The Carb-Cutting Atkins Diet Essay -- Health Nutrition Diet Exercise E

The Carb-Cutting Atkins Diet America is getting fatter. Recent statistics have shown large leaps in percentage the overweight in our country. As the obesity epidemic continues to grow, companies and nutritionists around the country work at a fanatical pace to develop new techniques which they claim can help prevent the emergence of an overweight America. Often, these techniques include diets – ranging from the highly sensible to the highly controversial. One such meal plan, which has recently been in the center stage of the media, is the carb-cutting Atkins Diet. Started in 1972 by the late Dr. Atkins, the diet of his namesake has had books, TV programs and even energy bars dedicated to it. One of these bars, the Atkins Advantage ® claims to be able to help with weight loss by lowering sugar levels in the blood, which in turn will aid in fat burning. One important question remains though: Is this claim supported? However, before answering this problem, we must first understand how the diet in question works.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  While many diets attempt to limit the number of calories consumed per meal, the Atkins diet instead tries to lower the carbohydrate content of these meals. The reasoning comes from the theory that carbohydrates - complex sugars found in bread and starchy foods, will lead to an increase in levels of another chemical, insulin. Insulin is a chemical that regulates several important factors in the human body, including that of weight and hunger. Nutritionists supporting the Atkins plan believe that high levels of insulin in the bloodstream actually slow down the body’s process of burning fat, known as lypolysis. In addition, Atkins supporters claim that because of the che... ...   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Despite the recent success and initial positive results of the Atkins diet, the bar does not seem to share the same qualities. Unfortunately for its creators, the Atkins Advantage ® bar contradicts the entire framework and basis of the Atkins Diet. While the goal of the energy bar was to reduce insulin levels, laboratory tests have suggested otherwise. Such would almost completely impair any benefits to the body from a low blood sugar level. It is quite possible that the excess insulin would store what little blood sugar there was in the body, and make consumers hungrier, faster. It appears that while many aspects of the Atkins diet do work on the premise of lowering blood insulin levels, the energy bar fails miserably. More tests would need to be performed, however, before a truly clear view of this bar and its effects can be formed.