Tom Venuto - 10 Lies About The Atkins Diet!

[Unregistered]

Eat healthy exercise and die anyway.

[wanttobearnold]

I think there are a couple things worth mentioning. Venuto mentions about the removal of almost all carbs for the first two weeks, and someone else said this was there only problem with the South Beach Diet. In regards to why this is, it is to help people break the addiction they have to the bad carbs. For a lot of these people they are addicted the same as smokers and alcoholics. I think it also worth mentioning that the diet does not let you eat all the bacon an sausages you want. Atkins actually recommends against that. In addition I don't know that this diet was ever suppossed to be used by bodybuilders and others doing a lot of exercise, I think it is meant to be used by the average sedentry person that is out there. Also to those who just badmouth the diet, if you haven't actually read his books and tried the diet, then I don't think you have any right to comment. What should be said is that everyone is different. Just because this diet doesn't work for some people, doesn't mean it couldn't work for others.

[AJbuilder]

Originally posted by Unregistered
Eat healthy exercise and die anyway.

Eat healthy and exercise, then die at 90


eat like crap, look like crap, don't exercise, look like crap, smoke, drink, and die at 50 looking like crap too.


your choice.

[Unregistered]

the Subway diet is best, you morons

[squiminator]

I think that everyone here should contact the BBC for a recording of a programme that totaly destroyed Dr Atkins theory's. The documentry concluded with the following fact,s gained from huge scientific studies.
1) the total calories eaten in a day were significantly less even though the subjects were sure they ate more.
2) the main reason for this was not the fact that fat staved off hunger but protein did( now we know why bodybuilders swear that using high protein in the diet hardens the muscles,which gives the illusion of bigger muscles).

So it seems that the Atkins diet works, but not for the reasons that Dr Atkins has stated. and from personal experience, i have found that elements of his diet do have merits, but i have made my best gains using moderate and high carb days along with high protein and minimal saturated fat.

[Arizona]

Seems to me he is just like all the other people trying to slame the Atkins diet and make money off of it. Nice article then at the end baits us to his page and asks for a mere $40!!!!

In my opinion Atkins works for me, I have no problem hitting the gym and lifting. I am not trying to become huge in muscle mass just want to be defined and fit and so far I am happy with my achievments.

[oldcabman]

Tom Venuto's article constructed a series of straw men, then burned them up one at a time. Anyone can take a concept from Atkins and exaggerate it then shoot it down. For instance, take the diet that Atkins uses in the induction period and apply it for life...that would be unhealthy, yes, but that is not what Atkins recommends in his diet. The biggest problem with the Atkins diet is that you actually have to carefully read what the Doctor recommends, fully. If you don't understand what you're doing with the Atkins diet and/or don't have someone to help you with it, then things probably won't work out for you.

Dr. Atkins carefully studied the literature, had a health clinic for over 30 years, and helped countless numbers with his methods. He used a scientific approach that included blood analysis, urine analysis, body fat analysis, lifestyle analysis, etc. His methods are powerful but are not to be toyed with by people who aren't able to follow his recommendations completely. Atkins may just simply be too extreme for a lot of people.

For those of you who don't have extreme problems losing weight, try going with the Zone program. If that doesn't work, then really study Dr. Atkins' approach.

I started at 250, with Zone Diet went to 225, then crept back up to 230. Nothing I did would lower my weight, and I struggled for a year. Then I started Atkins and within a month I had pushed through the plateau. Atkins took me down to 190, which is where I want to be at 6'0''. I've been around the 190 lb point, varying up and down about 5 lbs, for over a year.

My athletic performance and weight lifting performance has improved over this whole time.

Thanks to Atkins!

[jsewell0203]

Read the previous post. Venuto makes the mistake that so many others have made. He takes the induction phase (which is only one of 4 phases) and refers to the diet as if that is all it consists of. This is a common problem. It usually occurs when people make assumptions about a diet that they in fact know nothing about.

There are four phases to Atkins, the first of which is induction. In each of the following phases you are shown how to introduce high-quality carbs into your diet slowly.

