Atkins Diet for Men

The Atkins diet, based on low-carbohydrate intake, allows you to lose body fat while maintaining lean muscle mass. The fat content in a ketogenic, or low-carbohydrate diet, allows you to maintain peak testosterone levels, which helps support your ability to build or maintain lean muscle mass. Higher testosterone levels also contribute to sexual function and reproductive health in men. Consult a health care provider before beginning any dietary program.

Ketosis

The Atkins diet forces you to reduce your carbohydrate intake, causing your body to run primarily on ketones, a fatty fuel that you burn for energy. Exercise speeds your descent into ketosis, and increases your ability to remain in ketosis. As your body's glycogen, or sugar reserves are depleted, you burn a greater amount of energy from fat. A review of various studies conducted at the University of Lund, Sweden, and published in 2005 in the "International Journal of Obesity," showed that men in the studies reviewed lost weight rapidly, and that low-carbohydrate diets were just as effective as low-fat diets. The studies further showed no increase in risk factors for cardiac-related issues.

Hormones

Because the Atkins diet requires you to get most of your calories from fat, your body will have an easier time producing testosterone. Your intake of dietary sterols has a direct effect on your body's ability to convert and synthesize cholesterol into steroidal hormones, including testosterone. While other sex-specific hormones require dietary fat for optimal production, testosterone production is critical for male sexual function. Testosterone also helps maintain strength and lean muscle mass.

Muscle

Since you should be getting nearly all of your calories from fats and proteins, the Atkins diet can help you maintain lean muscle mass when dieting. Dietary protein is required to replenish amino acids that are scavenged while training, and the Atkins diet has you getting at least 30 percent of your daily caloric intake from protein. This exceeds the recommended daily allowance, but a review of literature conducted at Texas A&M, and published in 2009 in the "The Physician and Sportsmedicine," showed that men engaged in resistance training may need up to twice as much protein as those who did not exercise. The increase in protein also leads to increased immune function.

Other Effects

One of the effects of following a ketogenic diet is the inability to retain water. You retain 4 g of water for every gram of glycogen you have. As you are depleting your body's glycogen reserves, you will lose more water. Much of this is via urine, however, this can also increase the rate at which you sweat. Men produce twice as much sweat as women, according to a conducted at the University of Pretoria and published in 2006 in the "Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research." In the study, 14 men sweated twice as much as 12 women during a 90-minute indoor cycling class. The Atkins diet will cause men to to even sweat more.