Q: Does the Atkins diet work?
What do you think about the Atkins diet?
A: Long before the Atkins Diet hit the mainstream in a big way, I was singing the praises of a low-carbohydrate, high-animal-fat diet for weight loss and overall health for more than 30 years-right alongside the esteemed Dr. Atkins.
But with his unfortunate passing in 2003, I’m one of the last voices in the forest advocating his diet plan, or similar variations of it.
The media began attacking the Atkins Diet shortly after his untimely demise. They even went after him personally, insinuating that his late-in-life heart attack was caused by his own eating habits instead of the cardiomyopathy he suffered from (which was completely unrelated to his diet). They even went so far as to portray the 40-60 pounds of water weight this condition caused Dr. Atkins to be carrying around when he died as an indication of morbid obesity… despite the fact that any doctor could have told them that this kind of fluid retention is a common symptom of some types of cardiomyopathy!
Shortly after this, the mainstream media and medical establishments embarked on a systematic campaign to discredit and malign both the Good Doctor himself and his incredibly effective diet – to which thousands (maybe even millions) of Americans owe their better health.
But research keeps pointing to the incredible health benefits of this diet. For example, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that the Atkins Diet beat the pants off three other name-brand dieting and nutrition plans: The Zone Diet, the Ornish Diet, and the LEARN program (which is based on the U.S. government’s own Food Pyramid recommendations)…
The research showed that overweight women lost between two and three times as much weight using the Atkins plan as those who used one of these other three diets. They also showed a greater improvement in several cardiac health markers.
Not only did the Atkins gals fare better in terms of overall weight loss after a year, they also displayed comparatively:
- Higher average levels of HDL “good” cholesterol
- Lower average blood pressure
- An average 30% reduction in harmful triglycerides!
In case you need reminding, the weight-loss principles behind the Atkins and other low-carb eating plans are simple: Calories from fats and proteins are inherently more filling and satisfying than calories from simple sugars and carbohydrates. That means you eat less of them while remaining sated – which means you lose weight.
The fact that these caloric sources are also worlds better for your heart and arteries is a nice fringe benefit, but maintaining proper weight is the real key to health. And that’s a lot easier on Atkins-type diets.
