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Low Carb Ketogenic Diets An Introduction.

To help with weight issues and for overall improved health, many people turn to diets. In fact, government statistics show that while about 65 percent of Americans are overweight, 38 percent are actually doing something about it. The most common weight related issues include but are not limited to.

  • Coronary heart disease
  • Type 2 diabetes
  • Cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon)
  • Hypertension (high blood pressure)
  • Dyslipidemia (for example, high total cholesterol or high levels of triglycerides)
  • Stroke
  • Liver and Gallbladder disease
  • Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
  • Osteoarthritis (a degeneration of cartilage and its underlying bone within a joint)
  • Gynecological problems (abnormal menses, infertility)

And according to a recent survey by the National Health Institute, about a third of overweight Americans who are trying to lose weight, are doing so by eating less carbohydrates (carbs) largely because of the increased popularity of diets like Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet.

Although there have certainly been other low-carb or low-sugar diet plans before, and more will most assuredly come out in the years ahead, let's take a look at the basics behind many of the major plans. 

History and Background of Low Carb Diets - Click here to read more
The terminology low-carb wasn't really coined until around 1992 when the USDA announced America's model food pyramid included six to eleven servings daily of grains and starches. However, low-carb dieting dates back more than 100 years before the trendy Atkins diet to 1864 with a pamphlet titled Letter on Corpulence written by William Banting, as close to the first commercial low-carb diet as you could get.

Popular Low Carb Ketogenic Diets  - Click here to read more.
Now, here is a list 14 of the most popular low-carb diet plans and books and a summary of their requirements.
    • Perhaps the most widely known of all low carb diets is the Atkins diet. Created by Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1970s the Atkins diet is considered by some to be the most extreme low carb diet plan.
    • Husband and wife scientist team Drs. Rachael and Richard Heller introduced the term "Carbohydrate Addict" in their 1993 book The Carbohydrates Addict's Diet. The idea is that some people are addicted to carbohydrates just like alcoholics are addicted to alcohol and drug addicts are addicted to drugs. This addiction causes strong cravings, insulin resistance and weight gain.
    • Dr. Fred Pescatore, a former Associate Medical Director at the Atkins Institute, developed the Hampton's Diet. This diet is a mix of low carb dieting concepts and the healthiest concepts of the Mediterranean diet. He encourages the liberal consumption of monosaturated fats to aid weight loss and prevent diseases such as cancer, heart disease and diabetes. All of this is laid out in The Hampton's Diet, published in May of 2004.
    • Written by Fran McCullough, the author of The Low-Carb Cookbook, this book's rather long subtitle promises to teach "everything food-loving dieters need to know to achieve lasting success, including: strategies for controlling binges and cravings, dealing with sudden weight gains and secret metabolic weapons".
    • Ray Audette, the author of NeanderThin touts his diet as a way to "Eat like a caveman to achieve a lean, strong, healthy body". At the tender age of 33, Audette suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and diabetes. After hearing from doctors that his condition was treatable but not curable, Audette decided to undertake nutritional research to find a better cure.
    • Drs. Michael and Mary Eades, co-authors of The Protein Power LifePlan hold views similar to Audette and also believe that modern health problems are caused by our modern diet that is heavy on grains and processed food. (Notable is that Dr. Michael Eades even wrote the introduction to Audette's NeanderThin.)
    • Dr. Diana Schwarzbein is the endocrinologist to the stars. The doctor of choice for Suzanne Somers, Larry Hagman and many others, Schwarzbein encourages extensive testing for hormonal imbalances and then suggests various diet and exercise programs and selective hormone replacement to treat any deficiencies.
    • Suzanne Somers first introduced "Somersizing" in Suzanne Somers Eat Great, Lose Weight in 1992. Somersizing is a way of eating in which you cut sugar and "funky foods" and eat plenty of fats, proteins and good carbs like vegetables and fruit. Foods must be combined in certain ways so that the body easily digests them. Dieters Somersize in two steps, the first (Level One) to lose weight and induce "the melt" of fat and the second (Level Two) for ongoing maintenance of their ideal weight.
    • Developed by Dr. Arthur Agatston, The South Beach Diet touts itself as teaching dieters to eat the right carbs and the right fats. The diet has three phases. In the first dieter's banish their bad carb cravings and induce rapid weight loss. In the second phase, some types of carbs are reintroduced and weight loss is slower. The final phase is the "Diet for Life" phase. This is the maintenance diet and will be followed for the rest of the dieter's life. If at any time the dieter begins to gain unwanted pounds, then he simply goes through the induction and pre-maintenance phases again.
    • On Sugar Busters! dieters cut sugar to trim fat. This diet was created by a group of doctors and the CEO of a Fortune 500 business from New Orleans who realized that low fat foods are full of sugar and that it is the sugar in foods that produces a negative insulin response and leads to weight gain.
    • Written by Rick Gallop, a former President of The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario, The Glycemic Index (GI) Diet claims, "if you can understand a traffic light, you'll understand this diet".
  • The Zone  - Click here to read more.
    • Created by Dr. Barry Sears, The Zone encourages balanced carb and protein intake. Dr. Sears suggests that you divide your plate into three sections, one for protein and two for fruits and vegetables per meal. This works out to 30 percent protein, 40 percent carb, and 30 percent fat. For each meal, the protein portion should be roughly the size of your tightly closed fist. The carb portion should be the size of two loosely closed fists and the added fat portion should be about the volume of your thumb.
    • Before he began extolling the virtues of Australian macadamia nut oil, Dr. Fred Pescatore wrote the book Thin For Good: The One Low-Carb Diet That Will Finally Work for You. This plan explores the mind-body connection in lasting weight loss and includes plans for men and women as well as a low-carb diet plan for vegetarians.
Diets and Popular Dietary Treatments
Americans spends millions of dollars each year on diet books, products, and weight-loss plans. With all of this dieting, you would think obesity would be decreasing every year instead of increasing. So, why aren't they working?

