What is Atkins diet?

1) What is the Dr. Atkins Diet?

The Dr. Atkins Diet is the original low carbohydrate diet that all of the current popular low carbohydrate diets are based on. This diet is an extremely high protein, high fat, and low carbohydrate diet.   This diet is based on the fact that the human body (and brain) normally get their energy from carbohydrates.

Therefore, not consuming carbohydrates forces the body to burn stored body fat tissue for energy rather than carbohydrates, and this is exactly why this type of diet is so effective at burning body fat tissue (as opposed to typical diets which cause mostly "water" weight loss).

2) What are the negative aspects of the Dr. Atkins Diet?

Getting used to a zero/low carbohydrate diet is NOT easy. The body and brain get their energy from carbohydrates, and so for a short time dieters will suffer "side effects" or "withdrawal symptoms" while their bodies become accustomed to the low carb diet (which tries to get the body to begin using "fat tissue" for energy instead of "carbohydrates").

The initial side effects (or withdrawal symptoms) that will be experienced while the body gets used to a low carb diet include sleeplessness, irritability, headaches, extreme fatigue, nervousness, hunger for carbohydrates and the like.

3) What are the positive aspects of the Dr. Atkins Diet?

Those who can deal with the initial side effects or withdrawal symptoms (which can last for a couple of weeks) will be rewarded with the fastest fat burning results possible.

4) How much weight loss can dieters expect each week using the Dr. Atkins Diet?

How much weight a person will lose depends on several factors such as "how exact" a person adheres to the Atkins diet and how much excess body fat tissue a person is carrying on their body when they begin this low carb diet.  In general, dieters can expect to lose between 5 and 12 pounds the first week (some of it is "water weight" of course) and 2 pounds per week each week after that.

5) What are some alternatives to the Dr. Atkins Diet?

There are only a couple of diets that even come close to the effectiveness of the Dr. Atkins Diet when it comes to the burning of actual body fat tissue. However, since most people will not be able to handle the initial side effects caused by a low carb diet then the best alternative would be to eat a well balanced diet, while making sure to keep carbohydrates and fats to a minimum.