It’s back…Atkins Diet from the 70s
In reality the Atkins diet never went away, but now it’s improved. As a life long dieter I’m a little suspicious of a new, improved diets. I am a believer that if we just ate the way Grandma did we wouldn’t be in this predicament. Grandma ate a lot of veggies and fruits because cake mixes and hamburger helper didn’t exist in the local market.
The publicity for the Atkins Diet — new and improved — highlights the new emphasis on vegetables, and that is a big improvement. In the 70s and 80s when Robert Atkins really became a household name, the Atkins diet allowed only leafy vegetables (salad greens) and non-carbohydrate veggies. The bulk of the meal was made up of meats and fats. The diet worked because meats and fats fill up a body and generally don’t cause cravings. I have craved bacon in the past, but generally not by the pound. I love cheese but when I’m tired in the middle of the day I don’t think cheddar pops into my mind first. You get the idea.
The Atkins diet fell out of favor because of the emphasis on high fat proteins which are linked to increased heart disease. It probably didn’t help that Dr. Atkins himself fell and hit his head and died and about that same time the founder or the Pritikin diet (the most restrictive diet I’ve ever tried) dropped dead from a heart attack while out jogging.
The addition of vegetables to the Atkins plan moves it close to the South Beach Diet in structure (lean proteins, vegetables, whole grains) and the new buzz should make it a best seller again in no time. The book also includes a section on exercise and lifestyle change (that seems to be mandatory for all diets these days and quite honestly if this book model worked, we’d all be thin).
If you don’t understand nutritional content, the new Atkins Diet isn’t a bad place to start. The diet is still a little heavy on the protein counts but the purpose of that is to fill up the new dieter and reduce cravings for sugar and processed carbohydrates. If you stay on the diet eventually that will go away and you’ll really want less protein because you’ll be satisfied with less.
My casual glance through the book indicates its a bit easier to read and comprehend than other diets and it will undoubtedly work if you stick to it.
