Atkins diet

The Atkins Nutritional Approach or Atkins Diet is a high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet popularized by Dr. Robert Atkins in a series of books, starting with Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution. It has been the subject of heated debate in medical circles for three decades. [1] The Atkins diet has generally been considered by mainstream medical and nutritional experts to be unsound, even bogus, so much so that until recently no serious research has been done on it or other low carbohydrate diets. However a few small research projects have shown such diets to be efficacious as well as a great deal of anecdotal evidence. Two large scale studies are planned, one funded by Atkins's nonprofit foundation.

The primary objective of the diet is weight loss for those who are overweight. Atkins claims that if people restrict their intake of carbohydrates, their bodies will enter a state of ketosis and will begin burning fat. He recommends a diet high in protein and fat with little or no carbohydrate. The main advantage of the diet, according to Atkins, is that it reduces your appetite, while a high-carbohydrate diet causes your body to produce large quantities of insulin which stimulates your appetite.

Dr. Robert Eckel of the American Heart Association says that high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets put people at risk for heart disease. [2]

See: Diet, Dieting, List of diets

Links:

• FAQs of the Atkins Center
• New York Times Magazine article What if It's All Been a Big Fat Lie?