At the end of the process you are encouraged to exersize to maintain a healthy body composition.

What is sad is that Venuto trys to acknowledge Atkins incredible acheivements, the many facts that he uncovered decades ahead of the diet herd.

-Metabolic 'thermal benefit' of high protein diets
-Protein suppresses appetite
-Saturated fats are not the issue - high blood insulin is the killer that transports cholesterol and fatty lipids through the blood and clogs arterys.
-Ketosis is the most efficient / best way to burn body fat, more efficient than exersize.
-processed carbs are killing us and creating an epidemic of obesity because of how they affect blood sugar/insulin levels
-etc., etc.

Atkins was way out in front of everyone on all of these issues at a time when many of his conclusions were ridiculed. He was completely right of course.

The only negative aspect of the Atkins diet is the difficulty of performing strenuous exersize while on carb restricted diets. How do you get around that? Well its simple. You eat your carbs when you need them. When I am getting ready to lift weights I carb up with 100 grams or so of good carbs (banana, Oatmeal, etc.) with a high protein meal. Not a lot, but enough to give me that little bit of extra energy and stamina I need to finish a workout. You don't want to overdo it because you want to be able to get back into ketosis the following day.

You may know that this is called carb cycling. In the next several decades this will become the only diet that is universally accepted by athletes as one that works, keeps you lean and allows you to workout hard when you want to.

JSewell

[tntpop]

How does eating whole foods, fresh veggies and low glycemic fruits EVERY DAY become something foreboding on a bodybuilding forum????

It doesn't!

If you don't know ANYTHING about Atkins...please read it before posting.

By the way great article Tom!

[zhixiong]

Eat healthy and exercise, then die at 90


eat like crap, look like crap, don't exercise, look like crap, smoke, drink, and die at 50 looking like crap too.


your choice.

Rep. LOL.

[maresf16]

I've had great success with CKDs. I don't think it was right for Tom to go about promoting his diet system by putting others down. He never mentioned the fact that everyone responds differently to the same thing - the key fact that all bodybuilding principles are based on. Using the archives as a shameless promotion to make money isn't really in my book as an approved thing to do either.

No single diet will ever be the right one for everyone. To me, the best idea is the diet humans lived off during the stone age - fat and protein with only a tiny amount of carbs. Sounds to me like ketosis. But one must also remember that at that time, humans were competing with other species for survival and not very many humans survived. The ones that did were the ones that were able to live on a ketogenic diet. It wasn't until humans finally learned to grow plants and domesticated animals that they really began to rise above the rest of the animal species on Earth. And, interesting enough, the population took off with the development of agriculture. To really get your head on straight about dieting you have to think from an evolutionary point of view. The reason one single way isn't good for EVERYONE, even the ketogenic lifestyle, is because everyone is different and has different genetics. More people survived with agriculture because more people had access to food and, more importantly, the particular diet that helped them thrive and reproduce. So really what it comes down to is that humans have cheated nature's cycle of life by breaking out of the survival struggle and having the ability to choose whatever food they like. More people survive, more people reproduce, more babies live, what's that equate to? A ton of biological diversity and no single way that works for everyone.

The take-home lesson is that everyone is different. If something doesn't work for you it will most likely work for someone else, so no sense in arguing about it.

[MoeB]

Just wanted to put my 2 cents in.
I have read the Atkins diet and I don't remember him outlawing carbs except for the first 10 days. In fact, what he outlines in his book is just that an outline. Everyone is different and so there carb need are different. As I see it if you follow the book as a body builder, it could help you lean out. I have noticed, looking at other pre contest diets, the carbs are dropped pre contest much like in the atkins diet.

I think that one must read articals on mass building as well as low carb diets to build the most effective diet.

I am currently on day 2 of the atkins to try to lean out a bit. I have used the diet to loose weight before, about 40lbs. I am going to use it and modify it to my body building needs and see if my theory is correct. I will post an update in 30 days. April 23,2008
current stats:
Hieght 5' 9"
Weight 210
body fat 28%
working out for 6 months
bodybuilding off and on for 20 years.