Subscriber Diet Programs
There are many subscriber programs available both online and in the real world for dieters. In order to help choose one or just learn more about them in order to help round out your daily life and coordinate your activities, foods - - i.e. perfect diet lifestyle, here are some of the membership programs available.


And let's take a look at how they fit into the real world today. Because while it might be great to lower the body's sugar content and be healthier, wouldn't it be great to learn how to do so while being part of this fast-paced world? 

In the world of instant messaging, quick Internet interaction and the already multi-faceted day-to-day hectic schedules, dietary food budgeting, planning, preparing and shopping are issues that can become major sources of stress and reasons for dieting failure. Dual income families on-the-go and other super-busy wage earners and dieters often already suffer from more than their share of everyday stressors like fears of being laid off, their jobs being relocated or terminated, juggling more than one job, dependents (both elderly and minors) and trying to fund and juggle continuing education into their lives, budgets, and daily routines.

People want and need simpler solutions. And they need simpler dieting plans. Forget spending mega bucks on gourmet, hard-to-find items. Forget spending hours just to prepare meals. And forget counting, measuring, and weighing ingredients.

Natural Dieting Alternatives

Nutrition and Dietary Basics

The Dieting Twelve Steps

Basic Meal And Menu Planning

Social Eating and Traveling Tips

Basic Weight Management

Convenience Food Tips

Dieting and Behavioral Changes

Dietary surgical and medical solutions

Exercise Management

Ogden CL, Carroll MD, McDowell MA, Flegal KM. Obesity among adults in the United States – no change since 2003—2004. NCHS data brief no 1. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 2007.
Ogden CL, Carroll MD, Flegal KM. High Body Mass Index for Age Among US Children and Adolescents, 2003—2006. JAMA. 2008;299(20):2401—2405.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Healthy People 2010. 2nd ed. With Understanding and Improving Health and Objectives for Improving Health. 2 vols. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, November 2000.


Related Articles

3 Hour Dieting
When it comes to the world of dieting you will find that there are many diet, weight loss, and fitness plans on the market. It takes years for some to become a contender and others remain a best-kept secret of sorts.

Atkins for Dieting

Most people around the world by now have heard of the Atkins diet. It has been one of the most highly touted and highly controversial diets of our time. Those who love it have nothing but great things to say about it but those who are critical are not shy about their opposition either. The largest criticism when it comes to the Atkins, or low carb diet would be the near absence of whole grains, which are considered the cornerstone to a healthy diet by many.

Avoid Dieting Make Positive Changes Instead

Why is it that merely saying the "D" word, you know "diet" brings immediate thoughts of failure to the minds of many men and women around the world? Could it be that we have all learned through trial and error that diets simply do not work? I know many of you are sitting back with jaws dropped at the moment. After all, this is an article about dieting, right? It is and it isn't. Dieting is the kiss of death for many while a new phase in your life or lifestyle adjustment may be just the thing that will mean success for you and your fitness and health goals.

