Safety and Effectiveness of the Atkins Diet

Whenever someone is deciding on what diet to go on, they consider whether

it will keep the weight off in the end and what the pros and cons are

compared to other diets. Atkins has been a growing trend in weight lost

ever since Dr. Atkins came out with his best selling book Dr. Atkins’ New

Diet Revolution. Through the examination of three different studies,

researchers were able to determine whether the Atkins diet will keep weight

off compared to calorie and fat reduced diets, as well as how this diet

works. Although, further longitudinal research must be done in order to see

the true repercussions of going on a low-carbohydrate diet, researchers can

conclude that in the end, eating a low fat diet and exercising are the only

true answers to losing weight.

The Atkins diet is for people who are over the low fat diet and

exercising. The Atkins diet means restricting a person’s caloric intake to

5-10% from carbohydrates in their daily diet. Which is a vast reduction of

carbohydrates compared to other diets that usually allow up to 40-45% of

calories from foods like fruits and vegetables? The Atkins diet is no

longer just a fad, it has really caught on worldwide, almost 20 million

people now follow Dr. Atkins’ diet. The Atkins diet also claims to be a

three in one diet, it not only allows people to lose weight, it also claims

to keep the weight off without the feeling of hunger, and lastly it claims

to help prevent disease. Through further review of previous studies,

researchers are trying to explore whether or not this is possible, as well

as how the Atkins diet really works.

The Atkins diet claims that the way it works is by increasing the amount

of energy being used causing people to lose weight. This diet also claims

to increase the amount of energy being used by 2-3% more everyday. Further

review of the studies on Atkins; found that this increased amount of energy

being used only makes a small difference in the total amount of weight

lost. Researchers claim that after reviewing all the studies that it might

actually be the fact that the Atkins diet restricts so much of what you can

eat that makes a person lose all that weight. The strict restrictions to

what a person can and cannot eat are what researchers claim causes the