High protein, high saturated fat and avoidance of nearly all carbohydrates.
Has superior satiety compared with a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet, but has high saturated fat levels, low levels of antioxidants and a net metabolic acidosis which may lead to osteoporosis and atherosclerosis.
Atkins Diet contains complex carbohydrates, found in whole grains, legumes, and starchy vegetables, contain longer chains of sugar molecules, which usually take more time for the body to break down and use.
The Atkins diet is a low-carbohydrate fad diet.
Preferred foods are whole, unprocessed foods with a low glycemic index, although restrictions for low glycemic carbohydrates such as black rice, vegetables, are the same as those for high glycemic carbohydrates as sugar, and white bread.
No more than 20% of calories eaten while on the diet come from saturated fat.
Atkins’ autopsy showed that he had a history of heart attack, congestive heart failure and hypertension.
It has questionable claims that carbohydrate restriction is critical to weight loss.
There is no good evidence of its effectiveness in achieving durable weight loss.
The diet is promoted with questionable claims that carbohydrate restriction is the key to weight loss.
Atkins made the controversial argument that the low-carbohydrate diet produces a metabolic advantage because burning fat takes more calories so you expend more calories, he estimated this advantage to be 950 Calories (4.0 MJ) per day.
A review study concluded that there was no such metabolic advantage and dieters were simply eating fewer calories.
The concept of “metabolic advantage” of low-carbohydrate dieting has been falsified by experiment in a study of people following restricted-carbohydrate dieting.
Its effect size is smaller over longer periods.
A low-carb dieters’ initial advantage in weight loss is likely a result of increased water loss, and that after the initial period, low-carbohydrate diets produce similar fat loss to other diets with similar caloric intake.
The diet may increase the risk of heart disease.
Weak evidence exists that the Atkins diet is more effective than behavioral counseling for weight loss at 6 months.
This diet led to 0.1% to 2.9% more weight loss at one year compared to control groups which received behavioral counselling for weight loss.
Adults with epilepsy may experience seizure reduction derived from therapeutic ketogenic diets, and that a less strict regimen, such as a modified Atkins diet, is similarly effective.