So, did anyone who has read, and understood the book and applied the diet successfully learn anything from that show. I was glad to see they didn't just spend the whole hour dismissing the idea and actually seemed to come out favouring it. I was a little frustrated that they summised by assuming that a fat/protein diet is somehow appetite suppressing, when it quite clearly states in the book that it is the other way round. A diet rich in sugar and starch produces large amounts of insulin, and when the food is exhausted the subsequent drop in insulin is perceived by the brain as hunger.
I also noticed that the meals featured seemed to only consist of meat, and there was almost no mention of the large amount of Atkins friendly vegetables which are strongly recommended to maintain good levels of phytonutrient intake.
On the whole, not as biased and predictable as I expected. What does everyone else think ?

 

I ate about 12 slices of toast while watching it.Thats the thing about toast,one slice is never enough.

 

Unfortunately Toast doesn't suppress your appetite. Try putting an 8oz steak between two slices

Stefan

 

Yes. I've done well from the diet, I did it about a year ago for 6 months. Confirmed what I'd thought i.e. you don't get hungry on protein, therefore you eat less calories. The other point which they didn't mention is that because you are forced to cook from scratch, you eat much better quality food.

 

As I said on my other thread, I've not eaten so healthily in ages since going on Atkins over a week ago....

I'm preparing every meal myself, and combine the chicken/steak/fish with lots of Atkins approved fresh vegetables.

No additives or refined ingredients in my meals

 

Imlach,

Have you bothered counting calories in your meals and seeing the % of protein, fat & carbs.

Just interested as the Horizon programme suggested (I only caught the last 15 mins) that high-protein diets suppressed your appetite, causing you to not feel as hungry and therefore consume less calories.

Didn't appear to say that it was a fat-burning trigger that was switched on eating more fat and less carbs. Or did it in the bit I missed?

Stefan

 

Ozzy,

Not watched the proggy yet, but it is on tape.

The summary of it is on the bbc website though, which seems to give a summary of the program - appetite supressant seems to be their conclusion.

 

i have to say toast is nice

 

Is this a thread replied to by men?........

 

Can't beat a good toastathon

 

agree with cb they seemed to go on for ages about what it is that made you eat less and from the book and certainly my own experience I thought it was obvious it was blood sugar levels, you have a breakfast which has high sugar content which raises your levels quickly but they fade just as quick so by 10am your hungry again, doesnt happen on atkins you do eat less or more importantly spend less time feeling hungry, but hey Im no expert!

Gary

 

Especially after a pints in the pub

 

not atkins, but whenever i do ckd to cut up, i take in 70% of calories from fat and 30% from protein during a keto period (so about even amounts in grams). after i'm in keto, i drop the fat slightly and up the protein. i find i eat a LOT more calories this way than when i used to do a standard rmr calorie defecit, especially when taking into account weekly carb-ups. i do, however, get much more cut up, much faster on ckd. there ARE scientific reasons for this.


u must have missed this bit - they put that forward as a possibility and then dismissed it after a horribly flawed test went wrong.

their tests were generally done very poorly, but what they failed to admit was that dr. atkins, spending 40 years refining his diet, already did the tests on people. it would have been nice if they'd have put forward his practical research instead of "dr. atkins thinks that...".

still, it was a good program overall - they did it pretty well.

 

Well I must say that I was pretty disappointed by the show - Horizon is usually pretty good

why was there no debate on Insulin - or did I just miss it?

Found the thing about the calories interesting

But really this was a tad boring and for people who've read the book and no the score it was an insult to their intelligence

 

I was not impressed by the programme, and I hate looking down people's mouths when they are eating too!

I was surprised that they did not mention Insulin's importance as well.

I have found the Atkins diet works well, it seems to be a healthy way to eat too. I experienced the same reduction in appetite that was mentioned which does help a great deal and don't feel the need to eat so much. This must be one of the factors in weight loss. Not sure about the Ketones, but they must do something towards burning off the fat. Hardly seem to miss Carbohydrates at all now.
It is a plus that the bad Cholesterol is reduced as well.

Interesting that the Mongols-mentioned in the Millenium programme-eat only meat and milk products since they do not hang around long enough to grow crops. They are known for their longevity.

Les

 

presense of ketones in urine and breath is just proof that our body is using stored fat.

ONLY applicable on a carb-free diet however - on a 40/40/20 diet dont think that you're not losing fat if u dont excrete ketones

 

shocking programme.....they seemed to have never read the book, debated topics no one cared about and said things like "it seems atkins is suggesting...." far to many times when they should have stuck to what he said and hey wanted to imply.

also their "tests" were flawed.

crap

T

ps- close ups of fat ppl eating was a good appetite turn off though!

 

I thought it was interesting, especially the bottom-line conclusion that it's calorie reduction which is at the bottom of Atkin's success. So if you have to eat more protein to achieve that - cool, no big deal.

What needs to be tested now is if a high protein, low fat, zero carb diet can achieve the same result.

But i do still think the warnings surrounding long-term effects are still valid, although from what i've read on here, few people seem to persist with it once they've achieved their goals.

Personally, any diet without beer is a non-starter as far as i'm concerned!!

