Atkins Diet Pros and Cons

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Learn the atkins diet pros and cons

By examining the Atkins diet pros and cons, you can decide whether or not the diet is right for you. The underlying principle of the Atkins diet is that your body burns fat for energy instead of carbohydrates. This is an effective way of losing weight, but it can also place your health in jeopardy. A serious con of the Atkins diet is the induction phase of the diet. The induction phase of the diet is the phase of rapid weight loss. This occurs during the first two week of the diet. During this phase you are not allowed to eat more than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day.

Dietary carbohydrates are a source of glucose for the brain. According to the 2002 Dietary Reference Intakes (DRI), individuals ranging from the age of 9 to fifty years and over require at least 130 grams of carbohydrates per day in order for the brain to receive an adequate supply of glucose and function normally. The Atkins diet does not meet this requirement, especially during the induction phase of the diet.

Because of carbohydrate deprivation during the induction phase of the diet, you may develop hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels). You may experience dizziness, a rapid heart beat, headaches, sweating, nervousness, and the inability to concentrate.

You may even become comatose depending on how severely hypoglycemic you become. Thus, it is of paramount importance that you know some of the atkins diet pros and cons.

If your health is marginalized or perhaps you have a family history of heart attacks and strokes, you should also know some of the Atkins diet pros and cons. The Atkins diet includes a lot of saturated fats. The saturated fats are classified as unhealthy fats. It is well established that diets that are high in saturated fats are linked to an increased incidence of heart attacks and strokes.

Also, saturated fats are know to increase your blood levels of LDL cholesterol. Thus, if you have high blood cholesterol, you should consider another healthy low carbohydrate diet that is low in fats or one that contains healthy polyunsaturated fats.

You should also know the pros and cons of the Atkins diet to determine whether or not your children can also go on the Atkins diet. Children between the ages of 13 and 18 require adequate amounts of calcium on a daily basis. Calcium is needed for to promote healthy growth and development. Calcium is especially needed for the development of strong bones. A con of the Atkins diet is that it does not provide for growing children. The induction phase of the Atkins diet does not include calcium rich foods such as milk and yogurt.