« It is amazing how norms change | Main | Is the death of the young more tragic than that of the old? »

July 19, 2009

I have no idea how Atkins works

Giblfiz points out that he once saw an Atkins dieter eat 2 pounds of bacon, and so digestion issues cannot explain the weight loss. I'm not by any means an expert, but I once heard someone say that the Atkins diet worked by killing your desire to eat. Not through any fancy bio-feedback method but simply because only being able to eat from two isles of the supermarket made your food boring and therefore limited how much you ate.

The prodigious protein portions of Atkins dieters are notorious, but we don't see all the sugar soda they aren't drinking, the candy bars they skip, the white bread with brie that the have with wine and so on.

Bacon loses 71% of weight when cooked (http://www.unu.edu/Unupress/unupbooks/80772e/80772E05.htm) That's 907 grams raw into 263 grams cooked at 200 calories per 34 grams (http://www.wisegeek.com/what-does-200-calories-look-like.htm), that makes for 1,547 calories.

That sounds like a lot. Except, a Big Mac value meal has 1170 calories (http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/68145/trade_in_your_big_mac_value_meal.html?cat=51) and the salmon at the Cheescake factory is more than 1600 calories. Bacon is pretty chewy compared with a Big Mac or restaurant salmon, so it could cut back somewhat on the calorie bill. Since you skip the sugar soda, the snacks, and dessert on Atkins, maybe this isn't as gluttonous as it sounds.

Posted by OneEyedMan at July 19, 2009 9:27 AM

Comments

I am startled at how resistant people are to the idea that humans have more than one metabolic pathway. While I can't really venture any good opinion regarding it's health detriments or benefits of the atkins diet it definitely does cause ketosis, and ketosis defiantly does cause your body to use a much less efficient metabolic cycle.

I have always thought of it as running your car in fourth gear on the highway instead of fifth. If your trying to waste gas it's very effective.

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis )

Posted by: giblfiz [TypeKey Profile Page] at July 20, 2009 10:23 AM

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?