Misunderstandings about the Atkins diet

I regard the Atkins diet, not as a ‘fad’ diet or a failed diet, but as a good start for living a ketogenic and lowcarb lifestyle. But misunderstandings are rife, not just among those actively hostile to Atkins and lowcarb, but among friends of lowcarb eating as well. Consider this quote:

“By eating large amounts of skim milk, lean meat, and protein bars, Atkins enthusiasts were unintentionally stimulating their insulin to the same degree as before.”

    ~~~~ Dr. Jason Fung, ‘The Obesity Code,’ 2016

OK, I admire Dr. Jason Fung. I think he’s really smart. But either he misunderstands what the Atkins diet is and was, or else he was talking about misunderstandings of the Atkins diet among his patients, and was not clear about that. 

The reality about Atkins is this:

1. Atkins does not allow skim milk or whole milk or any kind of milk. In the original ‘Atkins Diet Revolution’ (1972) he makes kind of a big point of that in the book. He does allow 4 teaspoons a day of heavy cream on Induction, the first level of the diet. That is 1 Tablespoon plus one teaspoon.
2. Atkins does not insist on lean meat. He encourages dieters to be shockingly unafraid of fats in their diet. He warns that eating only the lean meats could make the diet harder to follow.
3. Protein bars? What protein bars? When the original Atkins came out, there were no protein bars of any kind on the market. When the Atkins corporation was formed, they did start to make Atkins bars, both ‘meal replacement’ bars and special treat bars. These are not the same as the commercial ‘protein bar’ found today which have lots of carbs, including sugar. (I would not include Atkins products in my diet since they are less-than-ideal processed foods, though I might ask for them if I were too sick to cook and someone offered to get some for me.)

This statement by Dr. Fung would certainly lead the uninformed reader to misunderstand Atkins, though explaining Atkins was not his point in writing that paragraph in the first place. I would advise ketonians to actually read ‘The Obesity Code’ to understand what was meant. And read the original ‘Atkins Diet Revolution’ and perhaps follow that up with reading Atkins’ later books as well, to get a good grasp on what Atkins is all about.

The modern ketonian who keeps up to date will probably add to the wisdom of the Atkins approach by emphasizing ‘real foods’ not processed foods. But when Atkins was written, alternative foods were not available to all, and Atkins was hard put to get his patients lowering their carbs without sending them in a futile search for grass-fed beef and organic veggies. We can add to the understanding given in the original Atkins diet (and avoid being tempted by modern corporate-Atkins commercials that want to sell Atkins products.)

Recommended reading:

Dr. Jason Fung: 'The Obesity Code'

Dr. Robert Atkins:  'Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution'

Gary Taubes: 'Why We Get Fat and What to Do about It' (currently reading)

The No-Breakfast Plan Experiment, Day 3

I've noticed no particular improvement in health-measurements, in part because I haven't been eating many breakfasts before it started. I am being stricter about things like bulletproof beverages and bone broth in the morning hours--- I would consume if I were very hungry in the mornings, but since I've already retrained my hunger away from morning eating, I haven't gotten much hunger yet.

I haven't had any comments to the effect that any of my blog readers are doing the experiment along with me. But that's OK. If you are trying it, and you haven't been on keto or skipped breakfast before, be generous with yourself and allow yourself some bone broth or even a bulletproof beverage. It can help make the No-Breakfast Plan more do-able at first.