Obesity

[kwicky]

The government is putting out warnings about eating too much fat causing obesity. Someone on a diet such as Atkins say you can lose weight by just cutting out carbohydrates such as bread, cakes and pasta. At the same time you can eat as much fat as you want. I knew someone who used this diet and lost over 2 stone in weight in a short space of time. What is the explanation?

[Pippa68]

On the Atkins diet may lose weight quickly..however your overall health stinks (and your breath) you risk kidney failure amongst other things, and Doctor Atkins himself died an obese man ;o)

I don't think it works for all anyway ~ I know of at least two people who didn't lose that much weight and couldn't cope with the lethargy.

Because of this I can't offer an explanation...sorry!

[kwicky]

I'm not recommending it as a diet but it does work for most people even some well known stars, It does seem to turn the fallacy of fats on its head so maybe research should be done to find out why it does work before lecturing people.

[Pippa68]

I agree with you kwicky ~ I am also wondering why on earth the government wants to try (again) to tell the public what it basically already knows..that too much fat and not enough exercise can make you overweight.

It doesn't take much to be considered obsese, either.

[daffy654]

The Atkins diet may help to lose weight but because you are eating so much saturated fats instead you risk high cholesterol. I think a balanced healthy diet and exercise is the best way to go,losing weight means lifestyle changes not just dieting.

[derekpara]

I have just returned from one of my frequent trips to Holland and Belgium and I am always amazed at the difference between continental girls/women and their British counterparts. The former are, in the vast majority, slim and graceful whilst the latter are, in the vast majority, great lumps of lard with huge fat ar**s and usually tugging along equally obese offspring. Personaly, I think it's all due to the vast amount of booze our girls pour down their throats.

[Pippa68]

Don't know if this is any help?

ATKINS DIET

Weight Loss
Cutting out the carbohydrate intake (the favourite energy source), the human body is forced to find another fuel to burn, which is fat, its own fat.

Weight Maintenance
Atkins diet allows dieters to identify their own carbohydrate need. Eating the proper amount of carbohydrates, they neither gain nor lose weight.

Good Health
Atkins diet delivers a rich-nutrition food and dieters are told to take vitamins and supplements to cover the body's needs; thus, vitamin and minerals deficiencies are out of the question.

Disease Prevention
Eating proteins on a regular basis and avoiding carbohydrates, the output of insulin is more strictly controlled. Thus, you are less likely to suffer from diabetes. They are quickly satieted (they do not need to eat more or more often) and the crave for sweets and high-caloric foods is gone.

Drawbacks
According to the same website, the are two drawbacks, both occuring during the diet:

bad breath
constipation
There are also rumors that on a long term, Atkins diet may lead to strokes or heart diseases, relapse of kidney infections and high cholesterol, which are severe threats.

[vehelpfulguy]

>I have just returned from one of my frequent trips to Holland and Belgium...... many slim women.

I agree about European women (and men come to that) being slimmer and taking better care of themselves.

I remember a French person saying to me once "French people live to eat, English people eat to live".

Go down any high street or shopping centre in the UK and look at the places to buy a snack or take way.

It is all chips, burgers, fried fish, pizzas, sausage rolls, pasties, pies, crisps, and so on.

Generally we are TERRIBLE eaters in the UK (me included, I am overweight).

Unless we do something soon we are going to have a huge (pardon the pun) social problem.

Maybe we do need government intervention, a "fat" tax.

[Kathyan]

And that's the reason they are 'concerned' about it vhg. They are always on the lookout for something else to tax and they have decided that obesity will be the next one!

[Loosehead]

Too many calories is just that, it matters not what those calories consist of. Atkins works in the short term because calories are reduced by currring out a major food group. In the long term the craving for CH's is overpowering. I did it once for 2 weeks and after that I'd have crawled over broken glass naked for a spud!

I was watching the the news this moring about a school that introduced a healthy diet for the kids' lunch. What happenned? The Chav parents went up the school, fag in mouth and handed fish and chips over the fence to Chav Jnr, that's the problem, stupid people and I don't think there's a cure for that!

[jiggy-gb]

If I can just defend the Atkins diet a moment, I went on it a while back, lost over 3 stone with little effort and had no side effects mentioned. It isn't for everyone as apparently your blood type alone can dictate whether a certain diet is suitable or not. I had no bad breath, no lethargy, I was full of energy and everyone commented on how healthy I looked. I would recommend it to anyone who never really ate fruit anyway, i hate the stuff so it was no hardship for me to cut it out, i ate more veggies than most 'healthy' people though.

Until Dr. Atkins had what turned out to be his fatal accident (slipping on an icy pavement and giving himself brain damage) he was at his ideal weight. Only after being in a coma for the 3 months leading to his death did he become morbidly obese, having been stuck on drips and pumped with all kinds. Sadly this is not the picture the tabloids portrayed, it would hardly sell papers and so they decided to tear the man apart when he was no longer around to defend himself. Never believe what you read in the papers, I can't believe that people still do, or maybe it's just when the news suits what they want to believe. I do recall Clarie Sweeney slating the diet very loudly after she got a kidney infection, turns out she didn't drink anywhere near the amount of water she was supposed to but the papers weren't as quick to publish that confession...

Anyway, I wasn't having a go at anyone, just defending something which I for one knows works very well if you read it properly and follow it as you should. If we were all the same and everything worked the same for us all we'd either all be skinny or all be lardy!

[Pippa68]

jiggy I think the problem with Atkins diet mail fail if the followers didn't adhere to the rules ~ aren't carbs supposed to be reintroduced gradually? if the followers don't do this this I guess this is where the problems (and bad press) lies.

It should be obvious to most that drinking plenty of water is essential with any eating plan, but of course it isn't!

I believe carbs to be essential in any eating plan, that is all.

[Pippa68]

Sorry..should read 'may' fail ;o)

[jiggy-gb]

Lol Pippa, I got that. You're right, it's like anything really, if it's worth doing then do it properly! At the time of all the hype newspapers and magazines were printing their own versions, over half a page of their paper, when the book is about a couple of hundred pages... It's hardly surprising so many people got it wrong.

I still limit what I class as bad carbs, anything made from white flour basically, but that's all. I have a problem with wheat anyway so it's easier that way. People just eat the wrong carbs, wholemeal carbs are great to reintroduce after losing the weight, and I even eat some fruit now (still hate it though) along with spuds and rice, and I find it really easy to maintain my weight. Most of my carb intake though is from veggies, and I'm a picture of health, no need for pasta, bread or anything like that at all.

[fletcher.5]

Don`t eat imported US ***** & get off your big fat bums & simply excercise in moderation.