Could loosing weight on Atkins diet have an adverse effect on your health?

Atkins diet is the most well know high protein/low carbohydrate diet. The Atkins diet claims that you can eat as much protein and fat as you like and still lose weight. It first appeared in the early 70’s. The diet claims that you cut out the carbohydrates you eat to become thin. People who are not eating a balanced diet usually become overweight or obese. A balanced diet includes a variety of foods from all 6 food groups including fresh fruit, vegetables and grain products. Eating a balanced diet will reduce the risks of getting obese and getting certain diseases such as heart disease as the diet should be low in cholesterol and fat. A balanced diet should provide all the necessary daily nutrients and provide enough calories to improve your health and wellbeing.

The food pyramid above shows the groups of foods that make up a balanced diet. It also tells that you need to eat a Variety of foods from all of the 6 groups and how much you should eat them. The idea of the food pyramid is to eat more foods from the bottom of the pyramid and less foods form the top of the pyramid.

The 6 different groups that make up a balanced diet: 1

1. Bread, Cereal, Rice, and Pasta: 6-11 servings
2. Vegetables: 3-5 servings
3. Fruit: 2-4 servings
4. Milk, Yogurt, and Cheese: 2-3 servings
5. Meat, Poultry, Fish, Dry Beans, Eggs, and Nuts: 2-3 servings
6. Fats, Oils, and Sweets: use only small amounts

Obesity or being overweight is one of the main reasons why people actually go on the Atkins Diet. ‘Obesity is a condition in which a person’s weight gain seriously endangers their health’ 2 Obesity results when the size or number of fat cells in a person’s body increases. When a person gains weight, these fat cells increase in size and number. Obesity is a major problem in society today. It increases the risk of developing medical conditions such as diabetes, blood pressure, stroke and heart disease.

Many social factors may lead to obesity. Poverty is one factor ...

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Many social factors may lead to obesity. Poverty is one factor that causes obesity in society. Studies have shown that people who have a low income are less motivated and have a higher tendency towards a fast-food diets. People with less income do not tend to be taking part in any physical activities for example going to the gym regularly due to the high costs associated in enrolling in a fitness club or gym.

‘Another factor, which leads to obesity, is having an unhealthy diet and lifestyle’ 2. Eating a high fat diet and consuming large amounts of saturated fats, which are high in calories has been linked to obesity. As well as social factors, physiological factors also contribute to obesity. Obese young women are more likely to suffer from low self-esteem.

Another reason why people go on the Atkins diet is because of the media attention that this particular diet is getting. For instance many celebrities like Jennifer Anniston and Geri Halliwell have been reported to have been on the Atkins diet, which has been successful and have lost weight. People may feel they would look and feel better if they lost a few pounds.

When you first begin the Atkins diet you go on a 2 week induction period. This two week induction period is to put you into ketosis. Many health experts say that ketosis is bad for the health, as it puts a strain on the kidneys. In the induction period you cut out all carbohydrates. After the induction phase, dieters slowly increase the amount of carbohydrates in their diet. The Atkins diet works by starving the body of carbohydrates – which is the main energy source – this causes your body to burn fat as a primary source of energy and results in rapid fat loss, even when a person consumes high amount of fats, the body burns it off. The Atkins diet eliminates cereals, fruits, baked goods, grains, bread, and starchy vegetables from a person diet. These foods are high in calories. Without these types of foods you intake less calories so you loose weight.

They are some advantages of going on the Atkins diet as well as disadvantages. One of the advantages is that you can eat large amounts of proteins and still lose weight. The Atkins diet is effective in achieving short-term weight loss.

The Atkins can cause a few health risks. ‘One of the heath risks while on the Atkins diet is calcium loss – leading to osteoporosis’ 3. A high consumption of protein, especially from animal sources, increases the loss of calcium which may lead to Osteoporosis. The person will need to take mineral and vitamin supplements while on the diet to reduce the risk of getting osteoporosis.

The diet is not only high in protein and low in carbohydrates, but also very high in saturated fat and cholesterol and low in fibre The diet causes people to miss out on essential vitamins and minerals, this can increase the risk of getting any medical conditions. The person on the diet may have to take multivitamin tablets everyday to eliminate the risk of getting any health risks.

‘Eating lots of meat and fat-based foods can cause bad breath and body odour3’; this is another disadvantage of being on the diet. Meat protein is digested slowly in your body, and it decays as it goes down your body. Your body excretes these toxic substances through body sweat and breath.

Over consumption of protein and fat can cause ketosis. Ketosis can cause kidney problems, imbalanced blood sugar and insulin levels.

After doing research on the Atkins Diet I think it is a not a healthy approach to loosing weight. The Atkins diet increases the risks of health conditions; some are life threatening and a risk for inadequate vitamin and mineral intake, so I think it does have an adverse effect on your health. The Atkins Diet can be the worst diet for women who suffer from period pain. ‘Cutting out carbs can leave you with low blood sugar - and the diet means you’ll eat very little fruit and veg. All this can leave you run down, while period symptoms, such as dizziness, sickness, weakness and headaches, can get worse.’ 4. On the other hand the diet can be good for male adults, as research has shown that men eat less food which contain high amounts of carbohydrates then women so they loose weight effectively as they eat less carbohydrates.

Although they are many drawbacks on being on the Atkins diet, I think if a dieter has the right attitude towards the diet i.e. taking the 2 week induction period, taking vitamins and minerals supplements and drinking 2 litres of water then I do not think it has an adverse effect on their health. I, personally will choose another alternative to loosing weight – eating a balanced diet and exercising regularly is one way of loosing weight in a healthy way without increasing the risk of getting any medical conditions.