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The Atkins diet was created by Dr. Atkins, a cardiologist, who limited patients' intake of carbohydrates and sugar. The diet involves tracking carbohydrate intake and limiting yourself to a list of acceptable foods in order to lose weight.
There are 2 types of basic Atkins diet plans: the Atkins 20 (the original Atkins diet), and the Atkins 40. For the purposes of this assignment, I have chosen the Atkins 20.
Phase 1: Lasts for a minimum of 2 weeks, but can be longer depending on the person (stay in this phase until you're 15 pounds from goal weight).
In this phase, daily net carbohydrate intake is dropped to an average of 20 grams (daily intake 18-22 grams), so that you begin to burn primarily fat instead of carbs. The acceptable foods in this phase are all low carb to meet the low carb goal.
Acceptable foods: Fish, fowl, shellfish (limit oysters and mussels to 4 oz. per day), meat (limit processed meats cured with sugar, cold cuts, and meat with added nitrates), eggs, fats and oils (no added sugar), artificial sweeteners (one packet = 1 g of carbs), certain beverages, cheese (3-4 oz. per day), foundation vegetables (12-15 g of net carbs per day should be in these), certain herbs and spices (no added sugar), certain salad dressings (no more than 2 g of net carbs per serving)
Foods to avoid: any food high in carbs and not on the list of acceptable foods.
Phase 2: Typically maintained until you're within 10 pounds of your goal weight, although you can go to Phase 3 sooner if you're willing to slow the weight loss.
In this phase, daily net carbohydrate intake is increased in 5 gram increments (one increment per week) starting at 25 grams, in order to find your "personal carb balance". Carb foods are gradually reintroduced as you step up the "Carb Ladder". The new acceptable foods reflect this, and contain more carbs than the ones before. (more information on their website)
Acceptable foods: All the foods from phase 1, certain dairy products, nuts & seeds (and their butters), certain fruits (berries, cantaloupes, honeydews), certain fruit juices (lemons, limes, tomatoes), certain legumes (various beans, chickpeas, lentils), all flavours of Atkins bars and shakes
Foods to avoid: any food not on the list of acceptable foods.
Phase 3: Maintained until you've reached your goal weight and kept your weight there for a month.
In this phase, daily net carbohydrate intake is increased in 10 gram (or 5 gram if preferred) increments (one increment per week), in order to find your tolerance for carbs while still losing weight or maintaining your goal weight. This phase is preparation for "Lifetime Maintainance". The new acceptable foods reflect this, and contain more carbs than the ones before. (more information on their website)
Acceptable foods: All the foods from phases 1 and 2, starchy vegetables (certain root vegetables, corn, peas), more fruits, certain grains (check net carb count)
Foods to avoid: any food not on the list of acceptable foods.
Phase 4: Continuously maintained in order to keep weight.
In this phase, a transition to a permanent way of eating is made that allows you to maintain your new weight. Your daily net carbohydrate intake is also maintained, but adjusted if you gain weight or if your tolerance changes. There are no new acceptable foods, in order to limit carb intake, but modifications may be made as you age and your lifestyle changes.
Acceptable foods: All the foods from phase 3
Foods to avoid: any food not on the list of acceptable foods.
The point of the Atkins diet, much like any other diet, is to lose weight until you reach your target weight and then to maintain that weight, which it does do for the most part.
However, despite the weight loss, there are also other detrimental effects on your health. The Atkins diet reduces carb intake and generally increases protein intake. This puts added strains on your kidneys, and could worsen kidney function. This type of low-carb diet causes your body to enter a ketosis state - ketone levels in the blood are raised, causing your body to burn fat. However, if ketone levels are too high, there is risk of liver and kidney damage, kidney stones, and osteoporosis. Also, when you enter phase 4 of the Atkins diet, your LDL ("bad") cholesterol is raised from having too much saturated fat. This could lead to heart problems. The Atkins diet is restrictive for acceptable foods, which causes unbalanced nutrition.
The Atkins website states that "The science behind the Atkins principles has been proven by over 80 clinical studies". However, when I looked up studies that support the Atkins diet, many of them were actually from the Atkins website, which I'm disinclined to trust - even though there may be studies supporting it, there are also studies undermining it (which surely wouldn't be shown on the Atkins website). I couldn't actually find much support with empirical evidence for the Atkins diet, only the justification provided by their website.
The short answer is no.
At first, when I went on the Atkins website, its claims seemed mostly logical and there was proof of success. Even then, I was a bit cynical - our class had done presentations on fad diets in the past, and none of them seemed to stand up to studies and actual investigation. After thinking about it and doing more research on its side effects, the Atkins diet seemed even more problematic (as can be seen in my "Effects on health" page). I do believe that it causes people to lose weight, but studies have shown that at around the 12 month mark, you tend to begin to gain weight again, and the negative effects on your health aren't mentioned at all.
