Atkins diet for weight loss: Here’s what you need to know about it
Everyone who believes in the Atkins diet claim that you can lose weight by limiting carbohydrates and eating foods high in fat and protein. Is it worth trying? Keep reading to find out.
Weight loss
Many diets claim to help with rapid weight loss. Atkins, Dukan, Vegan, Paleo, and zone are some of the most popular weight-loss diets. While some focus on reducing appetite, others restrict calories, carbohydrates, or fats. With so many options and statements they make, it can be challenging to know which ones are worth trying. Remember that no diet is better for everyone. Today we’re going to talk about the Atkins diet, a popular low-carb diet for weight loss.
A lot of discussions are there on the use of calorie counting for weight loss and weight maintenance. Although most nutrition experts recognize the importance of consuming the right number of calories each day, they recognize that trying to track and control your daily intake can be tedious and can seem restrictive.
Motivation
The main advantage is that people can lose a lot of weight very quickly, which can be very motivating. There is much more motivation with this diet to eliminate most processed carbohydrates and alcohol. Thanks to its ability to consume lots of red meat and butter, cream, cheese, and high-fat mayonnaise, it’s also the only diet that gets men talking about the need to lose weight. In many cases, this conversation has turned into action, and many men follow the Atkins diet to lose their beer belly!
Atkins diet
In the Atkins diet, you monitor your net carbohydrate intake, but you don’t have to count or limit calories. For many people, this feature of the Atkins plan is more attractive.
Atkins diet is to lose weight by having the right balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. Believers of this diet say that you can lose weight by limiting carbohydrates and eating foods high in fat and protein.
Dr. Robert C. Atkins initially promoted this diet and wrote a book about it in 1972. Initially, the Atkins diet was demonized by conventional health authorities as unhealthy. All of this is primarily due to its high content of saturated fat. However, according to new studies, saturated fats are harmless. Specific low-carb diets are effective in losing weight and can lead to various health improvements.
Experts view
In addition to promoting weight loss, researchers say the Atkins diet results in more significant improvements in blood sugar, “Better cholesterol, triglycerides, and other health markers.
Experts say cutting back on carbohydrates and increasing protein intake will reduce your appetite. This, in turn, makes you eat fewer calories.
Phases of the Atkins Diet
There are four main phases for the Atkins diet.
The first phase
This is called induction, which should be followed for at least two weeks, although this phase can last much longer if you can handle it! During induction, you should precisely and adequately limit the amount of carbohydrate intake in your diet intake to 20g per day (most of us eat around 250g regularly). Besides avoiding high carbohydrate treats like cookies, cakes, chocolate, chips, sodas, croissants, and cakes, it also means forgoing bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, with milk, fruit, and most vegetables. On the other hand, the menu can eat unlimited amounts of red meat, chicken, fish, cheese, eggs, mayonnaise, cream, and butter. During the induction phase, your body switches from burning carbohydrates to burning fat and stabilizing blood sugar.
Phase two
Known as continuous weight loss, you can increase your carbohydrate intake slightly, by 5g per day for one week at a time, until you find your critical level of carbohydrate for weight loss. This is the maximum amount of carbohydrates you can eat each day to lose 1 to 3 pounds per week. For some people, this can be as little as 25g of carbohydrates, for others, 50g. However, it is still considerably lower than what most of us are used to and actually only allows the introduction of certain vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, and breakfast cereals are still prohibited!
Phase three
This is called pre-maintenance, once you have lost between 5 and 10 pounds. During this phase, you increase your carbohydrate intake by 10g per day for one week at a time. The idea is to reduce weight loss to no more than 1 pound per week to prepare your body for the final phase of weight maintenance. It is the perfect time for you to start including small amounts of traditional starches like bread, pasta, and porridge, and we’re talking small amounts!
For example, only 40g of cooked brown rice or 30g of cooked pasta provides 10g of carbohydrates each!
The fourth and final phase.
Lifetime maintenance is intended to help you maintain your weight. Although you can have a slightly more varied carbohydrate intake, most people should limit carbohydrates to less than 90g per day; This is only about a third of what most of us eat per day. The result: you’ll be on a low-carb diet for life.
Expectations
Dr. Atkins states that you can expect to lose 6-10 pounds in the first two weeks of induction, which should decrease to 1-3 pounds per week once you enter the continued weight loss phase. During the pre-interview, you can expect to lose a maximum of 1 pound per week.
Net Carbs
The body can digest not all carbohydrates. Fiber, for example, passes through the body without affecting blood sugar. The Atkins diet focuses on carbohydrates that can be digested and therefore affect blood sugar.
The “net” carbohydrate value of a food refers to the number of digestible carbohydrates a product contains. This is equivalent to the carbohydrate content listed in the nutrition facts table on the food package in the UK.
When following the Atkins diet, you should avoid foods such as sugar, grains, vegetable oils, fruits, and vegetables that are high in carbohydrates. However, the Atkins diet is quite flexible. Only during the induction phase is it necessary to minimize the intake of carbohydrate sources. Once this phase is complete, you can slowly add healthier carbohydrates.
Can we compare it with Keto?
Keto vs. Atkins: That is a difficult question to answer. Both regimes have their pros and cons. Current research shows that Keto tends to be more effective at losing weight than Atkins, but it’s also challenging to maintain, making Atkins a sustainable alternative.
Atkins’s effectiveness also depends on your metabolic flexibility and goals. It is up to you, how much you can effectively do to switch between burning carbohydrates and fats for fuel, then Atkins may be ideal for you to manage your weight. Atkins also allows for more carbs, making it easy for you to eat in restaurants, and you’ll have a broader range of food options to choose from.
Ultimately, choosing Keto or Atkins depends on your willingness to keep eating low carb and your metabolic flexibility. Keto is excellent when it comes to effectiveness, but some people find a carb-free life unbearable. If you’re still undecided, it will be better to try both of these diets to have a better look at what more suits your body.
Conclusion
The Keto diet is one of the best to lose weight quickly and effectively. It will not be adverse to try the Keto diet as it has many more pros than cons.
