SCIENCE BEHIND ATKINS

THOUGHTFUL APPROACH. POWERFUL SCIENCE

Science has been at the core of every decision we’ve ever made. It all started in 1963, when Dr. Robert C. Atkins began to formalize the controlled carbohydrate approach after studying a series of articles published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that supported this theory.

Troubled by the increasing obesity problem among his patients and among the U.S. population, Dr. Atkins found how eating the right foods while limiting refined carbohydrates in one’s diet changed a person’s body from a carb-burning to a fat-burning machine. This, in turn, led to successful weight loss and improvements in many weight-related health issues. It was from this revolutionary thinking that the Atkins Nutritional Approach was born.

At Atkins, we continue to educate consumers about the growing body of research on weight loss and weight management. In fact, today, there are over 80 studies that highlight the positive weight loss results and other health benefits associated with a controlled carbohydrate approach such as the Atkins Diet. These benefits include weight loss, improvement in risk factors for heart disease, hypertension and diabetes, inflammation, benefits in treating epilepsy and decreasing obesity in children and adolescents. We’ve included these studies right here on our site.  Review the studies that support the Atkins philosophy.
Another way we have carried on in the tradition of education is through the creation of our Science Advisory Board - a multi-disciplinary collection of nationally known experts in the fields of nutrition, metabolism, physiology and food science from leading universities and institutions in the United States. These men and women are responsible for the oversight of our program and approach. Our members also conduct and publish additional research on the diet and its principals.

And of course, science extends to our products, whose great taste and nutrition are the result of thorough scientific formulation using the some of the best ingredients on Earth

ATKINS FOOD PYRAMID

The Atkins Low Carb Food Pyramid is your guide to weight loss, weight management, energy and health. Learn what low carb diet foods you should be eating to lose weight and keep it off.

Water Weight Loss - Method 2 of 2: Follow a Water Fast

1

Try replacing a single meal with pure water. If you have never fasted, take small steps to prepare your body for the challenge of fasting.

• Consider skipping lunch and just drinking water or unsweetened, unflavored seltzer water in its place.

2

Try a 24-hour water fast. Prepare for 7 days before a 24-hour fast. Start by removing foods and drinks high in sugar, fat, and caffeine 7 days before you intend to begin your water fast.

3

Replace unhealthy foods with lean proteins, salads, and fresh produce.Increase your water intake each day until you are comfortable consuming at least a half-gallon each day.

4

Consider taking herbal supplements or finding a safe water additive to balance electrolytes. Although the water fast does not permit sweeteners or solid food during the fast, it often recommends prune supplements or natural salts to prevent water intoxication.

5

Sip unsweetened green tea for breakfast and seltzer water for lunch. Any time you feel discomfort or hunger pains, drink additional water. Add a squeeze of fresh lime juice to the green tea or seltzer to add some flavor if desired.

• Alternatively, you can follow a Water Diet that emphasizes significant increases in water intake without necessarily requiring exercise or food changes to lose weight. Although these diets can be risky if you do not have sufficient mineral and electrolyte intake, they are otherwise free and easy to follow. For some people, they can result in significant weight loss.
• Instead of working water diet techniques into your daily routine to lose weight, consider following a water fast. Although water fasts can be controversial and even dangerous when not carefully monitored, many people who have tried a water fast claim it is helpful in flushing toxins from the body, regulating the digestive tract, restoring energy, and jumpstarting significant weight loss. Proper water balance in the human body is essential to the flow of electrolytes across cell boundaries, circulation of oxygen and nutrients in the blood, flushing out waste and toxins through the liver and kidneys, regulating the digestive tract, and regulating body temperature. Without sufficient hydration, the body’s tissues, cells, and organs are not able to function appropriately and may inhibit weight loss. Severe dehydration can cause organ failure and death. Staying properly hydrated with water is essential to good health and simple weight loss.
• If you are an endurance athlete, ask a health professional about appropriate quantities of water to drink during exercise; he or she may recommend alternating water with a sports drink containing electrolytes.
• Research has demonstrated that relative and absolute increases in the amount of water drunk each day can improve weight loss results among dieters. Try increasing your daily water intake to meet or slightly exceed recommended daily amounts. Typical daily water intake recommendations are 3.7 liters per day for adult men and 2.7 liters per day for adult women, from all sources (drinking water, other beverages, and foods).
• Increasing water intake or water dieting will be most effective at boosting weight loss when combined with an exercise plan and a healthy, balanced diet.

