SCIENCE: ARTICLES & LIBRARY

The “Eco-Atkins” Diet

Recently, a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine received a flurry of media attention.
The study authors started by admitting that low-carbohydrate dieting was indeed effective, not only for weight loss, but for reducing insulin resistance, lowering triglyceride concentrations and for raising HDL (so-called “good” cholesterol). The researchers wanted to see if they could design a low-carbohydrate diet that retained the proven weight-loss benefits of low-carb plans like Atkins and also help people improve their cholesterol while following a vegetarian, vegan approach. MORE

5 Reasons Vegetables May Help You Lose Weight and Live Longer

Lose weight? Live longer? Maybe your mom was right when she told you to eat your vegetables. Fortunately, vegetables are an important component of the Atkins Nutritional Approach. Even in Induction, 12 to 15 grams daily of Net Carbs should come from up to six cups of salad and up to two cups of cooked vegetables (depending on which vegetables you choose). Your choices become even more plentiful as you move through subsequent phases of Atkins. Read on for more reasons why you need to eat your vegetables.

American Diabetes Association Reverses Itself on Low-Carb Diets

The American Diabetes Association, an organization whose mission statement is "to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by (it)", clearly has it's heart in the right place. Trouble is, in our opinion, they've traditionally been behind the curve of cutting edge science and research when it comes to dietary recommendations. MORE

Another Reason to Eat Antioxidants at Every Meal

A healthy intake of antioxidants is one of the guiding principles of the Atkins program for robust good health. Antioxidants help protect cells and DNA from damage which not only ages us but also makes us more susceptible to disease. For that reason, maintaining high levels of protective antioxidants in your blood is an important goal of the program.
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Ask the Nutritionist: Make Hunger Go Away with Five-A-Day

Ask the Nutritionist: Nutrient knowledge

Q: I take a multivitamin, but I’d like to make a bigger effort in getting the nutrients I need from whole foods as well. What should I be eating?

A: Optimally, it would be great if you could get all the vitamins, minerals and nutrients you need from the whole foods you consume every day, but sometimes a multivitamin is a necessity as well.

Ask the Nutritionist: The Scoop on Sugar Alcohols

Ask the Nutritionist: Who’s Counting? Net Carbs vs. Total Carbs

Q: In The New Atkins for a New You, it’s recommended you count net carbs. Why did that change from Dr. Atkins’ initial recommendation of counting cups of vegetables and total carbs?

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Athletes benefit from Low-glycemic meals

Atkins Reviews: "Good Calories Bad Calories"

Consumers Demand Snack Foods with Health Benefits

Conventional Food Companies Facing A Big Dilemma

Could coffee actually be good for you?

Diet and Mood: Setting the Record Straight

You may have heard about a recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, which compared the changes in mood of subjects who had followed either a low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet for a year. The researchers, led by Grant D. Brinkworth, concluded that throughout the period, a low-fat plan improved overall feelings of well-being more than a low-carb plan did. Both the researchers and the media got it wrong—and in several critical ways. Here’s how: MORE

Diets High in Fructose Inhibits the Appetite Hormone

Discovering Soy Foods

Eating for Energy

This article is perfect for you if your goal is to eat better throughout the day without resorting to eating habits that can decrease your energy. It can be challenging to find the time to plan, organize and cook healthy, nutritious meals, but the payoffs are well worth the effort.

Epilepsy: A low-carbohydrate diet may be just what the doctor ordered

Food Cravings and Eating Out

Food Pyramid

Fountain of youth found in red wine and grapes

Functional Food Benefits: Deciphering Food Labels

High -Fructose Corn Syrup Has a Press Agent!

After years of media reports linking the increasing consumption of high-fructose corn syrup with the growing obesity and diabetes epidemics, the Corn Refiners of America have decided to fight back with a series of misleading commercials designed to persuade you that this stuff’s not so bad after all. MORE

High Glycemic Diets Increase the Risk of Type II Diabetes

We’ve long advocated a healthy controlled carbohydrate diet as a way of preventing or treating diabetes, but the medical establishment has been slow to catch on. And while much research has been done on low-carbohydrate diets and weight loss, until now the long-term outcomes have not been determined, although this is also true of low-fat diets as well.

