Is the Atkins diet a good thing or a bad thing? Convince me of why you think this way?
RACHEL C asked:
This is an assignment for a nutrition class- the unit is on carbohydrates- but this is also something I might be interested in for me as well. Links to helpful websites would also be appreciated.
Need to lose weight?
This is an assignment for a nutrition class- the unit is on carbohydrates- but this is also something I might be interested in for me as well. Links to helpful websites would also be appreciated.
Need to lose weight?
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different diets works for different ppl..varies really. I know everyone thinks carbs are bad, but I personally think they are a must when dieting..helps build muscle…even if u just wanna tone up..i think carbs are good!
Need to lose weight?
My statement isn’t just for Dr. Atkins but low carb in general.
Dr’s Michael Eades wrote a book called Protein Power and there is a chapter on the Egyptians. I will share a little bit of his findings.Two ways of estimating the health of these ancient people are the papyrus writings and examining the mummies. The Papyrus writing state the the diet of the early Egyptians were primarily bread, cereal, fresh fruit, vegetables, some fish, poultry and almost no red meat, olive oil instead of lard, goats milk for drinking and making of cheese. The Egyptians diet could be purchased in any health food store in America. These foods are believed to promote health and almost devoid of saturated fat and cholesterol it would seem that the ancient Egyptians should have lived forever or at least should have lived long healthy lives and died of old age in their beds. But did they?
Archaeological evidence shows the Egyptians subsisting on a diet of the above foods some were actually very fat, with huge folds of skin. Even though the pictures painted show them slender the mummies examination showed the truth. One would think with this diet there would be very little heart disease but again the low-fat, high-complex-carbohydrate diet fails the test. Evidence of heart and vascular disease found in the mummy and papryrus chronicles prove that cardiovascular disease throughout ancient Egypt. When paleopathologists dissected the arteries of the Egyptian mummies, they did not find smooth supple arterial walls but rather arteries choked with greasy cholesterol laden deposits that are similar in people of today that have strokes, heart attacks, diabetes etc.
However, when the remains of hunter gatherers are examined. The results are strikingly different. The fossil remains tell us that preagricultural times human health was excellent. People were tall, lean, had well-developed strong dense bones, sound teeth with minimal if any decay and little evidence of severe disease. After the advent of agriculture and change in diet this picture of robust health began to deteriorate. Man now became shorter, had more brittle bones, extensive tooth decay, and a high incidence of malnutrition and chronic disease-a health picture similar to that of the Egyptians.
Through out the world it is proven that whenever people changed from a high protein diet to a high carbohydrate diet they became less healthy. In fact archologists consider this health difference so predicatable they classify skeletal remains of prehistoric society they classify the people as hunters or farmers by the state of the bones, teeth.
There is archeological proof in bodies of our ancestor’s who had different diets. This proves that ones diet does have long term affects. From the bones themselves they have been classified either hunters or farmers. The hunters who were meat eaters were healthier than the farmers who ate mostly grains. People keep saying (where is the proof that low carb will not affect you badly in the long run) This to me proves this. If you read my post again you can see where the Egyptians ate primarily a diet similar to the diet the AMA suggests and from proof of their mummified bodies this diet did not promote good health.
Another study was done of two groups of people of the same gene pool. One group were farmers and the other hunters. These people were similar in all respects except diet. Lived in the same area, same climate, same wild plants and animals available to both groups. Lived in the same size population and both were equally as active. The farmers ate primarily corn,beans, and squash. Wild plants and animals (primarily elk, small mammals, wild turkey provided a rather agricultural diet or a high carbohydrate diet. The other group ate a diet of river mussels, snails, deer, small mammals, wild turkey, box turtles, and fish their diet was high in protein.
The two groups were very different health wise. Life expectancy was quite lower in the farmers and higher infant mortality. Iron deficency was nearly non existant in the hunters but 8.2 percent in the farmers. More children in the farmers had infections than those in the hunters. Tooth decay in the farmers were wide spread whereas in the hunter this rarely occurred.
Many scientic research has been done on this subject and present even the most passionate believer some food for thought of the high carbohydrate. Not only was the agricultural revolution not really so revolutionary but has contributed to a nutritional devolution for much of mankind.
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After doing Atkins for more than two years, and doing research on the subject, I’d say it’s a good thing.
I’ve lost weight, I’m healthier, I have more energy, my aches and pains have gone away, my skin and hair have improved, my muscle tone has improved, my bloodwork is great.