Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet, also known as the Atkins Nutritional Approach, is a high-fat, high-protein, low-carbohydrate weight-loss diet developed by Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1960s. Atkins published a series of books explaining this type of diet, beginning with Dr. Atkin's Diet Revolution in 1972, and in 1989 founded the company Atkins Nutritionals, which produces food products and other merchandise intended to support people following the Atkins Diet. The Atkins Diet has waxed and waned in popularity over the years and has spawned a number of imitators. Although severely criticized by many nutritionists since its inception, few clinical studies were conducted until recently, and most have shown that the diet does have at least short-term efficacy in promoting weight loss and improvements in health without endangering the health of normally healthy individuals. Exercise is encouraged within the Atkins program (for instance, on the Atkins Nutritional Web site) although it is not strictly speaking a requirement for following the diet.

The Atkins Diet runs counter to most mainstream nutritional advice, including that of the Food Pyramid popularized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which recommends that most of a person's diet should be based on complex carbohydrates and fruits and vegetables. Instead, the Atkins Diet is based on the belief that consumption of carbohydrates, particularly refined carbohydrates, is the primary cause of obesity in the Western world, and also that saturated fat is less harmful to health than is commonly supposed. The early stages of the Atkins Diet are intended to put a person into ketosis, a state in which their body is sufficiently deprived of carbohydrates that it will break down fatty acids into ketone bodies that are burned for energy (rather than glucose, which is the typical energy source for humans). Prolonged states of ketosis can damage the liver and kidneys, and therefore, standard medical advice for persons following strict low-carbohydrate diets intended to produce ketosis are recommended to do so for only short periods of time (such as 14 days).

Seeming to go against conventional thought, the Atkins Diet stresses protein and fat and avoidance of carbohydrates.

The Atkins Diet program is divided into four phases. The first phase, induction, lasts two weeks and is intended to put the individual into a state of ketosis. This is achieved by restricting carbohydrate consumption to 20 grams per day, while allowing consumption of large quantities of meat, eggs, cheese, butter, and oils, as well as low-carbohydrate vegetables. Rapid weight loss is typical during this period (1–2 pounds per day), although some of this loss may be attributed to dehydration. The second phase, ongoing weight loss, allows an increase of 5 grams of carbohydrates per week while still keeping the level low enough that weight loss continues. Ongoing weight loss continues until a weight close to the optimal (i.e., within 10 pounds) is achieved. Pre-maintenance is the third phase; in this period, carbohydrate consumption is further increased and may raise the body out of ketosis. Lifetime maintenance is the final phase in which individuals follow a healthy diet and monitor their weight, so they may return to one of the earlier phases if they start to regain previously lost weight.

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