[SpiderJerusalem]

By the way folks, it's not "ketosis".

It's "lipolysis".

As much as I agree with much of what Atkins advocated, he did get those two terms confused early on and it has led to many frustratingly irrelevant arguments ever since.
When you go low-carb, you are hitting lipolysis--burning FAT for fuel, assuming you're low-carbing properly and including lots of fats in your diet. Low-carb/low-fat/high-protein will eventually kill you (as early American explorers found out). Proper low-carb is low-carb/moderate-high-fat/moderate-high-protein (there's wiggle-room).

At any given point in time your body is burning both carbs and fats for fuel. Which one it is burning more of depends on what's available. Burning fats for fuel results in a leaner body because once your body has geared itself to burning ingested fats for fuel, burning stored fats is a breeze (and preferential for the body) and there's little to no insulin to interfere with that process. Most people today are sick because they are eating too-high carbs, have chronic insulin overload, and many are taking in larger number of fats to boot so all those fats end up floating around the bloodstream unburned, building up on arterial walls and causing damage.

Another advantage of a low-carb diet is lower amounts of fiber (assuming you don't eat too many/wrong vegetables). We've all been brainwashed into believing that we need fiber for our digestive and excretory systems to work, which is of course utter ****e! Read Fiber Menace(http://www.amazon.com/Fiber-Menace-C...7942405&sr=8-1) and learn the truth. It's actually rather nice to go through each day not having to fart like a frickin' banshee from all the extra fiber, starches and other carbs. I love the taste of oatmeal, but all the fiber just sits in my stomach and by the end of the day I feel like downing a bottle of Drano just to relieve the pressure!

Going low-carb has been a boon for me. In addition to my colon not feeling like a goddamn volcano all the time (doubly important when your job mandates that you sit most of the time), I'm actually finally building up some real strength in my workouts now (and beginning to build some mass). I'm also apparently allergic/sensitive to wheat (and/or yeast), since my already-sensitive skin starts to flake when I ingest bread on a regular basis. Avoiding pasta has stopped the burning GERD-like sensation I was starting to get in my eso****us when I was relying on that for calories. And stuff like salad and other veggies that contain insoluble fiber make me bloat up and cause some serious pain, which I seriously don't miss experiencing. My acne-prone skin is also much clearer than when I was ingesting (simpler) carbs. I also have to avoid most dairy since I'm lactose intolerant, and I also react allergically to milk with hives (that skin again), and casein unfortunately turns on the snot fountain for me and leaves me congested. And I also have to avoid overly-salty foods (cottage cheese, for example) because, again, the extra salt screws up my skin.

So I eat a LOT of beef, salmon, some occasional chicken and other fish, nuts (typically raw cashews) some cauliflower/broccoli/carrot steamed veggie mix at night (less and less these days though), some occasional strawberries or other low-glycemic fruit. As a treat I might have a lower-carb dessert like a piece of cheesecake or whatever, once or twice a week. And right now I'm experimenting with using Optimum Nutrition Whey Isolate to make up some extra calories. And I mix a LOT of olive oil into everything. Right now, at 170lbs and aiming to build mass, I'm taking in about 3100-3200 calories per day. And because I'm a hard-gainer, I'm not doing tons of aerobics on the side.


So, long post? Sure. I've read Venuto's book, and much of it makes sense. But it's not going to work for me, as per the many reasons I give above. Between allergies and a sensitive stomach, I'd pretty much have to avoid being around other people to follow his plan, lol.

EDIT: PS, I don't "Carb-up" at any point during the week. I get plenty of energy from the fats I'm ingesting and burning for fuel. I do admit to using AMP2 as a little kick in the ass before my weight workouts, but that's due to feeling tired from my job at the end of the day (I felt the same way when ingesting high carbs), but I could still do the workout without it, and when I do actually do my aerobic stuff, I don't use the AMP2 and I have plenty of energy. Just sayin'.

