Summer, from your posts on FR over the years I believe you are a passionate person who does a lot for the Conservative cause. Thank you.
But your ideas about low-carb diets may be based on erroneous information. If you are the reasonable and open-minded scholar I believe you are, I hope you will give what I say a fair consideration.
Quick background on the man:
I believe Atkins was not only a cardiologist, but a rigorous scientist who was persuaded by facts and proof alone. Despite this, his character was assassinated by an unprecedented Liberal media and academia assault. He was even maligned by a Democratic Congress, who accused him of being a quack.
In the original version of his book, he included a transcript summary of his curious inquisition by Congress. The story reads like the persecution of Jesus Christ.
Funny, all I remember in my foggy recollection as a youth at the time was that Atkins somehow advocated a 'bacon and eggs diet'. I dismissed him then. But as an adult now, taking the time to research my own facts and form my own opinion, this media spin was an outright distortion and lie.
I only wish I had pierced the veil of propaganda at the time, because I would have improved my life years and years ago.
In summary, the Atkins diet changes the way you need to think about calories. The traditional formula "Calories In = Calories Out" doesn't work. Does Atkins dispose of the laws of thermodynamics? Of course not. It looks at a macro picture of what is going on in the body, on the "Calories Out" side.
"Calories In" refers to caloric intake. "Calories Out", to most dieticians, exercise and the basal metabolic process.
But Atkins discovered that additional energy dynamics are significant when lower carbs are ingested, since the preferred energy source of the body, glucose, readily available via carbs, is now restricted.
The missing link to the formula is 'excreted', i.e. "Calories In = Traditional Calories Out PLUS Calories Excreted".
How are calories excreted? In the absence of available carb/sugar energy, the body will necessarily breakdown fat stores. The process is inefficient from an energy dynamics viewpoint, like a poorly-tuned automobile engine. This is good for weightloss! When your body is forced to use fat stores for energy, through bodily function and even sweat, your body is dumping energy from fat.
No matter how many high-priced Liberal profs refute it, the facts on the ground prove low-carb diets work to reduce weight on similar, or even higher, caloric intake diets when compared to the recommended Food Pyramid diet.
Why do dieticians reject Atkins? Simple. It doesn't follow the Food Pyramid that forms the paradigm and basis of their understanding of diet. Their education prevents acceptance of it.
Where did the Food Pyramid come from? A Democratic member of Congress, McGovern, sponsored originating legislation to help wheat-growing farmers. A 'Rat did it for votes! It has absolutely no basis in science. Only now, because Atkins exploded the myths, has the Food Pyramid been revised, albeit imperfectly.
Here's another interesting tidbit. Early in his career, Atkins was struck by a curious fact, which formed a part of his study on diet. People who were on hunger-strikes noted that after approximately 48 hours, they lost their hunger pangs.
Atkins later hypothesized that it was because they had depleted glucose/sugar/carb stores in their bloodstreams, and were now consuming body fat, an alternative pathway for energy. Anyone who has lived a low-carb diet knows that they start losing weight about 2 days (48 hours) after going back to a hardcore low-carb diet.
What Atkins discovered though, was the starvation effect, which is that by starving yourself, the basal metabolic rate lowered dramatically, self-defeating for weightloss.
But what Atkins significantly realized was that low-carb diets and frequent eating prevented this starvation effect.
Does Atkins recommend eating bacon and eggs? No! He recommends leafy salads, vegetables, etc., all the carbs you desire, as long as they don't exceed a threshold that is personal and individual, where body fat is stored.
So why are you supposed to go hardcore (Induction) with no carbs? Only to purge your body of blood glucose, and to provide a baseline to understand your own body mechanics. Once you are clearly burning fat (as much as 10 pounds in 14 days!!!), you reintroduce carbs (whichever ones you want) such that you continue to lose weight at the rate and level you desire. If you stop losing weight, you've found your personal carb threshold. Go forth, and do whatever you want - lose more weight, gain weight, whatever. Atkins simply provides you with the tools to understand your body and how it stores fat.
Summer, thank you for reading this.