Weight Loss, Diet and Fitness Program

Diets, such as the Atkins, South Beach and Protein Power diets, are low in carbohydrates and high in proteins and fats. Compared to traditional weight loss diets, the Atkins-type diets contain about the same fat intake, but contain much less carbohydrate and more protein. Animal fats and proteins from meat and dairy products make up as much as 90 percent of the calories of these diets.

The body prefers to use carbohydrates as fuel and save fats for emergencies. Millions of years of development encouraged our genes to maintain and preserve fat stores. The body makes it easy to store fat, but makes it very difficult to lose it. For centuries, this served us well because people on the edge of starvation could survive for days on their own fat stores if they couldn’t find any food.

Our genes controlling metabolism and fat storage are identical to those of our ancestors thousands of years ago. Only, ancient humans didn’t have ready access to processed foods loaded with saturated fats and simple sugars, junk foods and the availability of fast food restaurants. Their diets were high in protein, monounsaturated fats and complex carbohydrates.
The problem with simple sugars is that they stimulate insulin.
The pancreas secretes this hormone in response to high blood sugar levels. Insulin is essential for transporting sugar into the cells, but it also promotes fat storage. Insulin stimulates fat storage in fat cells by turning off an important chemical called hormone sensitive lipase that breaks down fat so the body can’t use it as a fuel. It also promote a chemical called acetyl CoA carboxylase that stimulate fat storage. An important goal of low-carb diets is to keep insulin release to a minimum. This allows your body to use more fat for energy and helps you lose weight.

The Atkins diet helped people lose more weight than people following a low-calorie mixed diet or a high-carbohydrate diet. Surprisingly, the Atkins diet reduced markers of heart disease, such as blood triglycerides and insulin resistance. Critics of the diet say weight loss caused the decrease in triglycerides rater than composition of the diet. The researchers counter by saying that weight loss is the purpose of the diets, so it is a positive finding that low-carbohydrate diets improve markers of heart disease.

People loss weight on low-carb diets mainly because they take in fewer calories than they use through metabolism and physical activity. Also, they lose more water while on the diet because they deplete carbohydrate stores from muscle tissue and the liver. The body stores carbohydrates as glycogen (blood sugars linked together). Each gram of glycogen is bound to three grams of water. Low carbohydrate intake depletes the glycogen stores, which causes considerable water loss.

Low-carb diets are high in protein, which help suppress appetite. Proteins are made from amino acids, which can be converted to sugar in the liver. Protein act like blood sugar timed release capsules to maintain energy levels and prevent hunger. The body produces chemical called ketones that suppress appetite (and give you bad breath). Also, high protein intake stimulates thermogenesis in which the body loses energy (calories) as heat rather that storing it as fat.
So, Atkins-type diets may work better than normal weight loss plans because ketones and sustained blood sugar levels suppress appetite and the high protein intake boosts metabolism and helps people burn more calories.