How to Lose Weight With Water

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Drinking a lot of water can be a useful tool in a dieter’s arsenal when weight loss is a goal. Follow the steps below to learn how to lose weight with water.

1

Drink water throughout the day. Drinking water during the day can help keep you feeling full without consuming high-calorie coffees and snacks. You may also eat less when you do have a snack, as you should already have the sensation of being full. Consuming fewer calories on a daily basis can help speed weight loss.

2

Drink a glass of water before every meal. In several studies of weight loss in overweight adults, those who drank water before eating a meal regularly consumed fewer calories and saw improved weight loss results.

• The effect of water on meal calorie consumption has been shown to be more effective in older adults than in young adults. Regardless of your age, if you use water before a meal to increase weight loss, do not forget to monitor quantities and calorie intake of your food as well.
• Some reports of the water diet recommend drinking a full glass of water before, during, and after a meal to aid digestion and speed weight loss from the water.

3

Replace sweetened drinks with water. Instead of drinking soda, alcoholic beverages, smoothies, or other high-calorie drinks, grab a glass or bottle of water.

• Swapping in a zero-calorie beverage for high-calorie alternatives can spare you hundreds of calories per day, further aiding in weight loss.

4

Drink cold water to speed your metabolism. In a study on water-induced thermogenesis, researchers found that drinking water caused an increase in energy expenditure in both men and women, likely caused by the body’s efforts to warm the water to body temperature.

• In the study, men burned fats to provide the energy to warm the water, and women burned carbohydrates.
• The effects of elevated metabolism began about 10 minutes after consuming the water and peaked at 30-40 minutes after drinking.

5 Drink water and cut salt intake to lose water weight. Reducing the amount of dietary salt you consume (by cutting table salt, canned or frozen foods, and lunch meat from your diet) can help you lose water weight quickly, particularly when combined with an increase in daily water intake.

6 Follow a short water detox diet. Water detox and diet plans often include short periods that involve significant fluid intake to flush toxins from the system and reduce bloating.

• Consider a plan like the Sassy Water anti-bloat diet jumpstart, which involves drinking an entire pitcher of specially flavored water each day for 4 days at the beginning of a diet plan.
• Water detox plans also typically promote foods naturally high in water, such as watermelon, soups, and leafy green vegetables.

7 Combine a calorie-restricted diet and a water diet. Drinking 16 ounces of water before each meal and limiting daily calorie intake (1200 for women and 1500 for men) can jumpstart weight loss and help dieters maintain weight loss successfully for up to a year.

Rapid Weight Loss - is it safe???

Lose 10 Pounds in 10 Days!

Eat as Much as You Want -- and Still Lose Weight!

Drop One Dress Size a Day!

Rapid weight loss can be quick and easy -- if you believe the advertising claims.

Fad diets and weight loss supplements promise a slimmer body in no time. In the U.S. alone, consumers spend $33 billion each year on weight loss products.

Do any of these products really produce rapid weight loss? Are they safe? And what are the risks of such fast weight loss? WebMD took a look at some rapid weight loss claims, as well as the available evidence.

Rapid Weight Loss: What Is It?

So many marketers promise "fast weight loss" it's difficult to sort through them all.

Most rapid weight loss pitches fall into these categories:

Starvation Diets

Beyonce popularized the so-called "master cleanse" diet: water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. Variations of these diets have been around since at least the 1950s. They often also promise "detoxification" through colonics or enemas.

Diet Pills and Supplements

Dozens of diet supplements promise to speed weight loss. Generally, they claim either to block absorption of nutrients, increase metabolism, or burn fat.

