However, I have been reading in my old copy of Atkins' Diet Revolution, and have to say he makes terrific sense. I found another book based on his diet that's aimed specifically at diabetes and its precursors, found it at a remaindered price so I got it.
I'm convinced. Atkins was way ahead of his time, if that's the way to put it. He was right anyway, and the medical establishment still hasn't recognized his well researched information, let alone the food industry. People still talk of Atkins as if his diet were a recipe for deteriorating health just because it contradicts the party line. Most "diet" products out there are reduced fat and high carb -- and THAT's the recipe for deteriorating health. They think fats are the problem, Atkins thinks fats are a necessary part of the solution, both for weight loss and for general health, and he showed plenty of research, his own and others that demonstrated that. They think you have to get rid of red meat, he thinks not. They think you have to have plenty of carbs, he thinks not, and he's proved it both in research citations and client testimonials.
That standard wisdom touts whole grain carbs, as in the illustration to the left, while Atkins treats even whole grains, the "good" carbs, as something to be minimized, in some cases not really much better than the "simple" carbs if you want to lose weight and need to watch your blood sugar. Diabetes organizations are still following the old way pretty much, restricting fats and proteins and allowing way too many carbs, and the "food pyramid" that reflects the establishment position still has grains at the bottom and de-emphasizes meats, which is the exact opposite of Atkins.
The Atkins food pyramid puts proteins at the bottom as the foods to dominate in a healthy diet, and grains at the very top, to be severely limited. The standard plan has vegetables and fruits about equal while Atkins emphasizes vegetables and puts fruits higher up the pyramid, to be moderately limited. On a diabetic diet they may have to be extremely limited.
Most of the new diet plans I've run across do mostly follow the same kind of thinking as Atkins, interestingly enough, without giving him the credit. The emphasis is on protein, not restricting natural fats, but avoiding sugar and other bad carbs like the plague they are, and keeping ALL carbs to an absolute minimum.
Most of these diets reject artificial sweeteners -- with the exception of stevia -- and soy, while Atkins accepts them, and I certainly agree with them about soy. (I had a horrible experience on a packaged diet plan based on soy protein and can hardly think of it without gagging). But these differences are minor while the basic understanding of body chemistry is what's important and the trend seems to be toward Atkins style eating to judge by the newer diet plans I find advertised on the web.
I'm still not quite ready to abandon my rough-and-ready approach for Atkins, it's just so much easier for me than following any program, and it's working after all, and it's very much in tune with Atkins anyway. But I'm still reading up on him and more and more appreciating his thinking and incorporating ideas as I go.
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One thing I would like to add is that the Atkins diet is clearly what's needed particularly by AMERICANS with our intensely high-sugar, high-carb standard unhealthy diet and lack of exercise. It did always bother me about the Atkins plan that grains clearly dominate the diets of most of the world, which seems to put him out of touch with normal eating -- the Bible even refers to the staple food as "bread." And we know some peoples live mostly, sometimes almost exclusively, on carbs such as rice, and that meat is usually a very small part of their diet, really a luxury.
This is of course the diet of poverty and our problem in America is our diet based on wealth -- it's the cause of our obesity problem and our diabetes problem. Wealth produces a great variety of foods strictly for self-indulgence rather than nutrition, and it also minimizes physical activity with all kinds of transportation options and labor-saving devices. High-powered athletes can afford to indulge in thousands of calories packed with carbs, but most of us can't. Poverty also of course guarantees plenty of physical activity, often having to walk everywhere, or maybe ride a bicycle, as well as a great deal of physical labor just in the activities of daily work and living that Americans no longer have to experience. It's probably one of the few things one can appreciate about poverty -- certainly in general it's not something to wish on anyone, but it has to be acknowledged that the high carb diet is well used by such active bodies, while the sedentary low-activity lifestyle is what makes a high carb diet bad for us in America and to some extent the West in general.
However, we also have worse carbs than they do overall anyway, all the processed foods that are part of being a wealthy nation, all the sugar in everything to cater to taste, the processed cereals, the packaged meals, the cookies and candies, the soda drinks, the french fries, the white breads.
