The Atkins Diet and How It Works

The Adkins Diet, AKA the low carb diet, was created and named after Dr. Robert Atkins. It really is an ingenious way to shed pounds fast. There is no question that it works. The real question is, “Is it safe?” Once you understand how this diet works, then you can intelligently decide for yourself if you want to use it.

It seems that just about every dieter theses days is very “carb conscious.” It is common knowledge that “carbs,” or carbohydrates, quickly break down into sugar when eaten. And everybody knows that sugar is the enemy of dieters. The kind of carbs that come from starchy food like bread, white flour, and pasta, do quickly break down into sugar. For example, if you place an unsalted soda cracker in your mouth and leave it in place until it starts to dissolve, you will find that it starts to taste sweet. This is because the enzymes in your saliva are beginning to break down starch into sugar. Starch, in its simplest form, is a cluster of sugar molecules; much like a cluster of grapes. Each “grape” is a sugar molecule.

So then, “How does the Atkins Diet work?”

This diet works because of the way your body works. Your body uses glucose, or “blood sugar,” as fuel for energy. Your body is designed to store energy and release it when it is needed. Your body doesn’t need you to keep “shoveling coal into the furnace,” so to speak. Even when you don’t eat, there is fuel released into your bloodstream.

Your body needs sugar to burn for immediate energy, but this sugar is released from the path of least resistance. It’s easier for it to burn the sugar that you eat or drink than it is for it to break down starch into sugar. Once the sugar is used up, it’s easier for your body to break down starch into sugar than it is for it to break down your fat cells. The simpler molecules get used first: first sugar, then starch, then fat, and finally as a desperate, last resort, it will resort to breaking down protein.

As you continue to eat throughout your day, if you don’t give your body enough time to metabolize the starch and fat you already have in your system from your previous meal, repeated over time, the excess calories get stored as body fat. Conversely, a low carb, low fat diet forces your system to turn to your body’s fat cells which it can break down into useable fuel.

Traditional Dieting

Traditional dieting involves eating fewer calories than your body needs to survive. If your body needs, say 3000 calories per day (without you doing a lot of strenuous, physical activity), then eating only 2500 calories per day will cause your body to burn 500 calories worth of body fat to make up the difference.

The Atkins diet involves eating virtually no sugar or carbohydrates. Instead, you eat protein rich food such as meat and fish. With no glucose, and no starch to make glucose, your body will turn to your stored fat cells---rather than the protein you eat---to produce blood sugar.

It works. It works great. But is it healthy? Can it be good for your body if you cut out fruit, vegetables, and food with roughage? And what happens after you quit this diet? After you return to regular food, will it be like quitting a diet? Would you gain back the weight you lost? If you decide to use this dieting strategy, your should see your doctor first.