The Atkins diet is not a new phenomenon. The diet first appeared in the late 1970s and has grown popularity in recent years in response to the low-fat diet craze. As dieters had trouble with low-fat plans, they searched for a new solution and Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution book found a new audience.

A lot of people have jumped on the Atkins bandwagon and there has been a lot of hype as a result. But what are the basic principles of the Atkins diet?

The Atkins diet is based on a theory of why we get fat. According to Dr. Atkins, the over-consumption of carbohydrates and simple sugars leads to weight gain. The way your body processes the carbohydrates you eat have more to do with your waistline than the amount of fat or calories that you consume. In his book, Atkins outlines a phenomenon called insulin resistance. He theorizes that many overweight people have cells that do not work correctly.

When you eat excess carbohydrates and sugar, your body notices that sugar levels are elevated. Insulin is released from the pancreas in order to store sugar as glycogen in the liver and muscle cells for extra energy later on. However, your body can only store so much glycogen at once. As soon as your body reaches its limit for glycogen storage, the excess carbohydrates are stored as fat. This happens to everyone who eats too many carbohydrates.

However, insulin resistant individuals have an even harder time of using and storing excess carbohydrates. The more insulin that your body is exposed to, the more resistant it becomes. Overtime, the pancreas releases more insulin and cells become insulin resistant. The cells are trying to protect themselves from the toxic effects of high insulin. They create less glycogen and more fat.

As a result, insulin resistant individuals gain extra weight. The carbohydrates get converted into fat instead of energy. Other side effects include fatigue, brain fog (the inability to focus, poor memory, loss of creativity), low blood sugar (which can leads to hypoglycemia), intestinal bloating, sleepiness, depression and increased blood sugar. There is much more than weight at stake when you are insulin resistant.

The remedy for people who are insulin resistant is a diet restricted in carbohydrates. The crux of the Atkins diet is a limitation of carbohydrates in all of its forms. The foods restricted on the Atkins plan include simple sugars (like cookies, sodas and sweets) and complex carbohydrates (like bread, rice and grains). Even carbohydrates that are considered healthy, such as oatmeal, brown rice and whole wheat bread, are restricted on the program.

The diet has you restrict your carbohydrate intake to less than 40 grams a day. This will put your body in a state of ketosis. While in ketosis, your body will burn fat as fuel. According to Dr. Atkins research, the ketosis state will also affect insulin production and it will prevent more fat from being formed. Your body will begin using your stored fat as an efficient form of fuel, and youll lose weight.
Another benefit of the Atkins plan is that ketosis will end your cravings for carbohydrates. If youve been living on a carb-heavy diet, you may have found that you simply cannot get enough carbohydrates. With carbohydrate restriction and ketosis comes a reduction in carbohydrate cravings. People who have been on the Atkins diet for some time report that they do not crave carbohydrates as they once did.

Although the initial phases of the Atkins diet are rather strict, the program teaches you to restore balance to your diet in the long run. People who use the diet slowly reintroduce minimal amounts of carbohydrate into their eating until they find a comfortable balance between their health and carbohydrate use.

The basic principles of the Atkins diet have been adapted to many other low-carb diet plans. However, Atkins popularity still remains strong as one of the most effective low-carbohydrate solutions for those who are insulin resistant.

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Carb Pills How to Have Carbohydrates On the Adkins or South Beach Diet

If you are trying to go on a low carbohydrate diet such as the Adkins Weight Loss Plan or the South Beach Diet and find that you have trouble reducing your carbs, you may want to try anti carb pills. These are not actually medicinal products but rather dietary supplements made from all natural ingredients not chemical blends.

The reason carb smart diets such as Adkins and South Beach stay alive despite all of the negative media publicity is that they work. But, too many people find that they have trouble minimizing the amount of carbohydrates they consume for a long period of time. That is where the carb pills come in.

While more recent variations of the low carb diets have allowed more carbohydrates in the form of whole grains, it is still tempting to have a cookie from time to time. The carb pills absorb excess carbohydrates in the diet by blocking the carbohydrates consumed from being absorbed in the body.

One of the carb blocking ingredients in the pills is made from white bean extract. They are 100 percent natural and safe to consume.

It is best to take a carb blocking pill right before eating a carb heavy food or meal. They can also be taken during or after the meal, but this has a reduced effectiveness.

Here is how the carb pills work on the body. Fat accumulates in the body when carbohydrates are broken down by alpha amylase, which is an enzyme produced in the pancreas. When you exert yourself through exercise or daily energy, these carbs are burned off. However, if you take in more carbs than you burn, you will store the excess as fat.

Carb pills prevent the fat by preventing the excess calories from being converted through blocking the digestive enzymes from acting on them. This means that the major portion of the carbs are passed through the system without being absorbed.

So, do carb pills work? The scientific community has not really taken up this question because the major pharmaceutical companies fund most of the research. As the carb pills are not produced by these pharmaceutical firms, researchers have not found it worth their while to independently evaluate the pills.

However, the companies which produce carb pills have produced their own studies. They have shown that in the short term at least, the carb blocking pills do in fact keep up to 45 grams of carbohydrates from being absorbed in the system.

There may be some side effects from using the carb blocking pill. These include gastrointestinal distress, heartburn, excessive gas and diarrhea.

The two most common brands of carb pills are Carbo Lock and Ultra Carb. These pills can be expensive a 30 day supply typically retails for $30. If you buy the products in larger quantities, you can often bring the daily cost down.

If you want to have the benefits of a low carb diet but occasionally indulge in carbohydrate rich foods or meals, you might want to consider investing in carb pills which block the carbohydrates in a pasta dinner or piece of chocolate cake from turning into fat.

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