Controversies and Misconceptions About the Atkins Diet for Weight Loss

In 1963, at a weight of 224 pounds, Robert Atkins was sick and overweight. Years of stress, work load, and poor eating habits had taken their toll. As an American physician and cardiologist, he knew that he needed to lose weight to become healthier. Little did he know that the weight-loss diet he implemented would drastically change how we think about nutrition. His high-fat diet rocked the conventional notions that low-fat foods were required for weight loss and proper health. Even today, this controversial diet continues to fight against misconceptions and criticism despite helping millions of people to lose weight.

Emerging in an era of low-fat promotion for healthy snacks, the Atkins Diet faced stiff competition. Years of scientific research (mostly directed by biased nutritionists and funded by agricultural interests) showed that high-cholesterol diets could increase the risk of heart disease. The findings prompted press releases advising people to eat less animal products and avoid fats. Due to the controversial nature of the Atkins Diet, serious research into low-carb diets has only recently been conducted. Ironically, more and more studies are demonstrating that high-fat diets actually reduce the risk of heart disease. Sadly, studies with these conclusions do not receive as much attention as those which highlight high-carb diets. In addition, the grain-based food industry is much more likely to fund studies that hypothesize the superiority of high-carb diets, helping to perpetuate the myth.

A series of studies in the mid-2000s showed that the Atkins Diet helped overweight patients lose weight as fast as or faster than individuals on the Ornish, Weight Watchers, Zone, or other diets. Undeterred, opponents of the Atkins Diet stated that the weight loss resulted from reduced food energy, not the lack of carbohydrates. Other critics claimed that the Atkins Diet still increased the risk of cardiovascular disorders because of the high cholesterol consumption (despite the research which suggested otherwise). As if that was not enough misinformation, promoters of other diets asserted that the Atkins Diet was 80% more expensive than the average American food budget. This figure was calculated by including recipes listed in an Atkins nutrition cookbook that contained high-cost ingredients, such as lobster tails (which were added to the cookbook to demonstrate the variety of potential foods on the diet).

Follow the Best Bodybuilding Diet Plans Before and After Your Workout Sessions

There is no shortage of bodybuilding diet plans in this world when you are looking to get into shape. The best bodybuilding diet plan should emphasize more on the carbohydrates and proteins and not saturated fats and sugary foods. Proteins will certainly help you in building your muscles. Given that you've taken up a regular exercise routine, your diet should consist of complex carbohydrates, animal proteins, and healthy fats.

Since everybody has a different body composition and fitness level, it is first necessary to take a BMI reading to determine how many calories you need to consume per day. There are plenty of BMI calculators that you can find online by simply typing it into Google or Bing. This is the fist step in order to estimate the average diet amount that you will need to successfully build muscle and shed fat.

Here are some basic pointers for before and after you workout. Since you are just starting out, it is important to understand that your body will undergo major changes and adjustments to any workout you choose to follow are not only common, but necessary.

Just before the workout session:

    You should see that the meal you take is very low in fats and fibers. The diet should contain proteins and complex carbohydrates. Don't eat any saturated or unsaturated fats, doing so may tap your energy and make you feel bloated.

    You should eat your meal about 1-2 hours before you workout. You should always give your body time to digest your meal so you should eat your meal about 1-2 hours before you workout.

    You should base the amount of protein you consume on your body weight. As a general short cut to measuring, take about half the amount of protein you would normally consume post workout. Some popular choices would be skim milk, protein bars, and a cup of fruit, low-fat milk, some grams of yogurt and protein shakes. You can also consume an intra workout supplement that consist of BCAA's and Glutamine to help fight fatigue to help keep you going in the gym.

After your workout:

    You should consume the most amount of protein per day during the first hour after you finish working out. Your muscles are depleted at this point and your body's need for nutrients is at its peak so capitalize on this moment to maximize muscle growth.

    Depending on the body weight, you should consume carbohydrates in the ratio of one gram of carbohydrate to each one pound of the body weight. If you workout for longer than 2 hours you should increase this amount.

    Consuming simple carbohydrates prior to or during your protein shake is a bodybuilding trick that is used by many that spikes your insulin levels to stop catabolization. You can eat a handful of gummy bears, add a few table spoons of sugar to your protein, honey, or other things as well. This is the only time in the day where you can get away with eating otherwise, bad food choices during the day.

The role of the personal fitness training and bodybuilding expert is also considered very important today. He or she can not only take accurate measures of your physical statistics, but they can also record and analyze your fitness and strength levels. Once this information is recorded, they can draw up the best bodybuilding diet plan for your specific needs. You will have to follow the expert's or trainer's advice all the way if you are willing to build the perfect body.