, or the burning of stored fat, rather than from carbohydrates consumed (5). What does all of this mean to you and me? To explain it in layman’s terms, it simply means that when fewer carbohydrates are consumed, the body naturally produces less insulin. As a result, the body, which now lacks its’ carbohydrate energy source, finds alternative methods such as ketosis, the burning of stored fat, for necessary energy. Although it only takes a minimum of 100 grams to put your body into a state of ketosis, Dr. Atkins says it can vary anywhere between 15 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per day, depending on how your body responds to carbohydrate intake. To give you a comparison on how severely your carbohydrate intake is limited by Dr. Atkins Diet, the American Heart Association suggests 300 grams of carbohydrates per day based on a 2000 calorie per day diet (5).So if you can’t eat carbohydrates, what can you eat? On Dr. Atkin’s plan, he suggests eating unrestricted amounts of high protein, which include meat, fish, shellfish, poultry, eggs, and cheese (7). On the other hand, food items like pasta, bread, and foods with large amounts of refined sugar are eliminated. Still not sure what a high protein diet consists of? To give you a better idea, the following is a sample of what your meals would consist of on a daily basis. For breakfast you may include bacon and eggs, no toast, or juice because they contain too many carbohydrates. Then, for lunch a small salad and a double cheeseburger. A bun would put you over the allowed 60 grams of carbohydrates in a day. Finally, for dinner, you would have a salad with blue cheese dressing, and steak or fried chicken if you prefer. Be sure not to include any bread or after dinner snacks, as they too would break the carbohydrate limit (7).When you consume these types of meals you consume approximately 40% of your calories from carbohydrates, 30% of your calories from prot...
