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What are the advantages?

There are many good points of the Atkins diet. Millions of people throughout the world are dedicated followers of the plan so it must be doing something right. The main advantages are:

- you can eat as much protein and fat as you want
- usually produces quick results
- easy to follow and there are no complicated meal plans.

All diets have their downsides otherwise we would all be our perfect weight. However, the Atkins diet arguably has more than most:

- a diet high in fat, particularly of the saturated kind, can lead to heart disease
- not suitable for those with diabetes of those suffering from kidney or heart problems
- lack of carbohydrate causes the body to use fat for energy, a process that releases chemicals which can lead to sickness and tiredness.
- the brain uses carbohydrates for energy; any carbohydrate counting increases the risks of not giving the brain the juice it needs to function effectively.

The Final Thought

The Atkins diet is useful if you want to loose weight quickly say for example before you go on holiday. However, the diet cannot be recommended for any substantial period of time. The potential health risks are not worth losing a few pounds. The key to long term weight loss is to exercise regularly and follow a healthy, balanced diet which incorporates all the major food groups. Trying to eliminate carbohydrates or for that matter fat from your diet simply doesn't work.

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