Dieting and Diabetes

Very few people realize the profound effect that weight has on diabetes. Even instances of gestational diabetes are much greater in patients that are overweight than in those that are not. Type 2, or adult onset diabetes is more commonly found in overweight people than those that are within their 'ideal' weight ranges. In fact, almost 90% of those with Type 2 diabetes are overweight. If you are suffering from Type 2 diabetes, the best gift you could possibly give yourself just might be the gift of getting your weight under control.

Dieting and Fitness

When it comes to living a long and healthy life, there are two necessary ingredients: diet and fitness. While some believe that they are one thing all together, nothing could be further from the truth. It is quite possible to have a perfectly healthy diet with deplorable fitness habits. It is equally possible to be very physically fit with less than savory eating habits.

Dieting and Weight Loss Drugs

There are many pills, potions, lotions, powders, and creams that promise to melt off the pounds you've put on while you sleep. The sad truth is that only one pill sold over the counter at this point in time has the FDA back up its claims of aiding in weight loss period. This drug would be the over the counter form of the drug that has been prescribed as Xenical. In the over the counter form it is known as Alli. Alli along with diet and exercise is known to boost the weight loss process to provide more immediate and long lasting results.

Dieting by Weight Loss Surgery

Those who are what is considered morbidly obese have few options when it comes to losing weight when time is of the essence. Many have bounced from one diet to the next for the vast majority of their lives only to find failure after failure and a growing sense of hopelessness and helplessness.

Dieting for Children

It is difficult in the world we live in to watch as so many children are literally overburdening their bodies at such young ages by being overweight. These children simply cannot run, jump, and play with the other children because their bodies simply will not allow them to do so. For these children, dieting is almost a necessity despite our best efforts to insulate them from the self-esteem issues that often accompany obesity.

Dieting for Fertility

Obesity has many negative health consequences. Some are better known and documented than others. Recent studies have shown that yet another potential consequence of obesity is difficulty when it comes to conceiving a baby. Fertility troubles are a growing problem in this country and around the world. One reason that is being hailed as a very viable culprit is obesity.

Dieting for Health

There is no greater reason to diet than for your personal health and well being. Those of us who are overweight know better than most the risks and possible consequences that may result because of our weight. Much like smokers however, the risks do not always seem quite so cut and dry until we reach our very own turning point. Whether your eating habits are born of an addiction to certain foods, an emotional need, or years of learned behavior and conditioning things will not change until you completely adjust your eating habits and your lifestyle choices.

Dieting for Success Making it Happen

Dieting is far too often approached from the mindset of impending failure. Too many people have tried and failed so many diets in their past that they try the next new diet with the absolute knowledge that they will fail in this attempt as well. Guess what? They will.

Dieting for the Right Reasons

When it comes to dieting, far too often we take those first steps towards weight loss bliss for what we later determine are all the wrong reasons. Ultimately however, if your reason works for you there is no truly wrong reason to diet. The trick is in finding the reason that will actually work for you.

Dieting for Weight Loss

The most common reason that people cite for dieting today is weight loss. While most of us would love to claim the noble mantle of dieting for health the vast majority of us are doing so for vanity. This, however, is a perfectly acceptable and plausible reason for making the lifestyle changes that are necessary in order to diet. In fact, this reason might prove to be a far greater motivator than many of the other commonly stated reasons for dieting.

Dieting to Lose a Few Vanity Pounds


There are those among us who wish to lose a few pounds rather than 20 or more pounds. While many of us would be grateful if that were the case for us, most will find that the smaller the amount of weight needed to lose the more difficult it seems to remove. The good news is that those with little weight to lose generally do not face the painful issues with exercise and physical activity that plague those with far more weight to lose.

Dieting with a Busy Schedule

When it comes to dieting many of us find that the number one hindrance to our success is the lack of time to prepare the proper meals and snacks for our dietary needs. It is often much more convenient to throw one thing in the crock pot for the family or resort to the fast food last resort rather than preparing the healthy and nutritious meal that we should be eating.

Dieting with Slim Fast

Slim Fast is another great diet aid that has been around for quite a while. From it's origins as a thick and gritty powder designed to help you stave off hunger to it's current incarnation as a line of weight loss products and meal bar supplements we have seen some amazing transitions and longevity in this particular product.

