Could it be that high protein causing appetite suppression is the secret of Atkins?

[Ben_1981]

I just watched the Horizons documentary on Atkins. It was fairly old, but I know it was released sometime after the death of Dr. Atkins. I expected it to be full of "Atkins will kill you" propoganda but was suprised to find that it seemed pretty fair and non biased.

In this program they suggest several things:

1. According to a study they cited (the one that caused the mainstream nutritionist community to change their view on Atkins) Atkins followers lost twice as much weight as those restricted on low calorie and low fat diets.

2. Within the same study, Atkins was not shown to raise cholesterol. Those on Atkins had ten fold better cholesterol vs those on restricted low calorie and low fat diets.

3. From their own study, Atkins did not seem to cause the body to burn more calories, as previously suggested by Dr. Atkins and others. Their study seemed to prove that a person on Atkins vs a person on a restricted low calorie and low fat diet burned approximately the same amount of calories during a scientifically studied day.

4. During the same study, they suggested that Ketosis was not the secret to Atkins. They claimed that more calories were not released in the urine through Ketones.

5. They also suggested that hunger suppression may actually be the key to why Atkins works. Those on Atkins actually ate less calories over the course of one month vs those on a restricted low calorie and low fat diets. This was of course despite the fat that Atkins followers were allowed to eat as many calories as they wanted.

6. Fat does not appear to be the key to hunger suppression. They showed a study where a group of people ate similar looking meals where half of which contained very high fat and the other half were very low fat. They were told to eat as much or as little as they wanted. I can't remember how long they did the study, but they claim those with the high fat meals ate more than those on the similar in appearance low fat meals.

7. Protein may be the key to why Atkins works, despite what Dr. Atkins thought. They showed a study in Denmark were people where 60 people were given free food for one year. Half ate mostly breads, pasta, and flour. The other half ate mostly veggies and lean meat. Those eatting the lean meat (ie. high protein, low fat) ate considerably less food than the other group. Their appeties were greatly suppressed despite the lack of fat.

8. Overall, they tried to dispute as many of Dr. Atkins claims as possible. They talked about the law of themodynamics (energy cannot be created nor destroyed) and how it conflicts with Dr. Atkins original ideas. In the end they concluded that the reason is the diet works is because you eat less calories, and that's it.

Is there any truth in this documentary? Could protein be the key to hunger suppression which in turn is the key to success of Atkins? Is the hidden goal of Atkins just to reduce calorie counts through protein related appetite suppression without having to go through the pain and suffering of more restricted diets?

[Ben_1981]

Also, here's a link for the documentary:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2004/atkins.shtml

Apparently it was done more recently than I thought. The site also has a full transcript of the show.

[Diana]

I tend to eat lower in fat and seem to do better then when I up the fat.
I guess its a Your Mileage May Very (YMMV)

[lkmjbc3]

Yes!!!.... well sort of........

1. Adequate protein does seem to keep you from getting hungry.
2. Ketosis also has a dampening effect on hunger.
3. Insulin control keeps hunger in check....

So really all three contribute.... A powerful combination.......

Also, the stuff about Atkin's being just a low calorie diet is probably bunk. Several studies have shown Atkin's dieters to be able to consume about 10% more calories than low fat dieters and still lose weight. Most likely the difference is not in the actual calories burned but rather the food being less efficiently utilized.

So, you have a metabolic advantage with hunger control........

Finally because you have adequate protein and fat your body will tend to preserve muscle tissue rather than burn it......

Hard to beat......

lkmjbc3

[LindaSue]

In my case at least, this one isn't true at all:

5. They also suggested that hunger suppression may actually be the key to why Atkins works. Those on Atkins actually ate less calories over the course of one month vs those on a restricted low calorie and low fat diets. This was of course despite the fat that Atkins followers were allowed to eat as many calories as they wanted.

The appetite suppression part is true or I'd eat even more than I do, but I definitely do NOT eat fewer calories than I would on a low fat or low calorie diet. I can't lose any weight on a 1000 calorie per day diet, but I lost 50 pounds by eating nearly 2000 calories most days on Atkins. I've never limited fat either and it's still not a problem for me.

[thefluffyturtle]

I'm totally addicted to chicken...any way you fix it...I know that when I eat it, I'm totally satisfied and full...

