Atkins versus other diets
With high carbohydrate diets, you are riding the wave of carbohydrate highs. After you eat, you feel great and full. Then a few hours later, you come crashing down and are hungrier than you were previous to eating the carbohydrate.
This cycle continues and, over time, you will eat more and gain weight because the excess carbs will get stored as fat. Of course, as we now know, not all carbs are created equal.
The more complex carbs do not cause the same sugar spikes as a candy bar or soda, but it has also been shown that the more carbs you have, the more you want, because it triggers insulin reaction in the body. Some low carb diets which concern themselves with the glycemic index of foods are basically measuring the spike caused.
Far better to feel full, than binge and spike. The protein, fat and vegetable meals of the Atkins plan put your blood sugar back in balance.
They provide just enough of each type of food, with a proper amount of carbohydrates (from the vegetables and salad and small amount od snacks and dessert you are permitted).
The vegetables provide quick carbohydrate energy, and the protein gives the meal staying power. This combination helps suppress your appetite throughout the day, and between meals.
The Atkins diet is actually a craving control diet that can help suppress your appetite. You can lose weight easily if you follow the diet, though giving up so many of the foods which are a mainstay of the American diet, like pasta, pizza and potatoes, can be hard.
If you’ve had a problem with carbohydrate cravings before, this new way of eating will help control those cravings. The more closely you stick to the plan, the better your cravings will be controlled and the easier it will be to follow the diet.
It is not a long-term eating lifestyle, but it is a successful short term diet if you want to drop 20 pounds quickly. It might also help you look at just how many carbs you consume every day without even thinking about it!
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