The Atkins Diet is the grand daddy of the quick weight loss diets.  It’s based on severely limiting carbohydrates.   Carbs are processed by the body to become sugar or glucose.  Glucose is used by the body for energy.  If the carbs consumed for the day aren’t enough, the body transforms the fat it has stored back into glucose for energy.  Carbs also cause the blood sugar to spike which signals the body to produce insulin to remove the sugar from the bloodstream.  This causes the blood sugar to drop which results in a craving for more carbs to raise it back up. That’s the basis of the Atkin’s Diet.  Severely limit carbohydrates in the daily diet and the body has to fall back on its fat storage for energy.

The initial two week kick start program only allows 20 grams of carbs per day. The carbs from fiber are netted – subtracted from the total carb count.  So for example, while ¼ cup of blueberries has a total carb count of 5.1 grams, only 4.1 grams are counted because 1 gram is from fiber. Continue reading »