For me, I think it would be a difficult diet because it is highly restrictive and requires a lot of tracking. I don't tend to plan my meals out in advance nor do I think a lot about what exactly my food contains (other than whether it's generally considered healthy or not), so the Atkins system would be difficult. My lifestyle would also not be conducive to this type of diet, since a low-carb diet can cause fatigue (not good for what I have to do). Also, I don't think that I could maintain this type of diet permanently, even disregarding the side effects.
This diet wouldn't be good for me, since it's very restrictive and has a plethora of side effects. Like I mentioned in the previous slide, it would be difficult for many reasons, and I don't think the effects are worth that much effort. Also, weight loss isn't something that matters all that much to me, so it's pretty unlikely that I'll go on any diet. So no, I wouldn't choose it.
Tabata training is a type of interval training. It was created by Dr. Izumi Tabata (hence the name), a Japanese physician who who conducted a study using this method. Now, it has evolved further and is done in a variety of different ways.
The Tabata workout is essentially doing exercise with maximum effort and intensity (for example, sprinting) for 20 seconds and stopping for 10 seconds, and it's repeated 8 times. Usually, it is done with one type of exercise for all the 20 minute intervals of one session, but some people choose to vary the exercises (for example, sprinting for the first 20 seconds, doing pushups for the second 20 seconds, etc.). People also choose to increase or decrease rounds and intensity. This workout is incredibly intense and is best for advanced athletes/exercisers, but even those who aren't as fit can benefit from a less difficult version (by decreasing the time, repetition, or intensity).
Like I mentioned before, one session of Tabata training is usually done with one type of exercise, but some people choose to do multiple. It can be done with various different types of exercise, as long as it can be done quickly and safely in the 20 seconds. Examples include sprinting on the treadmill, burpees, sit ups, crunches, bicep curls, bench press, and mountain climber. However, the best results are obtained if a larger number of muscles are used.
One session of Tabata lasts 4 minutes (8 repetitions of 30 seconds). However, a full session will last longer than that, if only because of the warmup and cooldown that is required. It can be very difficult and taxing on the body, so the frequency of it depends on your fitness level, dedication, and free time. You don't have to do it every day to improve your fitness - a study done showed that even just 3 sessions of Tabata per week had improved the fitness of a group of people.
You need either a good stopwatch or something that can guide your intervals for Tabata (for example, following a video or an audio track). Other than that, there are no strict equipment requirements for Tabata training - there are exercises you can do that require no equipment at all. However, if you choose to do the exercises that do require equipment (elliptical, stationery bike, medicine ball slams, bench press, bicep curls, etc.), then you just need whatever equipment that your exercise requires.
Tabata training, like many other fitness routines, has the primary goal of improving your overall fitness. It can also be used to reach the goal of losing weight. The goal of many people doing Tabata is also to get the maximum reward in a short amount of time, which is what Tabata does. Many people who are looking to improve their endurance use Tabata training to do so as well.
Tabata has the overall effect of improving your physical fitness and health. It improves the fitness of your anaerobic (muscle) and aerobic (cardiovascular) systems. It also improves your overall endurance and teaches your body to tolerate lactic acid. It raises your metabolism, which stays raised after the workout and helps you burn fat even after the workout has ended. It has also been proven to activate mitochondrial biogenesis (the formation of new mitochondria) in skeletal muscle - the decline of motochondrial biogenesis is associated with aging.
However, a workout of such high intensity has risks as well. Tabata can be dangerous for people with medical conditions or for middle aged people (in fact, someone actually suffered a stroke while doing a Tabata workout). Physical fitness can also be achieved without doing something so intense.
The Tabata workout itself was based on a study that was done by Dr. Izumi Tabata, proving that the interval training was more effective than the moderate intensity endurance training done by the control group (with aerobic capacity increasing to a similar degree and a 28% increase in anaerobic capacity, where the control group had a 0% increase). Additionally, a study done by Talisa Emberts, John Porcari, Scott Dobers-tein, Jeff Steffen, and Carl Foster titled "Exercise Intensity and Energy Expenditure of a Tabata Workout" found that Tabata training did improve cardiorespiratory balance and resulted in burning more calories than would normally have been burned in 4 minutes.
https://www.atkins.ca/ (and various pages under the main site)
http://www.livestrong.com/article/517442-side-effects-of-the-atkins-diet/
http://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/high-protein-low-carbohydrate-diets
https://breakingmuscle.com/fitness/the-tabata-revolution-explained-what-why-and-how-to-tabata
http://www.active.com/fitness/articles/what-is-tabata-training
http://fitness.mercola.com/sites/fitness/archive/2016/02/05/tabata-training.aspx
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/dec/15/fitness-tabata-high-intensity-regime
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3772611/