Very Low-Calorie Diets (VLCDs)

One proven method of rapid weight loss is the medically supervised very low-calorie diet (VLCD). Most of what is known about rapid weight loss comes from studies of people on these diets.

Creams, Devices, and Magic Voodoo Spells

There seems to be no end to the dubious ideas promoted in the name of rapid weight loss. Most promise to replace diet or exercise.

Does Rapid Weight Loss Work?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does regulate dietary supplements; however, it treats them like foods rather than medications. 

The FDA also does not regulate claims made by over-the-counter weight loss products. Unlike drug manufacturers, the makers of supplements don’t have to show their products are safe or effective before selling them on the market. This means that dietary supplements do not need approval from FDA before they are marketed.

Aside from the very low-calorie diet and weight loss surgery, no other product, pill, or diet has been proven to work for fast weight loss. The prescription drug orlistat can help, but it works slowly and only with diet and exercise. Orlistat is marketed as Xenical and Alli. Labeling for orlistat notes that it can cause severe liver damage.

In any rapid weight loss program, what really burns fat is not a pill or type of food. It's the drastic reduction of calories, combined with exercise.

What Are the Risks of Rapid Weight Loss?

Rapid weight loss creates physical demands on the body. Possible serious risks include:

• Gallstones, which occur in 12% to 25% of people losing large amounts of weight over several months
• Dehydration, which can be avoided by drinking plenty of fluids
• Malnutrition, usually from not eating enough protein for weeks at a time
• Electrolyte imbalances, which rarely can be life threatening

Other side effects of rapid weight loss include:

• Headaches
• Irritability
• Fatigue
• Dizziness
• Constipation
• Menstrual irregularities
• Hair loss
• Muscle loss

The dangers of rapid weight loss increase with the time spent on the diet. Eating a no-protein diet is particularly risky.

Is Rapid Weight Loss Ever a Good Idea?

Rapid weight loss diets can have ill effects, but so does obesity. For this reason, very low-calorie diets (VLCDs) are considered a reasonable weight loss option for people with obesity (having a body mass index (BMI) greater than 30) needing rapid weight loss for a specific purpose such as weight loss surgery .

VLCDs are doctor-supervised diets lasting several weeks. The meals are nutritionally balanced, but expensive -- people can end up spending thousands of dollars over time. VLCDs safely produce a loss of 15% to 25% of body weight in 12 weeks. That's for those who finish the program: 25% to half of people don't complete the program.  Weight returns when the diet is stopped and happens rapidly; some experts say its best to take a more sustainable approach to weight loss comparable to that of regular diets.

Most people seeking rapid weight loss, though, usually do it on their own. Frequently, it's to achieve a short-term goal, such as fitting into a dress, or looking good at the beach.

Starving yourself is certainly not a good idea. But if you're otherwise healthy, a brief period of extreme calorie restriction isn't likely to hurt you. You should tell your doctor what you're doing, and be sure to include protein in your diet (70 to 100 grams per day). Take a multivitamin, and eat potassium-rich foods (tomatoes, oranges, and bananas).

Also, remember that crash diets rarely help you achieve a sustained, healthy weight. Most people put the pounds right back on.

Reviewed by Brunilda Nazario, MD

Drop 5 Pounds in a Week

You want to shed weight for an upcom-ing event. Do you (1) accept how you look and detag Facebook pics later, (2) stop eating, or (3) follow our simple plan? Yeah, we thought so.

Cosmo has come up with a fat-torching plan that really will subtract up to 5 pounds from your bod in seven days — without starvation, bizarre supplements, or cutting out entire food groups. How? It's all about small sacrifices combined with specific techniques. And rather than giving you a one-size-fits-all regimen, we figure you're more likely to stick with the plan if you pick the eating and exercise strategies that fit your lifestyle.

So choose at least four of the nutritionist- and fitness expert-backed tips that follow, and vow to work them into your schedule for seven days straight. If you feel ambitious, tack on a few more. The more you pick, the more weight you'll lose. If you start now, by this time next week, you'll look and feel way lighter.

