Atkins and Ketosis

The basic principle of the Atkins diet is that a state of ketosis will help you burn your fat stores as energy. Many people, even those who are on low carbohydrate diets, don?t quite understand ketosis and why it works.

Most diets are calorie-reduction diets. They help you lose weight, but some of the weight is from fat and some of it is from lean muscle tissue. While you may look smaller on the scale, your metabolism is actually slowing down. The more muscle you lose the slower your metabolism will be. This makes losing weight more difficult and gaining weight back even simpler.

The Atkins diet, on the other hand, is carbohydrate restrictive. It creates a state of ketosis in your body that burns only fat, and not muscle. The primary source of your energy for your body will be fat in the form of ketones. Your liver will convert fat into ketones and it cannot be converted back. It will be excreted naturally.

Ketones are actual a normally and efficient source of fuel for the human body. They are created in the liver from the fatty acids that result from the breakdown of body fat. These only appear when there is an absence of glucose and sugar. In the Atkins diet, you reduce the amount of glucose and sugar that is in the bloodstream. As a result, your body produces ketones for fuel. When your body is creating ketones it is called ketosis.

There is a common misconception that following a ketogenic diet like Atkins is dangerous. The truth is that being in ketosis is a completely naturally state. The human body creates ketones to use as fuel in the absence of glucose.

In the Atkins diet book, Dr. Atkins suggests using ketone-testing strips to determine your state of ketosis during dieting. These small plastic strips are held in the urine stream and contain a special chemically treated absorptive pad. This pad will change color if ketones are present in the urine. With the presence of ketones, the strip will change varying shades of pink to purple. There is a color scale on the label of the bottle that will help you determine your ketone levels.

Ketone strips are available in any pharmacy and can be found among the diabetic supplies. In some stores, they are kept behind the counter so you may have to ask for them. You won?t need a prescription to buy them though. Once you open a package of ketosis strips they have a shelf life of 6 months. It may be helpful to mark the opening date on the box.

Ketone strips will let you know if you are progressing correctly on the Atkins diet. If you are following the Induction plan to the letter and aren?t seeing purple, don?t worry. Some people never show trace amounts of ketones or they may show just above the minimum line. As long as you are losing weight and inches then you are successfully using ketones. Also, if you?ve just exercised a few hours before using the strips, you may not see purple.

Some dieters may mistakenly believe that a dark purple result on the testing strips means that they are losing weight faster. Actually, the darkest purple color is a sign of dehydration. It means that your urine is too concentrated and you need to drink water.

Ketones come from fat in the bloodstream, whether it is fat that you eat or fat that you burn. So if you eat a meal heavy in fat and then immediately use a testing strip, then you?ll see a dark purple result. Use the strips as a guide, but don?t get hung up on the color.

Reaching a state of ketosis is key to success on the Atkins diet and it as simple as eliminating carbohydrates from the diet. Make sure to follow the eating plan correctly and use the ketone testing strips as needed.

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Criticism from experts in the weight loss industry, the health experts, the doctors and the diet specialists arrive at different opinions when it some to Atkins program. Some believe that this diet which focuses on high protein foods can be very dangerous to your kidney health. Some are adamant to say that it is the best weight loss program ever developed!

Atkins Success

There are probably thousands of people who have achieved success with the Atkins diet program. With potentially hundreds of thousand individuals all willing to testify to this miraculous cure for weight loss, you may well be compelled to believe tat Atkins does not have any negative reactions on the users. But despite its astounding success, the Atkins diet do have its fair share of fans and critics and it is good to be aware of aware of what is happening on both sides as they can give you a clue as to whether Atkins is right for you.

Typical Criticism of the Atkins Diet

There are many who thinks that Atkins is laden wit negative impacts on the health. Many believe that the high fat ingredients used in the Atkins diet will result in catastrophic negative consequences on the health of those who apply this form of diet. However it is good to note that upon close scrutiny, Atkins diet focuses and utilizes on the good fats, which actually benefits the health besides losing weight.

Lack of Exercise

If you think that Atkins diet ns not focus on a proper exercise routine, you are wrong. Check out the Atkins diet book and you will find that Dr Atkins has clearly spelled out the needs of a good exercise program to be inculcated into this diet program.

Too Hard to Keep Up

Some people may feel that it is to difficult to keep up and say on a low carb diet all your life. Often, the weight lost during this low carb diet rebounds back very quickly when one resumes eating habit. But many have found new life and happiness wit this low car diet program or lifestyle and have successfully adapted to this new form of eating habit. The key is to correct the mindset so tat you will find ti more interesting to explore new avenues in life.

Side Effects

There are many side effects that are noticeable such as the obvious bad breath and the constipation issues when one adopts an Atkins lifestyle. but eating plenty of fruits and drinking large amounts of water will remedy this situation easily. The key is to learn to adapt to the changes and find ways to make it easy and enjoyable for you.

Atkins diet has many merits and demerits but to a keen believer of this diet program, one may find that Atkins has far more benefits than side effects and have adapted this diet to make it worst. Following the Atkins diet may need all your willpower and determination, but the resulted satisfactorily gained from this diet program may be well worth the price you are paying to get it.

Darren Williger is a guitar playing, tea drinking, meditating, low carbohydrate eating, wine making sales maker who writes for MyLowCarbPages.com, and MindSatori.com.