Inflammation, Eggs and a Lower Carb Eating Program

Inflammation is a silent killer. While inflammation has flown under the radar as a risk factor for disease, it’s beginning to get a huge amount of attention. It started in 2002, when the American Heart Association journal “Circulation” published an article called “inflammation and atherosclerosis” (1) which detailed important links between the biology of inflammation and the mechanisms of heart disease. We now know that the inflammatory response – which often goes undetected in our bodies – is a contributing factor in a host of diseases including Alzheimer’s, cancer, strokes, diabetes and obesity.
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Is Your Nutrition Bar Right For You?

Keep on Track with Healthy Snacks

Longer Is Better

For decades there’s been an impressive body of research on low-carb diets and Atkins in particular, but until recently, most of the studies tracked individuals for less than six months. As interest in this nutritional approach has increased, however, a spate of new studies have been of longer duration. The good news is that the positive results hold up, in some cases, for up to two years. Read more. . .
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Low carb diet study in NEJM

Low carbs cause memory loss? Not so fast!

Low-carb memory-loss study: media forgets to report the facts.

You’ve likely seen recent headlines that tease a new Tufts University study involving low-carb diets and alleged memory loss. Well, this response from VP of Education and Communication, Collette Heimowitz points out one important thing to remember – the media loves to cherry pick the facts.

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Menu Mastery: A Guide to Healthy Options at Restaurants

More Reasons to Go Low Carb

Two new studies presented at the Endocrine Society’s 91st Annual Meeting in Washington DC offer additional evidence for the value of a low-carb diet, not just for weight loss, but for overall health. MORE

New Study on Low Carb Diet and Mood

Quick, Simple Kitchen Tips for High-Energy Nutrition

Supporting Your Gallbladder with Supplements

THE ATKINS ADVANTAGE: "Back On Top"

The Latest From NEJM

A recent New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) study titled “Comparison of Weight-Loss Diets with Different Compositions of Fat, Protein, and Carbohydrates” (Feb. 26, 2009), concluded that reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasized.
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THE ROLE OF THE ATKINS DIET IN ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE

This October, an article published in the journal Molecular Neurodegeneration attracted headlines in several major newspapers. The authors of the study had found that mice fed a high-fat diet exhibited a 5-percent decrease brain weight and an increase in amyloid beta. People with Alzheimer’s disease have high levels of amyloid beta deposits in their brains. The authors didn’t say that a high-fat diet is associated with similar effects in humans, but obviously the results in mice raise some concern. Does ketosis (the liver’s production of byproducts in the blood when consuming a high-fat diet), which occurs on the Atkins Diet, impact thinking and learning?

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What’s In Season? Veggies! More ways to enjoy your veggies on Atkins

Even in Phase 1 of Atkins, you should be eating between 12 and 15 grams of net carbs of vegetables every day. Vegetables are full of important nutrients and add colorful variety to the foods you eat every day. As the days get warmer and summer approaches, your choice of vegetables becomes even more varied. Farmer’s markets will soon be in full swing and if you have a vegetable garden, the choices are endless and literally right at your fingertips. Here’s a list of vegetables that are coming into season and will keep you satisfied through the summer:
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Worst Idea of the week: “Fat-Free Living” Month.

Is the term, “fat-free living” that an oxymoron?

According to our VP of Education and Nutrition Communication, Colette Heimowitz, dietary fat isn’t bad, it’s essential to life. Naturally, she has a beef with the USDA for declaring January, “Fat-Free Living Month.” Read the whole article here.

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Disclaimer: Nothing contained on this Site is intended to provide health care advice. Should you have any health care-related questions, please call or see your physician or other health care provider. Consult your physician or health care provider before beginning the Atkins Diet as you would any other weight loss or weight maintenance program. The weight loss phases of the Atkins Diet should not be used by persons on dialysis or by pregnant or nursing women.