Whether you are currently on the Atkins Diet, or are considering starting a low carb diet, it is important to understand how this specific change of diet will affect your body, and what you can do to maximise your results, whilst reducing the likelihood of suffering negative side effects.
In this article we’re going to take a look at some important information surrounding the famous Atkins Diet, including a quick recap of what it is, and more importantly will cover whats great about this popular diet, as well as the potential issues you may encounter following this strict approach.
Based on our research we will then highlight recommended diet pills, key health supplements, and essential vitamins to help offset any negative points and reap the greatest rewards from the Atkins Diet, which will also be applicable to other low carb diets such as the Dukan diet, the ITG diet, the South Beach diet and the Stillman diet.
What is the Atkins Diet?
Officially known as the Atkins Nutritional Approach and made famous by Robert Atkins way back in 1972, the Atkins Diet is a low-carb, high-protein diet.
Because of the low-carbohydrate content of this diet, you will typically find yourself relying heavily on dietary fats and protein for the majority of your daily caloric intake.
Traditionally, the Atkins Diet is applied in four phases:
During the initial two-week phase you consume as few carbohydrates as possible, while eating a large quantity of protein and an unlimited amount of fat. The foods you eat during this phase will typically include things like meat, eggs, cheese, butter, oils, and a small amount of fibrous green vegetables.
The following three phases have you gradually eating a larger proportion of your calories from carbohydrates, enabling you to add more fruits and vegetables to your diet.
The aim of gradually reintroducing a moderate amount of carbohydrates into your diet is to enable you to find your personal ‘sweet spot,’ if you will, where you can continue to lose or maintain weight while enjoying optimal long-term health.
Benefits of the Atkins Diet (and low carb diets in general)
The most obvious benefit of the Atkins Diet is that the net weight loss in the initial phases is very rapid, with some individuals seeing reductions in bodyweight as high as 5-10kg.
It should, however, be made clear that this rate wont be sustained and is in part due to the loss of ‘water weight.’ This is due partly to the fact that one gram of fat typically carries with it three grams of water within the body, and also due to the diuretic effects of a high protein intake.
Removing carbohydrates – and in particular, processed carbohydrates – from the diet can yield rapid health-promoting effects, and this alone may be enough to illicit a significant amount of fat loss in the early stages of the Atkins Diet.
A high consumption of saturated fats can also be beneficial to men who suffer from low levels of testosterone; however, this high fat intake is not without its potential risks.
Issues and Side Effects of the Atkins Diet
People who are heavily reliant on carbohydrate consumption are likely to suffer from a degree of symptoms during the early phases of the Atkins Diet, including but not limited to lethargy, insomnia, dizziness, and a feeling of mental fog.
A sudden and severe reduction in fibre intake can also cause constipation in some individuals.
Furthermore, the high saturated fat intake typically associated with the Atkins Diet does raise some concerns regarding heart disease, and the high protein intake can be very acid-forming in the body. This increased acidity may lead to a deterioration of bone health in later life.
It is also worth mentioning that the low-carb-induced fat-burning state known as ketosis can cause severe halitosis or bad breath in some people.
Now that we’ve looked at the pros and cons of the Atkins Diet, let’s look at some supplements that you can add to your daily regimen to counter some of the issues we have discussed above.
Recommended supplements for the Atkins Diet and carbohydrate restricted diets
Enhanced Fat Loss
Straight off the bat we can see that the Atkins Diet has been designed first and foremost as a fat loss solution.
With this in mind, it certainly can’t hurt to add further fat-burning support in the form of supplements like Raspberry Ketones and Green Coffee Extract, both of which have been heavily praised by industry experts like Dr. Oz.
Green unroasted coffee beans are harvest in their natural state due to their high concentrations of chlorogenic acid which, aside from being a potent antioxidant, has been shown to promote an average reduction of up to 10% body weight over a fourteen-week period.
