The Recommendations for the Atkins Diet - Essay Example

As with so many diet levels of popularity years, the Atkins diet, so named due to the fact that it was promoted and developed by Robert Atkins – an American physician and cardiologist, aimed to resolve the seemingly ever-increasing ratio of obesity that was and continues to be so prominent within American society. The diet itself sprang from an article written by Dr. Alfred Pennington in 1958 entitled “Weight Reduction”.  Seizing upon this as inspiration for his unique approach, Richard Atkins popularize the Atkins diet beginning with a series of books first published in 1972. With regards to the longevity that this particular fad diet has enjoyed as compared to many others, it can be said that the Atkins diet is one of the oldest fad diets. Moreover, diet is specifically designed for individuals that are struggling with obesity and desperately seek to lose weight. Finally, the overall traction that this diet was able to achieve is due in part to the fact of the time in which it was promoted. In the early 1970s, a great degree of interest was being generated with regards to health maintenance and the means by which nutrition impacts weight and health.

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Although it is true that adherence to Atkins helps the individual to lose a lot of weight in a relatively short period of time, one of the biggest problems with the diet is the fact that over time it is very hard to keep the weight off; unless of course one continues to adhere to the diet forever (Hills 22). Another key drawback is with regards to the fact the Atkins diet has been demonstrably proven to not allow the individual who is engaging with it to derive a full and complete nutritional complement from the foods that they eat. Although Atkins does have some very good points with regards to the way in which the body processes in stores certain types of foods as fat, the crux of the issue is the fact that the body nonetheless needs many of the types of foods that Atkins would recommend to shun (Flemming 130).

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Proteins and fats in and of themselves are not necessarily something that the Atkins diet is opposed to. Quite the contrary, the Atkins diet encourages at least 20% of all calories eaten, from saturated fat; an approach that dietitians and scholars have debated for many years. The ultimate rationale for this approach is the fact that Richard Atkins believed that eating complex carbohydrates almost invariably and immediately translate themselves into long-term fat within the body; whereas proteins and fats in and of themselves were either carried through the body or utilized to a positive end. With regards to the total caloric intake of the Atkins diet as compared to many other diets, it must be noted that the average BMR of the Atkins diet is higher than the 1300 kcal that has come to be the standard of human consumption. However, the Atkins diet puts forward the understanding that this increase in total BMR is not a concern to the fact that the body is unable to process many of the calories that are being eaten merely passes them on through without turning them into sugars or fats.

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similarly, with regards to the overall cost of the Atkins diet entails as compared to many of the other diets that are exhibited within the current model, it can definitively be said that the cost of the Atkins diet is somewhat higher than diets that engage in a high level of plant fiber and fruits and vegetables in general (Muha 101). This is of course due to fact that the Atkins diet promotes a heavy consumption of meats, cheese, and other animal products which necessarily entail a much higher cost as compared to a more natural diet based on plant fiber.

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With regards to recommending this diet to a family or friend, it would not be the recommendation of the student to do so. Even if weight is being lost, diets high in saturated fats and animal products have definitively been known to cause cancers in a greatly increased percentage than those diets of individuals who do not engage in such a high level of animal products, meat, dairy, and the rest. Similarly, as has already been discussed, the Atkins diet, although helpful in the green initial weight loss, is ineffective in maintaining this weight loss over time.