 

Telboy - I've persisted. Moved on to the maintenance part. More carbs and monitor weight. TBH I like the food, so I don't see any point in returning to my old eating habits. I have beer now, and have quite a desire for chocolate. But I am in full control of my weight for the 1st time in my life. My target was 16st, and I've been 15st10lb for months. I went up to 16st4 over Xmas, and within 2 weeks of realising, I was back to 15st10. I'm now 15st8, the lightest I've been in 20 years, and back in 34" waist jeans . I have never felt starved, punished or guilty on Atkins. For me, it is the best eating plan and will remain on it for life.

 

IMHO the Atkins diet is dumb, dangerous in the long term, and only works because it was designed for lazy people that cannot eat proper food with any discipline - and to make Atkins a large amount of money

A while ago I cut out all dairy products and derivatives (if you want to know why look up "Insulin -like Growth Factor 1 - or IGF1" - on www.notmilk.com and scare yourself ) and replaced them with soya products.

I also cut out virtually all animal fats, red meat, and all hydrogenated fats and any processed junk. My eating moved towards all organic, natural ingredients prepared myself, chicken and fish and loads of fruit, vegetables, nuts, pulses, brown rice - in other words, a diet we probably had 35 years ago until the widespread use of agrochemicals and the arrival of heavily processed junk food.

Result? An almost instant reduction of 1 stone, and despite eating more than before and as much as I like, the weight stays off, and it is a healthy way of eating - NOT a diet

All IMHO, of course


[Edited by Dave T-S - 1/23/2004 11:59:44 AM]

 

Dave TS - I too eat no processed junk. Fresh veg, fresh meat from a local farm. Decaf tea & coffee with soya milk. Lots of water. Little alcohol. I couldn't tell you the last time I ate any food product which comes in a cardboard box or contains any added chemicals. And I am on Atkins. Is what I eat not proper food. It's a damn site more proper than what I used to eat, and what almost every other person I know who isn't on Atkins eats. If it's applied correctly, it is far from dumb. It's just tainted by dumb people who apply it dumbly.

 

Corradoboy
Not having a pop at you personally, just the Atkins propoganda.

Sounds like it is the remainder of what you are eating that is doing you good and losing weight for you anyway, not the Atkins bit

 

Cr@p IMHO mate - it takes a lot of discipline to stick to Atkins properly (ie more than just for the induction phase).

 

lol- funny how the ppl who hate atkins are the ones who cant belive that while their diiging out old videos of The Good Life to see what they should be cooking others are happily loosing weight eating nice food!

never see someone on atkins slagging of the diet of others do you?

 

Takes no discipline at all. Tea last night, lovely fresh locally farmed pork chop topped with organic stilton, broccolli, cauliflour, carrot, mushrooms. Brekkie this morn, turkey sausage, bacon (local), eggs (local free range, I've fed 'em ), mushrooms, tomatoes. Dinner today, half a chicken and salad leaves. Tea tonight, fresh local sirloin, veg. In the fridge for next few days, fresh local lamb, turkey for home made curries (no jar sauces), fresh local gammon, smoked mackerel and lots and lots of fresh veg.

Lovely, big, tasty, healthy meals. Who needs discipline.

 

I discovered when shopping that the curry sauces in jars are laden with sugar & carbs (why!).

So, decided to make my own by just guessing - curry powder, chillies, double cream, garlic, pepper, salt, oh and some oil.

FANTASTIC - easy peasy and very limited carbs & sugar... Tasted better than jar muck!!

Marinading the meat beforehand made it taste nicer too....


[Edited by imlach - 1/23/2004 12:26:44 PM]

 

Corradoboy
Christ, you eat about three times as much as me - might be why i'm only 11 stone

What did you fry the breakfast in? (what oil/fat I mean, not a bloody frying pan )

BTW, bloody Northener, it's lunch and dinner, not dinner and tea

Tiggs
If that was at my comments, what I mean is there are far healthier ways to eat than Atkins. Yes, it does work in the short term, but it's nutritionally flawed. You can achieve what is required in other ways that are better for your body

 

Oops - you said "nutrionally flawed" - I misquote you so edited to remove a bit!

If it gets men (traditionally, non-dieters) onto a weight reduction program, it can only be good. It gets you thinking about what you put in your mouth, and that can lead to long-term healthy eating.

Nutritionally, it may be lacking in carbs for a balanced diet, but to neglect to account for the pyschological effects is perhaps naive.


[Edited by imlach - 1/23/2004 12:35:27 PM]

 

LOL, yes I'm a bloody Northerner.

I fried the tomato, mushrooms and eggs in extra virgin olive oil (in a frying pan ) and the sausages and bacon were grilled to remove much of the saturated animal fats. I might skip the lunchtime chicken as I'm not that hungry.

I too make my own curry sauces. I do cheat a bit though. Asda do a range of pre-mixed spice blends that I just add to fresh cream (korma) or a couple of tins of tomatoes (rogan).

As I say, what discipline. It's just good tasty plentiful food.

 

You should open a restaurant corradoboy. You could polish the tables with all that wax lurking in your shed...