I love red meat, but it doesn't have the effect that chicken does with me, nor does fish...fish reacts on me like chinese food does...I'm hungry again in a fairly short time after eating it.
BLUE

[3boys4me]

Protein does "stick" with you longer than a carb dense food. It cause 0 sugar spikes.

Is it the secret of Atkins? Could be. But that secret goes right along with the glycemic index/load. The absence of blood sugar spikes, is the reason for the absence of certain food cravings and your body constantly telling you you need to eat.

A sugar spike (too many high glycemic carbs) is like a fire burning....you feed it fuel (wood) and it flames like crazy, then the fuel burns away and you need to get it more fuel.
Same as insulin spikes, if you're eating high glycemic foods, your body burns it like crazy thinking "woohoo I'm burning now!" then it burns those carbs away and it's thinking "oh man, I'm so tired, I need something to bring me back up " It's a cycle that wears your body out.

If you give it adequete low glycemic foods you're metabolism burns them at a slow rate....those along with protein which burns even slower. It's at an even keel all day long. The protein sticks with you.

So, it may be a secret to it but it's not the only one.

Ben....good for you for researching into the plan!! The most successful low carbers are the ones that have read and read and read about it. It's so important to know the hows and whys that low carb works.

I think it's also very important to read about many different low carb plans. Each plan seems to delve into the hows and whys differently and with each book it becomes more clear.

Good job!

[Atkins_Nutritionist]

Hello Ben,

Glad to see you are doing your home work.

While some of the information is true in the documentary some is not.

I suggest you visit the Atkins website. Go to "Science Behind Atkins" and search "research supporting Atkins."

There are about 36 studies that specifically study Atkins and support many of his theories.

Ketosis can cause appetite suppression
There are those who can eat more and lose more weight
If you burn fat, you use a different metabolic pathway and this may be another reason for the "metabolic advantage"

There is also a lot of research on the safety of doing Atkins and various topics such as exercise, diabetes,heart disease...

Enjoy!!!!

By the way, how is it going?

[Diana]

I agree Shells. I love reading up on this and other Low carb methods.
I am one who if I go over 1200 Calories I tend to stop. Great for maintaning, but not loss. I noticed with beef I lose well, but chicken slower even though it keeps me more full. (yes Measured out)

[Ben_1981]

^^^I like how beef is generally cheaper, but I don't like eating it by itself. Chicken is perfect by itself. I hope it doesn't stall me like it does you.

Atkins_Nutritionist: Thanks for answering my question.

It's going good so far. I took your advice on the diet so I'm eating a lot more salad and veggies which is nice. I'm almost through with induction. I'm never hungry and I'm still walking 1 mile per day. I'm not sure if I've lost anything though because most scales can't go past 350. I'm thinking of going to the hospital and just finding a scale to weight myself with (sometimes they leave them in the halls). I've been measuring my waistline with a bed sheet but haven't noticed a difference since I took the measurement a few days ago. I'm going to buy a better measuring thing though so I can better track of this.

[LindaSue]

Ben_1981, you could buy a length of cheap wide ribbon at a fabric or craft store (or even Wal-Mart). You could even mark your starting measurement right on the ribbon and keep marking, and perhaps dating, your new measurements on it as your weight goes down.

[Atkins_Nutritionist]

Way to go Ben!

I suggest you wait the 2 weeks to measure yourself.

By the way, I like the ribbon idea.

[Ben_1981]

The ribbon idea would be perfect if I already had the ribbon. But I'd have to go out to a fabric store anyways, so I might as well just get a real measuring tape. I'm going to do that tomorrow since I'm off.

[LindaSue]

No offence, Ben_1981, but I thought maybe you weren't using a tape measure because it wouldn't go around. Obviously a tape measure would be better than ribbon if you have a choice.

[Ben_1981]

Originally posted by LindaSue
No offence, Ben_1981, but I thought maybe you weren't using a tape measure because it wouldn't go around. Obviously a tape measure would be better than ribbon if you have a choice.

The one they used at the doctor's office went around. If I can't find one with 170cm though, I'll just buy some ribbon and use a yard stick to measure it.

[LindaSue]

My tape measure goes up to 60 inches or just over 152cm.