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Is the Atkins diet a good diet?
Answer:
yes
Um, no. The U.S. Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, said of the Atkins Diet that it's "unhealthy and can be dangerous." It has been officially condemned by that office and many other medical authorities.
A good diet is:
-- one which you can maintain for years and still stay healthy
-- one which does not cut out a major nutrient
-- one which does not cause you to become very bored with the food you have to eat
Atkins puts too much emphasis on cutting out carbohydrates and encourages eating too much protein. An average adult man only needs 50 grams of protein a day. Anything over that has to be converted to carbohydrate or fat. Your body can't get rid of it directly. Converting protein causes a build-up of ammonia, which your kidneys have to process. This is hard on your kidneys. Your diet should get no more than 10% of its calories from protein.
Atkins claims that "instead of carbs" you eat high-fiber vegetables. In reality, many vegetables are the best carb sources, so they're sort of right. You should be getting most of your carbs from vegetables. But you should also be allowed to eat whole grains to get the rest of your carbs. Your diet should be at least half carbohydrates. When you eat vegetables and whole grains to get carbohydrates, you get a good amount of fiber, which Atkins also says is a good thing. You also get necessary vitamins, phytochemicals, and antioxidents to stay healthy.
Atkins encourages eating lots of fats. Instead of fats, which are not very filling, vegetables that contain carbs are much more filling, and are much healthier for you. Saturated fats and trans fats are very bad for your body. You only need 2-4 tablespoons of oils a day to get your Omega 6 fats and 1/2 teaspoon of fish oil or 1 ounce of walnuts to get your Omega 3 fats. Fats have more than twice the calories per gram than carbs or protein, so you can see that if you aren't eating a lot of fats, you can eat twice as much food.
If you take on a diet like Atkins, where you cut out a major food group, you are also setting yourself up for failure in that you will start craving that major nutrient that you need so badly, and you will be forced to cave in. It's much more fun and easy to succeed at a diet in which you get balanced nutrition from many different sources and which does not punish you with deprivation or endanger your health.
Um, no. The U.S. Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop, said of the Atkins Diet that it's "unhealthy and can be dangerous." It has been officially condemned by that office and many other medical authorities.
A good diet is:
-- one which you can maintain for years and still stay healthy
-- one which does not cut out a major nutrient
-- one which does not cause you to become very bored with the food you have to eat
Atkins puts too much emphasis on cutting out carbohydrates and encourages eating too much protein. An average adult man only needs 50 grams of protein a day. Anything over that has to be converted to carbohydrate or fat. Your body can't get rid of it directly. Converting protein causes a build-up of ammonia, which your kidneys have to process. This is hard on your kidneys. Your diet should get no more than 10% of its calories from protein.
Atkins claims that "instead of carbs" you eat high-fiber vegetables. In reality, many vegetables are the best carb sources, so they're sort of right. You should be getting most of your carbs from vegetables. But you should also be allowed to eat whole grains to get the rest of your carbs. Your diet should be at least half carbohydrates. When you eat vegetables and whole grains to get carbohydrates, you get a good amount of fiber, which Atkins also says is a good thing. You also get necessary vitamins, phytochemicals, and antioxidents to stay healthy.
Atkins encourages eating lots of fats. Instead of fats, which are not very filling, vegetables that contain carbs are much more filling, and are much healthier for you. Saturated fats and trans fats are very bad for your body. You only need 2-4 tablespoons of oils a day to get your Omega 6 fats and 1/2 teaspoon of fish oil or 1 ounce of walnuts to get your Omega 3 fats. Fats have more than twice the calories per gram than carbs or protein, so you can see that if you aren't eating a lot of fats, you can eat twice as much food.
If you take on a diet like Atkins, where you cut out a major food group, you are also setting yourself up for failure in that you will start craving that major nutrient that you need so badly, and you will be forced to cave in. It's much more fun and easy to succeed at a diet in which you get balanced nutrition from many different sources and which does not punish you with deprivation or endanger your health.
First answer by ID3637501177.
Last edit by LastDawnOfMan.
Contributor trust: 2
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