The most recent scientific research endorses eating more fruits and vegetables. On the Atkins Diet the consumption of these food groups is limited.
High fat foods such as red meat, which is a fundamental food group in the Atkins, cause problems for our hearts and might be linked to serious illnesses.
We use protein to build muscle but on the Atkins Diet there are few carbohydrates to burn for energy. It is true that consuming protein will lead to weight loss but without the carbohydrates in the diet your body may resort to using your lean muscle mass for energy. That is never good.
Only small portions of carbohydrates are allowed on a weekly basis, 40 to 90 grams, and this goes against everything modern science and nutrition believes is healthy.
The conclusion is that with the Atkins Diet you will lose weight however due to the structure of the diet, high fat and low carb, it may not be a healthy diet over the long run. Remember, we are looking for a diet plan that we can use for the rest of our lives not just for a few months.
A study was done on people using the Atkins diet. The study found that up to 40%
stopped using the Atkins Diet plan within 12 months. The people stated that the diet was just too hard to stay on. However the remaining 60% did lose weight, an average of 16 lbs. in the first six months. But the weight loss dropped to 10 lbs.
after one year on the Atkins Diet.
One of the fundamental reasons people stop a diet is that they miss all the foods they had to give up and this is one of the reasons people find the Atkins Diet difficult to use for an extended period of time.
As discussed earlier, our bodies are very intelligent. If our body detect that something is missing, it will send us a message which we call a 'craving'. As soon as you stop a diet that restricted your foods you will begin eating the foods you craved and as you do you will gain all the weight back.