[TheRealBill]

This article has some fundamental flaws. Among the ones already pointed out, he asserts that the Atkins diet makes you want less to eat. For sake of discussion, let's say it does. He then asserts that reduced hunger is probably one of the benefits of it. Let us again for sake of discussion accept this.

However, the then goes on to say that you don't get to "eat all you want" on it. This is false demonstrably false given his prior assertions. If you want to eat less, and you do, then you are eating "all you want". Where he goes wrong is making equating "eating all you want" with "eating more than you should". These are two disparate items, and as such his equation is false and misleading.

He then goes on to talk about "good vs bad" carbohydrates. However, this is another misleading tact, as carbohydrates are carbohydrates. There is no functional difference between them. You can not say that a teaspoon of sugar will make you fat, or more fat than any other equivalent carbohydrate load. There is nothing inherently clarifying about adding the adjectives "natural" or "refined" to the word carbohydrate. Yes, raw oats can make you just as fat as refined ones. In fact, this "recommendation" sounds more like over-complicating in order to keep the general public less well-informed about the underlying science; a common tactic among those seeking to make more money from the complications.

While it is true that there is more to the calories in vs. calories out equation, to say that one carb is somehow blessed and another is bad is absurd. A "natural carbohydrate" can affect the insulin-glucogen balance negatively. To add in the other nutritional components of a given food does not change the underlying facts of the carbohydrate's effects, with rare exceptions.

Nearly all carbohydrates do in fact cause an rise in insulin, a key factor in the expansion of fat cells. There is no specific requirement under normal conditions for carbohydrates in the human body.

In the years since Atkins much research has shown that the higher carb load does in fact have a significant effect on where the energy we put in our bodies goes to. The hormonal balance between even just insulin and glucogen has a significant role in whether we build, or lose, fat vs. muscle. This is a key factor in such studies that show that those on low-carb diets can 'eat more calories". The explanation Venuto gives is insufficient. Some foods having a 20-30% drop in effective calories is not enough to account for much of the difference. A recomposition around lean muscle vs. fat increases the metabolic rate. Ignoring this is silly. I'm sure we'd all agree that having more muscle is a metabolic advantage in the sense of being able to eat more. In addition a more correct insulin-glucagen balance produces different testosterone levels, another factor in body composition.

Though I am not doing Atkins I do eat as much as I want, I don't count calories, I don't even count carbohydrates and am steadily losing weight despite a rather minuscule weekly exercise total. That is a fact, not a dream world. The fact that I *want* less to eat does not change this the fact that I eat "as much as I want". In fact, I'd argue that it is a key.

Venuto argues that we should be concerned with long term weight loss. I'd argue that we should be concerned with finding a way to eat for ourselves that allows us to eat without requiring significant constant monitoring. The fact is, outside of specific medical conditions it is possible to find a "diet" that does allow to a) "eat as much as you *want*" and b) "not need to count calories". This is accomplished by understanding that eating foods that are less calorically dense, and eating foods that fulfill your desires can accomplish this. Venuto takes the most key aspects of long term dietary maintenance out of the equation then asserts that anything that accomplishes the goals is a lie. This is ignorance at best. And ignorance is easily on display in this article.

I'm not a fan of Atkins, and no I have not tried it. However, I have done some actual research into it and Venuto's claims are for the most part demonstrative of a lack of research on it and thus should be taken with a dose of salt - whether it be potassium salt or sodium is of course, your choice.

[rachelliu]

I like do exercise very much, but I find that it is hard to do exercise everyday, so how to stick on this decision, at the same time, is there any one who know Group purchase

thanks for you help!!!!

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[jayviper]

Show me any real research Venuto has done. All he did in his "article" was collect a bunch of unfounded assertions and try to sell it with a defamatory title.

Dude, these "Fitness Professionals" are arguing with a Doctor about the effects of sources of energy on the body...they need to check themselves, this pseudo science is why people dont go to the gym to begin with. Theres a reason the writer of this article works a gym and doesnt actually do real research with scientific investigation. Its laughable at best...