The Atkins Diet was developed in 1972, but despite being nearly 40 years old, there are still many questions that surround it. Atkins has four phases: an induction phase, ongoing weight loss phase, pre-maintenance, and maintenance phase. It was developed by a cardiologist, but modern doctors are quick to distance themselves from the concept of the diet as a medically approved one, notes MayoClinic.com. Instead, the Atkins Diet is a commercial plan whose tenets are effective for some people.
What are Atkins' Core Tenets?
The Atkins Diet is organized around four core tenets. These tenets were developed by Dr. Atkins and apply to all versions of the diet. These four tenets are: You will lose weight, you will maintain your weight loss, you will achieve good health and you will lay the permanent groundwork for disease prevention. Each tenet correlates to one of the four phases of the diet.
How Many Carbs Can I Eat?
Limited carbohydrates are a key part of the Atkins Diet. In the first phase of the diet, you can only eat 20g of carbs per day, the second phase raises that allowance by 5g per week as long as weight loss continues, and the third and fourth phases allow for carb gram increases until weight loss plateaus. However, Atkins uses a net carbs system rather than raw carbs, and MayoClinic.com notes that this is dramatically below Institute of Medicine recommendations, qualifying the diet as extremely low-carb.
Is Atkins Effective?
The Atkins Diet claims that participants can lose up to 15 lbs. in the first phase of the diet, though MayoClinic.com notes that this is not a typical result. Compared to other diets in a randomized trial conducted by Stanford University, the Atkins Diet does do better than the LEARN, Ornish or Zone diets over the course of 12 months. Participants lost an average of 10.4 lbs., nearly double that of any other plan according to the research, which was published in the Mar. 7, 2007 issue of "Journal of the American Medical Association."
Is the Atkins Diet Healthy?
The dramatically low levels of carbohydrates on the Atkins Diet cause the body to use its own fat stores and muscle stores for energy. Known as ketosis, this process does cause weight loss but can also weaken the body's natural support systems, according to MayoClinic.com and Medical News Today.
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