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From:  Gina <classicalsinger@e...>
Gina <classicalsinger@e...>
Date:  Tue Jan 16, 2001  4:07 am
Subject:  health (and weight) the Atkins diet


I would like to share my personal experience... please pardon me in
advance if I step on toes... it's not intentional. I'm not a D.O...,
Cardiologist or anything like that, and not on the Atkins payroll (ha
ha) but I have done a lot of research. (I used to be a vegetarian, did
Dean Ornish's diet where you eat no meat and no fat and I was exhausted
all the time.) Here's my perspective on my chosen WOE. (Way of
Eating.) I can tell you that the media loves to make a lot of negative
statements about this lifestyle, but, I haven't seen any actual evidence
to back it up.

> It is not a no carbohydrate diet, it's an extremely low carbohydrate
> diet.

True. If someone is doing NO carbohydrates, they are not doing the
Atkins diet. There are actually four phases of the Atkins diet.
Initially, it is 20 grams of carbohydrates per day, then, during on
going weight loss, you may add more salads and vegetables in 5 gram
increments until you find the critical carb limit, which is the point at
which you stop losing weight. Then, later, there is pre- maintenance
and then maintenance. You don't stay on the initial phase very long.

The reason why the Atkins diet works is that it keeps insulin levels
steady and low. (See The New Diet Revolution for a much better
explanation.) When you eat sugary things, your body has to release
insulin to get blood sugar back to normal. When insulin is in the
bloodstream, that's fat storage mode. Bread, starches, rice, etc. all
act like sugar, causing the above problem. That's why you eat chicken
breast, grilled fish and veggies, to keep the insulin from dumping in...
you are able to access and use your own body fat for fuel. What can I
say... it has worked for me! 30 pounds since September.

> It's stressful since the muscles including the heart are forced to
> metabolize ketone bodies instead of glucose.

Not sure why that's stressful... can you help me out on that?

> While I am unaware that it affects the voice directly, it can affect
> energy. If the carbos are too low, it can affect thinking since the
> brain can only metabolize glucose.

The brain can only metabolize glucose? I have not yet seen that
information anywhere... The reading I have done has shown that ketones
are the preferred brain food, and people who consume too many
carbohydrates, particularly refined carbs have "brain fog" which is lack
of clarity of thinking.

My voice is the best it's ever been... I vocalize past high C, can sing
for hours without getting tired. I don't feel stressed. I don't look
stressed. My husband has lost 35 pounds and 2 pants sizes, increasing
his life span. He can do this diet on business trips and can stick to
it even when I am not breathing down his neck.

Anyone losing weight is using ketone bodies. The process of burning fat
creates ketones which are passed harmlessly out in the urine and
breathed out.

I have noticed:
1. End of chronic fatigue!
2. Lowering of my cholesterol from slightly high to excellent
3. Lower weight, smaller clothing size
4. Better clarity in thinking - my research shows that ketone bodies
are the preferred brain food
5. Better moods and stability - depression much, much better
6. End of craving carbohydrates... don't care about the candy aisle
anymore

> The problem is that almost everyone who loses weight on this diet goes
> back
> to the old way of eating and regains all the weight and sometimes
> more.

Of course, you don't want to go back to your old way of eating. Why
would you? It's too bad when people do that. All I've done is cut out
sugar, processed foods, and white bread. I cook at home more frequently
and eat more vegetables. When you reach your goal weight, you may begin
to add more carbohydrates back in, until you find you are gaining.
Then back it down so that you can maintain current weight.

> The
> ONLY way to effectively lose weight and maintain the loss is to eat
> smaller
> quantities of all healthy foods. I will not get into the vegetarian
> vs
> omnivorous diet except to say that it is hard to eat too much as a
> vegetarian. Of course, even a vegetarian can eat too many donuts/ice
> cream/cookies, etc.

I appreciate what you are saying. However, there are records of many
people losing weight effectively, safely and keeping it off with low
carbohydrate diets. Just look at the 100 club on the newsgroup... all
of those people have lost the weight and kept it off. The URL is:
http://www.escribe.com/health/atkins/bb/index.html?

Coincidentally, I was a vegetarian for 2 years and became anemic. I
also put on 30 pounds eating potatoes and pasta and bread.

You do want to supplement your diet with vitamins, no matter what kind
of diet you do... low fat, low calorie, low carb. Nobody gets
everything they need from their diet alone.

Research shows good things about low carbohydrate diets. You can read
the New Diet Revolution by Dr. Atkins, Sugar Busters, Neanderthin, and
the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet, as well as The Zone (not very low-carb),
and Protein Power. Check out people's comments at Amazon.com about how
the various diets helped them when they couldn't lose weight any other
way. You can also look at www.atkinscenter.com Dr. Atkins is a
cardiologist and past age 70 himself.

Those are my opinions and experiences. I have taken a lot of flack
doing this, but it's been worth it.

Gina





  Replies Name/Email Yahoo! ID Date Size
8419 Re: health (and weight) the Atkins diet Greypins@a...   Tue  1/16/2001   2 KB
8462 Re: health (and weight) the Atkins diet Isabelle Bracamonte   Wed  1/17/2001   2 KB

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