Atkins Diet Facts vs. Fiction

Let’s get this straight – there are Atkins Diet facts and fictions, and people often get the two hopelessly confused. It’s important to sort out what information is accurate and what information is pure speculation or mis-information from critics of Atkins.

Here are some concrete Atkins diet facts to consider when evaluating this low carb diet:

• Ketosis is perfectly safe when on the Atkins diet. Ketosis takes place when you eat very few carbs, producing ketones. Ketones help your body process and burn up stored body fat as fuel. Some people will tell you that ketones can build up to dangerous levels in your body systems, but this is not true. In fact, ketones are released through urine and your body tightly regulates how much you need to produce energy from any source.
• The Atkins Diet helps you lose weight even if you don’t reduce your calories. Some critics will say that the diet actually disguises a reduction in calories in the restricted foods list. In fact, this couldn’t be further from the truth. The weight loss is a result of the process of ketosis, and when eating more proteins and fats, you will promote ketosis rather than using carbohydrates for energy. It’s a fact that while many people do end up taking in fewer calories because they have fewer cravings and are more satisfied by what they eat, it isn’t necessary to continue losing weight.
  

  It’s a fact that one nice side effect of not having to watch calories is that it’s easier to stay on the long-term Maintenance Phase of the Atkins Diet. After one year, most Atkins dieters are still on the program, unlike with other diets.

• The Atkins Diet is nutritionally balanced. In fact, the Atkins nutritional approach provides one of the most nutritionally balanced diets available. It rebalances your metabolism and what your body craves so that you are actually eating more of the foods you need and no longer stuffing yourself with sugars and carbohydrates that are bad for you. The fact is that your blood sugar and insulin levels will be stabilized and you will feel more energy and vitality. The Atkins program also includes the use of nutritional supplements to make sure anything your body needs and may be missing in your diet is provided.
• The Atkins Diet doesn’t damage the kidneys are other organs. Critics have suggested that Atkins can lead to kidney damage so many times that most people assume it is based on actual clinical evidence. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth! Just go ahead and look for a study that proves this, and I’ll be really impressed. This fallacy may be based on a potentially extreme case (which would in fact be very rare as well). If someone already had kidney disease, it would be harder for them to process proteins. But the Atkins diet doesn’t cause kidney disease in any way, shape or form.
• The Atkins Diet provides you with enough calcium. Some people argue that the restriction against drinking milk on the Atkins Diet will lead to a calcium deficiency. In fact, if milk were the only place you can get calcium, this would make sense. But since you are allowed various cheeses on the Atkins program, as well as other sources such as broccoli and kale, it doesn’t hold water.
• You won’t crave sweets on the Atkins Diet. People crave sweets because they have become addicted to them. While you may crave sweets for a few days during the first few days while you are “kicking the habit,” this will quickly stop. As long as you stay on the Atkins program (in any of the four phases), you will in fact find that you desire sweets much less than you did when you were eating lots of carbs.
• Your cholesterol will go down after a few months on Atkins. The fallacy that a high-protein, low carb diet will raise cholesterol levels has been completely debunked by several clinical studies. In fact, even health care professionals who have previously been skeptical have admitted that after only a few months on the Atkins Diet, most people’s bad cholesterol levels actually drop by several points. It is one of the healthiest side effects of the Atkins approach.

These Atkins diet facts should convince you that this diet is one of the most reliable and safe approaches there is to successful weight loss.

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