Our Green Coffee supplement provides you with a low-cost option of reaping these benefits for yourself, with the peace of mind that you are receiving a high-purity product with no unnecessary fillers or binders.
Constipation
The constipation often experienced by Atkins Diet practitioners can easily be treated by supplementing with dietary fibre.
Our Dietary Fibre Complex and Coreflush Complex can help increase your ratio of soluble and insoluble fibre, promoting optimal digestion functions.
Hunger, Sugar Cravings, and Mood Swings
Finally, there is no denying that jumping from the typical Western diet straight into a very low carb intake can be challenging, with the vast majority of people suffering from hunger pangs and unpredictable moods.
One natural supplement that has been shown time and time again to effectively combat these symptoms is 5-HTP.
Also useful as a sleep aid, 5-HTP or 5-hydroxytryptophan works by promoting serotonin levels in the body to help suppress your appetite and fight off unwanted cravings.
There have been no recorded side effects established with 5-HTP derived from the griffonia simplicifolia seed, making it a perfectly safe and natural way of controlling your hunger while at the same time stabilizing your mood and helping you focus on your day-to-day life.
Our 5-HTP supplement gives you the opportunity to see the benefits of this natural appetite suppressant for yourself, with each capsule containing an appropriate 100mg dose that will reduce your hunger without causing drowsiness through the day.
By keeping your bowel movements regular, eliminating your sugar cravings, and giving your body a much-needed fat loss boost, you’re sure to be able to enjoy the full benefits of the Atkins Diet while minimising any unpleasant side effects.
Essential Vitamins
Taking a multivitamin as well as an ample dose of B vitamins and Vitamin C is also a very good idea, particularly for the initial phase of the Atkins Diet where you may experience the greatest amount of lethargy.
Vitamin C is also effective at helping your body to control its levels of the stress hormone cortisol, hopefully making it a little easier for you to drop some of the fat around your more stubborn regions such as the lower abdominals and love handles for men, and the hips and thighs for women.
Omega-3-6-9 Fatty Acids
Given the large quantity of saturated fats you’ll be consuming on the Atkins Diet, it would be wise to balance this out with a supplement that provides a spectrum of omega-3-6-9 fatty acids.
A fish oil supplement will provide you with a far more cost-effective method of obtaining your omega-3 fatty acids than having to purchase salmon every few days!
L-Carnitine & Co-Enzyme Q10
L-Carnitine has long been known as a handy supplement to use when trying to lose weight as it can indirectly assist fat metabolism.
As we saw above with our Raspberry Ketones and Green Coffee supplements; if you’re working hard to shed a few pounds then it makes a lot of sense to have a little extra assistance helping you along the way!
It is also worth mentioning that the antioxidant Co-Enzyme Q10 or CoQ10 has been linked to many aspects of health ranging from cardiovascular disease to fibromyalgia, and deficiencies in this essential nutrient have been discovered in individuals suffering from such ailments.
With this in mind it certainly seems as if CoQ10 is a worthwhile supplement to invest in when making sudden and drastic changes to your diet.
This becomes even more relevant considering the high saturated fat content of the Atkins Diet and the potential risks associated with this.
Chromium
Chromium, particularly in the form of chromium picolinate, is what is known as a glucose disposal agent or GDA.
In simple terms, this means that chromium essentially boosts the sensitivity of your cells to the effects of glucose and insulin, helping you to more effectively metabolism carbohydrates and shuttle nutrients into your lean tissues such as muscle, bone, and organs, rather than storing them in your fat cells.
Combining an effective GDA supplement like this might not be ideal in the initial phase of the Atkins Diet because carb intake is very low and this may potentially lead to minor hypoglycemia.
You can find Chromium and L-Carnitine in our Raspberry Ketone Complex and Garcinia Cambogia Complex supplements for optimal results.
As you begin to add more carbs back into your diet in the later phases of the diet, chromium should prove to be a very worthy addition to your supplement arsenal as it will help your body to ‘soak up’ those carbs into your muscles where they are needed most!
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