Atkins "Nightmare" Diet

[Gaper_Jeffy]

http://www.atkinsfacts.org

[Crux]

Thanks for the link Jeffy.

 

I'm studying nutrition in a summer class now, and will be comparing some fad diets as part of the course-work soon.

 

During recent courses in physiology, the topic of low-carb or no-carb diets came up came up several times. The Atkins diet is a popular example, and users proclaim it a good diet for reducing obesity. When I run into somebody that says they've started using the Atkins diet, sure enough, they gleefully proclaim how much weight they've lost in the first weeks alone! But in physiology, we were taught how and why the sudden weight loss is primarily caused by dehydration. I observed that after the body has dumped 10 to 30 pounds of water to combat acid ketosis, these people got real quiet as they went back to the carbs to stay alive. But the fad goes on.

 

It seems a growing number of Americans are becoming desperate. As we all know, obesity is emerging as a sort of epidemic in this country. In my opinion, Americans have collectively taught themselves to forego moderation in their eating habits. As a result, a huge percentage of the population is conditioned for malnutrition, and many individuals are deeply uncomfortable with good nutrition. Thus, good nutrition is often denied as a solution to obesity. Instead, individuals will typically engage one malnutrition scheme or the other, and the Atkins diet is one example.

 

At the core of the problem, I think, is the prevalence of long-term behavioral training that effectively conditions individuals to feel most comfortable when they are eating an immoderate diet. As a result, in order to consume enough, people consume too much.

 

In contemporary American society, intensive malnutrition training often starts in childhood at which time it becomes a part of innate behavior; therefore, the training may be practically irreversible. Fad diets don't change that.

 

As an anecdotal example of childhood training for obesity, I offer the following example: Early this year I observed a mother essentially forcing her two-year-old daughter to eat cookies when the girl did not want to eat the cookies. The mother had just arrived at a daycare center to get her daughter at the end of the day, and the mother pulled out a large-sized plastic Ziploc sandwich bag stuffed with Graham crackers and held them up for the child to grasp. The child didn't want any of the crackers. So the mother reached into the child's stroller and pulled out another big sandwich bag, this one stuffed with Oreo cookies. Again, the child said, "No! No want cookies!" As though on a mission for which she had been trained, the mother persisted. She reached into the stroller and brought out yet another bag, this one filled with Fritos corn chips. The child continued to decline to eat (she had recently been fed in the daycare) but the mother continued pestering the child to choose from the bags of cookies and crackers until the child finally started munching away on the Oreos.

 

Super-size we!

 

mCrux

[Dustin_B]

Lance's coach (name slips my mind right now) had some funny stuff to say about the Atkins diet when the TDF announers were talking to him. Guess he has a new book out about dieting or something. They asked if a TDF rider could be on the atkins diet and he kind of laughed and said that diet is for people who don't exercise. But we all know this already.

[Ade]

Chris Carmichael

[SublimeSalamander]

I'm not looking to get sprayed but have you guys actually read the books? I lost 54lbs on the diet. After the first two and most restrictive phases of the diet. The diet becomes very varied. Basically it's a diet without sweets. By the time you reach life time maintenance your eating plenty of veggies, grains, and fruit. There are plenty of people out there that don't do it right. They think if low carb is good then no carb is better. These are the ones who fail early on. I've kept the weight off for almost two years now. Cholesterol and blood pressure is great. The ones not doing it the correct way are the ones giving it a bad rep.

[Gaper_Jeffy]

<snip>

[SublimeSalamander]

Let's see, I did read your web sight. I was 256lbs I put that weight on after a back injury. It's the Atkins not the South Beach I'm doing. And since I've read your web sight you should read the current up to date version of the Atkins book it will dispel some of the misconceptions your web sight has on it. Then if you want to discuss this further I will. Until it's not worth discussing this with someone who has heard from someone who heard from someone else...bla bla bla. Who hasn't researched it the way I have.