About the Atkins diet

Atkins diet
The Atkins diet is a diet proposed by Dr. Robert Atkins. The Atkins diet is part of hypoglycemic diet, or 'low-carb', i.e. low in carbohydrates. Considering that he has followed since its launch by 40 million people. It is based on a diet moderately high protein (meat, fish, cheese, eggs, vegetable protein) and without restriction of fats, provided that they are balanced, but limiting the intake of carbohydrates (bread, pasta, rice, etc. high glycemic index in particular). The consumption of fruits and vegetables is limited in the first phase of the scheme, but according to nutritional guidelines then. In its new version (2011), the plan may be followed by vegetarians.
This scheme was developed in the 1970s by the American Robert Atkins. Atkins did little more than codify a form popular and easy to implement, the practices universally used by doctors since the beginning of the 19th century until the beginning of the 1960s for weight loss: drastic starches, no restriction of fats. Precisely because it does not restrict fat, this regime has been sharply criticized upon its release by the medical profession, which in the meantime had converted to low fat diets. Knowing that fat provide 9 kilo calories per gram, against 4 kilo calories per gram for carbohydrates, it seemed absurd at the time to restrict carbohydrates for weight loss. It was then neglecting the fact that body very effectively transforms carbohydrates into fat under the action of the insulin secreted by the pancreas.
Many doctors and nutritionists recognize today that Atkins was right. Thus, for Pr Walter Willett, head of the largest unit of nutrition research in the world, the school of public health from Harvard, Atkins was unfairly attacked. According to him "there was this very simplistic idea: because fat has more calories per gram than carbohydrates, we should eliminate or reduce body fat to control our calorie consumption, or if you want to control our weight. '' Yet, it is the manner in which a regime satisfies us, because the mechanisms that control our calorie consumption are very complex and it became obvious that if we follow a diet rich in carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates, it becomes very difficult to control the calories eaten.(...) This is what Dr. Atkins said more than 30 years ago, namely that if we cut our consumption of carbohydrate at a rather low level, it will be easier to control the calories and promote weight loss. It is that there is a strong element of truth. "A number of recent studies have examined this in great detail, comparing diets in fat and rich in carbohydrates and low carbohydrate diets, and in general, people lost more weight with low glucide diets.
The Atkins diet in the first version of the 1970s allowed all fats without distinction, making it unbalanced from the point of view of fatty acids, including omega-6 and omega-3 intakes. It was drastically limited fruit, which made it difficult to follow and possibly deficient in fibre and antioxidant vitamins. In 2010, the Atkins diet was the subject of a recast deep to incorporate recent data research, under the leadership of three U.S. academic physicians: Pr Eric Westman, Professor of medicine at Duke University, Prof. Stephen Finney, Professor of medicine Emeritus at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of California (Davis) and the Pr Jefferson Volek, from the University of Connecticut. This new Atkins Diet recommendations does not deviate from current official nutritional recommendations to the United States. They focus on fruits and vegetables. They take into account the recent discoveries on the glycemic load and omega-3 omega-6 report. This development was welcomed by the medical profession. The Atkins diet has become easier to follow in the long term.


In some studies, this regime did not show superior efficacy compared to other plans in the medium term. However, if we consider not a secluded study, but a systematic analysis of all the comparative studies conducted to date, as did recently by researchers at the University of Aberdeen (United Kingdom) then the conclusion is that the Atkins diet and low carb diets "are more effective at 6 months as poor in fats and also effective regimes if it is more than low fat diets to reduce weight and cardiovascular risk

A report in 2010 highlights the higher than recommended dietary allowances lipid intake, but this assessment is based on the version of the plan published in the 1970s and does not integrate its recent evolution, is therefore not relevant.
At the metabolic level, this regime is favourable because it increases the level of good cholesterol (HDL) and decreases blood levels of triglycerides and blood sugar. It brings no change to the level of 'bad' cholesterol (LDL6).
In addition, Dr. Ronald Krauss of Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute (CHORI) supports him, in fact, bad cholesterol is divided into several phases, and that these are the most demanding phases that are harmful, however these phases tend to increase with the consumption of sugars.
By its results on the weight, blood glucose and blood lipids, the Atkins diet is increasingly offered to diabetics in the United States, even if the subject is the subject of debate. For Dr. Arne Astrup of the University of Copenhagen, "there is more and more evidence to show that the optimal diet in people overweight, insulin resistant, including type-2 diabetics is a scheme in which carbohydrates must be reduced, even if the Atkins diet goes too far."
Results related to cardiovascular complications are not clear. Changes in blood cholesterol levels should, in theory, be beneficial but experimental results in mice tend to show, on the contrary, there is a risk of increase in pressure on the arteries. In fact, it seems that the risk depends on the origin of proteins: if they are of animal origin, the risk of mortality is increased (whether by cardiovascular disease or cancer), if they are basically of vegetable origin, overall mortality is decreased