I've been on Atkins for 4 months and lost 23 pounds. But I'm eating very few vegetables and I wonder how safe it is. Does anyone know?

leelan

Hi Leelan,

Congrats on the weight loss! Yay!!!

I am a vegetarian ... so haven't personally tried Atkins. My mother did Atkins for about 6 months and lost 30 lbs. (She must've been on a slower bus than you)

She looked slim, but her skin didn't look as good as it did before the diet - or as good as it does now (She turned vegetarian). She still eats the Atkins bars for snacks.

My 2 cents: I would worry about this diet ... The following medical groups have warned that this diet is harmful: the National Academy of Sciences, AMA, ADA, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Kidnet Fund, John Hopkins, American College of Sports Medicine, and the National Institutes of Health.

Please ask your doctor if the diet is safe for you long term. Everyone is unique, and many people have specific nutritional requirements. Everyone needs lots of vegetables, because they provide various nutrients including antioxidants that protect against cancer and heart disease, and cannot be found in other types of foods. Whether or not you personally can do with less is between you and your doctor. So the big questions is whether this diet is safe for you.

Good luck

My doctor suggested low-carb dieting for me, because I'm insulin resistant, and he advised me that insulin resistant patients often do better on a low carb diet. That being said, I never go as low carb as "induction" phases would allow because of the medications I'm on, I eat lots of vegetables and I have my bloodwork done every 3 months. If my cholesterol levels, blood sugar, blood pressure or other numbers take a turn for the worse, I would discuss with my doctor what, including diet, I should change.

I agree that you should get a checkup with bloodwork and ask your doctor about low carb dieting. Low carb dieting isn't safe for people with serious kidney disease, for example, but routine bloodwork would detect this.

Karen brought up a good point which has always been my concern. Many Atkins dieters never truly follow the plan. They work off what others are telling them or read portions of the book that tell them wha they want to hear.

Taking this approach can be dangerous.

Lori

Atkins can be healthy if you do it CORRECTLY. If you eat lean meats such as chicken, fish, lean beef, etc. and fully use your carb allowances for vegetables, and the occasional low carb fruits like berries-then you are doing it in a healthy manner.

If you eat lots of eggs, cheese, bacon, pork rinds, and use your carbs on low carb ice cream bars/candy bars...then it is UNhealthy.

I suggest that you fully read the book, and follow it in a healthful manner.

The induction level carbs are only for two weeks then you are supposed to start adding them back in by 5 gram increments so that you are relearning how to eat properly. There are vegetables from day one on the acceptable foods list. You are supposed to eat 2 cups salad and/or 1/2 c cooked veggies. The low carb berries/fruit are usually added in by week three. If you read Atkins for Life it gives the carb ladder for when it is usually best to add veggies/fruit/whole grains and beans back to your diet. Induction is basically to detox off the junk carbs.

Atkins done right is healthy. Most of the longterm success stories are from those who did it by the book and did not get suckered into eating the franken foods. Get the book and read it. You can find it for cheap at thrift stores.

This isn't my experience personally b/c I could never do the Atkins diet, I'm just not that in to eating meat beyond chicken. Anyway a friend of my parents went on the Atkins Diet and must not have gone beyond the detox stage and did this for atleast a year maybe more and now he has serious kidney problems. He moved away so I'm not sure if he got a transplant or anything but I know he was in a life threatening position. So if you want to do this diet definetly talk to your doctor and follow the diet to the letter.

Although I strongly believe that induction is NOT for the long haul, I would suspect that the gentleman already had the kidney disease before starting the diet. The book stresses that the diet is NOT for people with serious kidney disease (which people can be unaware that they have, because symptoms often do not present until the damage has becomes life-threatening).

My mother has kidney damage with about only 50% function left (from a bout of water intoxication) and has absolutely no detectable symptoms. She feels the same as always (and has no dietary restrictions). I've also known several people on long term dialysis, and their diets are extremely restrictive for protein, sodium, and sometimes other minerals.

That's why it's very important to have a complete physical done before starting the diet (Many people ignore that part of the book also).

Atkins is safe for most healthy people to use short-term.

I believe there are significant long-term health benefits to eating 5 to 9 servings per day of fruits and vegetables, as well as 2 or 3 servings of whole grains daily. I doubt that's possible with Atkins New Diet Revolution.

A good Internet review of Atkins is at ww.healthletter.tufts.edu/issues/2003-12/atkins.html. This was published in the respected Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter.

-Steve

Couldn't have said it better myself!!

I'll be celebrating my 4 year Atkinsversary on 4/13/08. Thanks to Dr. Atkins, I've lost over 100 lbs and have kept it off When people ask me how I've done this, I tell them "I read & re-read the book BEFORE I began the program...I made up my mind BEFORE I did this that it would be for the rest of my life (total lifestyle change!)...and most importantly, I did it by the book (I still do) and don't eat the "low carb" stuff thats out there." As far as I'm concerned, be it "low carb" or not....junk food is junk food!

I've met alot of people who assume that low carb means no fruits and vegetables, because they're not eating many fruits and vegetables in their high carb diet, so when they hear you have to eat fewer fruits and vegetables, for them that would mean none.

My husband is eating a lot more vegetables now than he ever did before. His diet is probably still too high in carbs to truly be considered low carb, but he's slashed his carbs tremendously both in overall percentage and in total quatity. I would classify his diet before as an extreme high carb diet. His favorite meals were pasta dishes, and he didn't care if a meal had protein as long as it had lots of starch and as few pesky vegetables as possible.

My mother did Atkins... and was successful with weight loss... but her cholesterol skyrocketed. Just make sure... as with ANY diet plan... talk with your doctor!