The Safety and Long-term Effectiveness of the Atkins Diet :: Health Nutrition Diet Exercise Essays

Low-carbohydrate fares, such as the Atkins fast, may not be the best choice for encumbrance button due to long-term ineffectiveness, potentially negative side effects and a lack of long-term research. Ever since the recent popularization of the Atkins diet researchers hand been trying to prove Dr. Atkins claims and determine whether or not the diet is safe. The modern consistence of research available on dieting supports a diet low in fat and high in complex carbohydrates with an idiom on calorie reducing. Studies clear also shown a strong impinging between diets high in fat and both increased cholesterin and increased risk of heart disease. The Atkins diet is the opposite of what has generally been recommended it requires the reduction of carbohydrates to 5% or less of total calories leaving fat and protein to garner up the rest. The high fat and low-carbohydrate content of this diet goes against most diet research, has potentially harmful side effects and the re is insufficient designate to judge the long-term effectiveness of the Atkins diet. The long-term effectiveness can be determined by the ability of dieters to lose and maintain weightiness liberation with few negative side effects. Weight maintenance is as classic as weight loss to long-term health. One nutritionist said, the American public needs to be told that diets are not followed for 8 days, 8 weeks, or 8 months, but rather form the basis of routine food choices throughout their life (Blackthorn). The Atkins diet may act much as a quick fix without really offering a long-term solution. Preliminary studies show that the Atkins diet is unable to maintain weight loss. While low-carbohydrate diets do initially cause weight loss, most dieters protrude to regain weight aft(prenominal) six months. One study showed that, after 12 months, dieters following the Atkins diet had regained over 30% of weight that they had muzzy in the first six months on the diet , dropping from 7% additive body weight loss at six months to 4.4% cumulative body weight loss at 12 months. This weight gain may in part be due to the difficulty dieters have in following the dietary recommendations, but if the Atkins diet cannot help dieters keep the weight off than it is no better than any other diet we have and the side effects may be worse.