The Atkins Diet: Good, bad or both?

An informative look at recent Holistic Fitness News

DR KAPLAN'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

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The Atkins Diet remains hugely popular. This is unsurprising as it actually does help people lose weight. The diet itself is controversial as it involves cutting down on carbohydrates and eating large amounts of protein.

When a radical diet like this hits the market, it can take some time to assess its affect on human health. Of course some adherents to the diet will rave about dramatic weight loss and this will make the diet popular in the short term. It can take many further years to see what other effects the diet has on health. A diet like this one, which reduces intake of a very popular foodstuff, carbohydrates, certainly needs to be looked at retrospectively on a regular basis. Dr Susan Jebb of the Medical Research Council has done just this. She warned that the diet could lead to kidney damage and bone loss. There was also a case in the papers about a 16 year old American girl who died from heart failure while on the diet. Here I am much more circumspect. We should never dismiss health advice on the grounds of one case. This girl may have had a pre-existing condition which may have led to heart failure independent of any diet.

Other columnists argued that if the diet helps people lose weight it must have some merit because obesity is definitely bad for your health. But not all methods of losing weight, eg. crash diets of various sorts are good for you.

I have expressed my general skepticism about all diets in this column. This is because, although they all help people lose weight in the short term, research shows that 90% of people put the weight back on within two years. My advice is always to avoid being greedy, allow yourself treats on special occasions, leave the table when still a little hungry and have plenty of exercise. It usually works.

To Lose weight AND keep the weight off your best approach is a combination of exercise and nutrition, like The Bodydoctor personal fitness training programme which you can do yourself with the fitness book and DVD.

The French Approach to Eating

Ever noticed that the French look thin and elegant. Noticed too that they really enjoy their food? That their food is famous all over the world? That la creme is French? So how on earth do they maintain such good figures? The Journal of Psychological Science came up with an answer. They eat smaller portions of everything. By comparing meal sizes at restaurants in Paris and Philadelphia, the men in white coats found that meals in Paris were on average 25% smaller than those in America. The exception was the Hard Rock Cafe in Paris. I guess that McDonalds wasn't considered, because a Big Mac is a Big Mac is a Big Mac anywhere on earth. Except in France where according to the movie, Pulp Fiction, it's Le Big Mac! So the French have the answer. Eat what you like but only in small portions. Hey isn't that amazing? If you eat less, you lose weight. Could life really be as simple as that?

Homeopathic Tip

A good way of losing weight is to 'detox'. This just means cutting toxins such as tea, coffee, alcohol and non-prescribed drugs out of your life for a while. A friend of mine uses the month of January for this purpose. For 31 days he 'imbibes' nothing and eats healthily. When doing this, you should reward yourself by having a few good massages, or seeing an holistic doctor such as a homeopath for constitutional treatment which will just aid your body do the best to help itself.

Dr Kaplan's personal website is: www.drkaplan.co.uk and his practice website is www.140harleystreet.co.uk and he can be contacted on (020) 7487 3416