Dieting Without Sacrifice

So many people view dieting as some sort of cosmic punishment for not having the perfect body. They believe that enjoying food is somehow bad for them, which couldn't be further from the truth. If you want to be completely honest with yourself, when it comes to dieting, it isn't about giving up food or flavor; it's about discovering new foods and flavors. At least that is what it is for those who truly love food as well as adventure.

Finding the Beauty Within While Dieting

There seems to be one universal truth when it comes to dieting. No one really enjoys the process though we all eagerly await and anticipate the results. The problem is that far too many men and women around the world focus so much on dieting and perfecting their external beauty that they forget the beautiful people they are inside along the way. Our culture is becoming obsessive about the perfect body and the perfect body image.

Healthy Dieting Tips

When it comes to dieting you will find all kinds of crazy and faddish diets on the market today. In addition to the many diets there seems to be every kind of diet aid you can imagine. From shakes the diet industry has evolved to include everything from candy bars and pudding to pills and patches. Each item makes the claim that it can help you drop those unwanted pounds quickly and easily. Well I can tell you for a fact there is very little easy for must of us about dropping a few pounds.

Jenny Craig for Dieting

When it comes to dieting and diet commercials I'm sure that many of you have seen the formerly "Fat Actress" Kirstie Allie singing the praises of Jenny Craig for helping her lose 75 pounds. While most of us would agree that this is quite an accomplishment there are many of us watching from home and thinking there is no way that little tiny pizza is going to make a meal.

Setting Goals When Dieting

As with most things in life, setting goals is very important when dieting. When you look at things truthfully and objectively you should notice that most of the things you've accomplished in life have been accomplished because you not only had a goal but also had a clearly planned and well thought out process for achieving that goal. That being said, why is goal setting so important when it comes to dieting?

Teen Dieting

We have the highest teenage and childhood obesity rates today than at any other point in the world's long history. Much of the blame for this is on the fast food, low energy society that we have become. Far too often we feel that it is safer to keep our children inside our homes rather than out and about in the great outdoors. The things we are doing for the protection of our children are actually detrimental to the health of our children.

The Dieting Mind Set

When it comes to dieting, far too many people set themselves up for failure before they even begin the process. They literally dread going on their diets and before they start the process are planning their mishaps along the way. Sad to say but true, far too many would be dieters are planning their first Rocky Road mishap while eating their last bowl of Rocky Road before the big event.

The Greatest Dieting Mistakes

When it comes to dieting there are many mistakes that are made on a near daily basis. While there are many real profound mistakes that go along with the territory there are a few that seem to have far more profound and lasting implications than others. Hopefully by learning about these mistakes you can learn to avoid them in your own weight loss pursuits.

Weight Watchers Dieting

When it comes to dieting there are very few organizations that have achieved the lasting success of Weight Watchers. They have been around quite a while and show no signs of stopping. More importantly, their success stories speak volumes for those who join and stick with the program. So what makes this program so successful when many others come and go?
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The Low GI Diet Breakthrough provides the best information for those looking to lose weight with the low gi diet.




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What I Read

Books by

Lyle McDonald

The Protein Book, The Protein Book is a comprehensive look at the issue of protein intake for both strength/power and endurance athletes. Coaches looking for the latest scientific developments in terms of optimizing protein nutrition for their athletes as well as athletes looking for answers to their questions will find them all covered in complete detail.

A Guide to Flexible Dieting is a look at some of the psychological and physiological reasons why diets so often fail. Among these is the research demonstrated fact that individuals who are too rigid in their approach to dieting (e.g. expecting complete unyielding perfection at all times) are actually less successful in the long-run than individuals who are more flexible in their approach.

The Rapid Fat Loss Handbook offers a scientifically based approach to quick weight and fat loss. Recognizing that people need or simply want to lose weight and fat rapidly, I set out to develop the safest, most effective way of accomplishing that goal.

The problem of stubborn body fat (typically the abdominals/low back for men and hips and thighs for women) is one that lean dieters have been trying to deal with for decades. Various simple explanations (typically involving estrogen) have been offered but the results from these simple approaches have been, at best, poor. This is a place where simple is simply wrong.

When trying to diet to extremely low levels of body fat, muscle mass and performance loss, crashing hormones, runaway hunger and others are perennial difficulties that the non-genetic elite (or natural) dieter has to face.

Very low-carbohydrate (aka ketogenic) diets such as The Atkins Diet, Protein Power and The South Beach Diet have come and gone repeatedly over the years and there is currently great research and real-world interest in their effects. Unfortunately, altogether too much misinformation exists regarding them.




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