Drink Mainly Water

A sports or energy drink, fruit smoothie, or light beer — each serving contains about 100 calories. Yet these beverages don't satisfy you the way 100 calories of food does, so they're a waste. Other liquids may be high in sodium and carbohydrates, which trick your body into retaining water, puffing you out.

Water, on the other hand, has zero calories and carbs and little to no sodium, making it the perfect slim-down drink. And strangely, it actually helps flush out excess water weight as well as jump-starts your metabolism. If it's just too boring, add lemon wedges or mint leaves.

Ban White Bread and Pasta

Cutting out all white grain products — such as white rice, spaghetti, sandwich rolls — will instantly slim you down because the simple carbs in these foods cause bloating, especially around your belly. "Simple carbohydrates wreak havoc on your weight because they're digested very quickly, leaving you hungry and more likely to overeat later," says Jana Klauer, M.D., author of The Park Avenue Nutritionist's Plan.

To go a step further, instead of replacing them with healthier yet still bloat-triggering whole-grain bread products, substitute vegetables for the week. This way, a chicken sandwich becomes chicken salad, and chips and dip turn into carrots and dip. The complex carbs from vegetables are digested more slowly, so you remain full longer. And because veggies are mostly water, they also help flush out excess water weight.

Do Cardio 30 Minutes a Day

Any workout that gets your heart rate up will burn calories. But you'll use more calories if you pick a cardio routine that engages multiple muscles simultaneously, says Wendy Larkin, personal-training manager at Crunch's Polk Street gym, in San Francisco.

Three to consider: spinning, cardio kickboxing, and boot-camp workouts. Half an hour of each torches 200 to 300 calories while toning up your arms, legs, and core so everything appears sleeker and tighter.

You'll burn even more calories per session if your workout incorporates interval training: alternating short bursts of intense cardio with slower activity. Experts aren't sure why it works, but trainers swear by it.

Drink Coffee an Hour Before Working Out

This is the one exception to the stick-to-water-only rule: Just as a coffee run makes your morning at work more productive, a pre-exercise cup of java with a splash of skim milk (about 11 calories) or black (just 5 calories) will energize your workout, explains Dr. Klauer. "You'll burn more calories without realizing you're pushing yourself harder."

Have Nightly You-on-Top Sex

Not that you needed an excuse to hook up with your guy every night, but the fact is, this position is a fat blaster. Being on top means you do the rocking, and the more active you are, the more calories you burn — up to 144 for 30 minutes.

Sex also pumps levels of feel-good neurotransmitters, endorphins, helping you ride out food cravings. Get on top in reverse-cowgirl (i.e., facing away from your guy) to give your thigh and butt muscles an extra push.

Do 36 Push-Ups and Lunges Every Other Day

These gym-class staples will help sculpt muscle, so you'll sport a more streamlined appearance. Do three sets of 12 of each exercise every other day. "Push-ups target your upper body, while lunges work your butt, hips, and thighs," says Larkin. Quick tip: Make sure your back and legs remain in a straight line during your push-ups; it'll improve muscle tone. Also, you can build even more muscle with the lunges if you hold free weights in each hand while doing them.

Sleep 30 Minutes More a Night

That extra half an hour, whether you sleep 5 hours or 8, can refresh you enough that you will make better food choices (in other words, no quick sugar fix for breakfast in search of energy) and won't feel lethargic and skip the gym, says registered dietician Esther Blum, author of Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous. More restful sleep (7 to 8 hours is best) also boosts your metabolism. And since your body builds muscle while you snooze, getting zzz's equals better muscle tone.

Make One Food Sacrifice

Cutting out one indulgence — such as the chips you have with lunch or the chocolate dessert you eat after dinner — can subtract a few hundred calories from your diet, which translates into less flab, says Blum. "Your body won't even notice their absence."

Don't Let the Camera Add Pounds

Push your chin forward, hold your arms away from your body, and turn slightly sideways from the camera with one foot in front of the other.

GET THINNER IN HOURS

Really. These slenderizing effects may not be permanent, but they'll help you look hotter in your skinniest jeans on very short notice.

