diet lose weight. This is probably because they eat fewer calories on this diet than when they are not dieting, and probably is not a result of counting carbohydrates. The Atkins diet is often high in saturated fat and low in fiber because it encourages a high meat intake and a controlled intake of fruits and vegetables. Following a dietary pattern like this for the long term may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease or certain cancers, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Member Comments