Best Knowledge

The weight loss with the Atkins diet occurs predominately through a process called ketosis.  Ketosis is the presence in the blood of substances called ketones. Ketones are produced when there isn’t enough glucose in the bloodstream, and fats have to be used. When fats are used excessively as fuels, they are eventually converted to ketones.

Certainly in the early stage of the Atkins Diet, this is the case.  Slowly as more and more carbohydrates are added, Ketosis may stop but carbohydrates are still quite low during this stage of the Atkins Diet.

Here is a summary of the of the Akins Diet:

Phase 1: Induction phase of Atkins Diet

Restrict consumption to 20 grams each day, obtaining carbohydrate primarily from salad and other non-starchy vegetables.

Phase 2: Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) of Atkins Diet

Add carbohydrate, in the form of nutrient-dense and antioxidant rich foods, by increasing to 25 grams daily the first week, 30 grams daily the next week and so on until weight loss stops. Then subtract 5 grams of carbohydrate from your daily intake so that you continue sustained, moderate weight loss.

Phase 3: Pre-Maintenance stage of Atkins Diet

Make the transition from weight loss to weight maintenance by increasing the daily carbohydrate intake in 10-gram increments each week so long as very gradual weight loss is maintained.

Phase 4: Lifetime Maintenance of Atkins Diet

Select from a wide variety of foods while controlling carbohydrate intake to ensure weight maintenance and a sense of well being. The Atkins diet maintains this lifestyle is the foundation for a lifetime of better health.

Originally, I was quite against the Atkins Diet; however, a naturopath and I were discussing it and she mentioned that the Atkins Diet may be good for some people who need to really lose weight.  Once the weight is off they could move to a healthier diet.  This suggestion made sense to me and I did want to lose weight, so I did some reading and decided to give it a try.  I did in fact lose weight and found that a lot of meals were quite satisfying as I could eat generous portions of meats.

After a while, I was tiring of all the meat, and eating this much meat was counterintuitive to me.  While vegetables are allowed on the diet, I don’t feel the Atkins Diet emphasizes them enough.  I feel that vegetables should form a large portion of one’s diet. So, while I did lose weight and was eating pretty good portions, I just didn’t feel the Atkins diet was balanced enough, not enough carbs and vegetables.

Briefly, the premise is that what people eat should depend on their blood type. For instance, Type O’s are the dominant, hunter-caveman type that require meat in the diet, that Type A’s are docile vegetarians, while Type B’s are dairy-eating omnivores.

The Blood Type Diet is not a diet that I personally had much success with.  I didn’t really lose that much weight and I found myself feeling that I was out of balance in my meals.  I really felt I was lacking a lot of carbohydrates, since I was the type A.  Just for the heck of it I tried the other blood types, again I felt out of balance.  I didn’t lose much weight.

The diet may seem simple since foods are generally chosen from the low G.I. (Glycemic Index) food list, but it gets complicated when you create a meal made up of many different food items, each with a unique G.I value. The idea is to make sure most items which make up every meal have a low Glycemic index, thus the overall G.I of the meal stays within the low to medium range.

The Glycemic Index is a measuring system to find the extent of which various foods raise the blood sugar level. The benchmark is white bread, which has a Glycemic Index of 100. The higher the score, the greater the extents of blood sugar raise. E.g. Dextrose scores 138 (HIGH) whereas fructose 31 (LOW).

One positive point about the G.I meal plan is it’s possible for dieters to enjoy the odd “treat” item once or twice each week, maybe an occasional dessert after a light dinner. As long as these “bad” items are NOT eaten alone it should not ruin the diet plan.

The South Beach Diet does not cut out the consumption of carbohydrates as drastically as Dr. Atkins. As a matter of fact, from the beginning of the third week, people on The South Beach Diet can start eating most fruits. Fruit is high in carbohydrates but they are considered good carbs.

The South Beach Diet is not a low carb diet per se. It actually encourages eating what it considers to be the good carbs. The book explains what the good carbs are. The diet is divided into three phases. Phase one is a two week period in which the dieter’s intake of carbohydrates is almost nil. In the second phase the good carbs are re-introduced slowly. These are most of the fruits and whole grains. The third phase is a life long maintenance phase which is how one should eat always. In that sense it is a diet in the right sense of the word. It is not about deprivation and feeling deprived which could lead to yo-yo dieting. In The South Beach Diet, as is the case with other lower carb diets, certain foods are not recommended ever such as refined sugar, white bread, refined white rice, and pasta made with refined flour.

The South Beach Diet focuses on selecting “good carbs” and “good fats”.  “Good carb” meaning lower carbs that are lower on the glycemic index.  “Good fats” meaning monounsaturated fats.

The South Beach Diet has 3 phases.  Phase 1, 2, and 3.

Phase 1 – smallest portions, lower carbs

Phase 2 – slightly bigger portions, more carbs

Phase 3 – Maintenance Phase – One would stay on this for life.  Adjust portions that allow you to maintain weight.

The South Beach Diet certainly is close to a diet that I really like.  Like most diets, it emphasizes portion control.  Also, it’s promotion of good quality carbohydrates and good monounsaturated fats is very healthy. The only thing I’m not crazy about is the fact that the meals are not quite balanced in their proportions of carbohydrates, protein and fats.  In particular, phase 3 is a little too high in carbohydrates for my liking.

The Zone diet allowed me to lose weight. I felt more alert mentally and physically and really happy with my meals. This diet emphasizes proportioning your food. It maintains that the right proportions of food encourage the production of eichasonoids (link to eichasonoids), which really balance out the rest of the body with respect to blood sugar, energy, mental focus and so on.

The caloric ratio of every meal should be 30% fat, 30% protein, and 40% carbohydrates. You are not counting calories but rather zone blocks. This method of counting is fairly easy to use. A necessary part of figuring the size of a zone block would be to calculate your body mass (link to body mass calculation and how to determine the right amount of protein). This allows you to figure out exactly how grams of fat, protein, and carbohydrates you should consume. Once have this information, counting blocks is quite easy.

Over time you become quite aware of how many zone blocks a particular food or meal would be. So it does involve some counting, which is not that hard and I think the benefits are well worth it. They definitely were for me. So, the Zone diet is my favourite diet and it definitely has produced the most results, all of which have been beneficial. I have been able to quite easily maintain my ideal weight without feeling so restricted and by allowing delicious meals.