Eat Salmon for Lunch

It's packed with nutrients that build muscle tone and give your skin a healthy glow. Some nutritionists claim that consuming a portion (doesn't matter how it's cooked) may immediately make your face look a bit more contoured.

Stand Up Straight

Keeping your spine rigid and your shoulders back while sucking in your belly toward your spine gives you a slimmer, more streamlined middle.

Do Squats and Sit-Ups

Bodybuilders use this technique before competitions because it adds definition to muscle. Do three sets of 12 of each exercise to tighten your abs, butt, and legs temporarily.

Pop an Antigas Pill

Take one of these chewable tablets, sold over-the-counter at drugstores, to relieve bloating in your abdomen and break up gas bubbles in your digestive track, leaving you with a flatter tummy.

Why it's easier for men to lose weight

PAULA GOODYER

There's no gender equality with weight loss. When it comes to offloading extra weight it's biologically easier for men than for women - and muscle is a key male advantage.

Compared to women, men usually have less fat and more muscle - and because muscle burns more kilojoules than fat a man's metabolic rate can be five to ten per cent higher than that of a woman, explains Sydney-based exercise physiologist Allan Bolton.

But the benefit doesn't stop there.

"Think of muscle as a big sink for glucose [blood sugar]. Active muscles take up glucose to use as fuel, helping to keep blood glucose levels healthy," he explains. "This helps you avoid insulin resistance a condition that makes it harder to keep weight down. Insulin resistance causes the body to produce more insulin to control blood glucose – and more insulin makes it easier to store fat."

It's for this reason that Bolton, a motivational speaker specialising in lifestyle change, believes we should worry less about shrinking the numbers on the scales to lose weight and more about body composition.

"Muscle might weigh more than fat but it takes up less space – a kilo of muscle is about the same volume as a small or medium vegemite jar but a kilo of fat fills the same space as a wine bottle," he says.

Women can't change their biology but they can improve the odds of maintaining a healthy weight or losing weight by building more muscle – or at least hanging on to the muscle they have. The same goes for men.

"If you don't exercise, from about age 30 onward you'll likely lose on average around 200 grams of muscle a year - so over a 10-year period your metabolism will gradually slow down. But if you can keep the same amount of muscle at 40 that you had at 30 it will be easier to maintain a healthier weight," he says.

Building more muscle with weights is one way but it's also about being more physically active generally and looking at the job of lifting and carrying in daily life as a way to maintain strength – not something to shy away from.

Appetite hormones can make a difference too.

"Research has found that compared to a man a woman's appetite is more likely to be stimulated after exercise – the reason many women eat more after exercise may be more about appetite hormones than willpower," says Professor Philip Morgan, co-director of the University of Newcastle's Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition. 

Still that doesn't mean weight loss for men is always straightforward - if it were then 70 per cent of Australian men wouldn't be overweight or obese.

First they need to realise that their weight is a problem – and for some men this is a penny that's slow to drop, says Morgan who helped design Workplace POWER (short for Preventing Obesity Without Eating like a Rabbit), an award winning work-based program that helps male shift workers lose weight.

"Although most men carry too much weight, many don't see this as a problem and may not be aware of the health consequences," he says.

One reason for this he says is our notion of masculinity in Australia which assumes that men are emotionally and physically strong, are stronger if they are bigger, and are prone to risky behaviours - including not being worried about the health effects of what they eat.

"Meanwhile women are often set up from an early age to believe their appearance is of primary importance – it shouldn't be this way but it often is," he says. 

"Studies show that men may be slower to recognise that they're overweight and that they're less likely to enrol in weight loss programs – partly because weight loss has been feminised and most programs don't account for physical, psychological and cultural differences between men and women. But once men decide they need to lose weight, studies have shown that being male can make weight loss easier.  

"Men generally have less emotional baggage around eating and weight loss. But with women it can be more complicated. It's true that some men do have eating disorders but in general eating disorders and restrained eating are more common in women.

"I think this is why a one- size- fits-all approach to weight loss doesn't work – we need to consider gender differences too."