Evaluating Fad Diets

Paper Summary:

This paper explains why most popular fad diets, particularly Atkins, are based on faulty, unproven theories. It also describes some of the health problems that may accompany such diet programs.

From the Paper:

"It has been commonly known for ages that the food we eat provides us with energy in the form of calories. We consume these calories in our bodies for our body functions - the amount of calories burnt depending mainly on the nature and duration of physical activity and to a lesser degree, on metabolic differences in individuals due to genetic reasons. If our calorie-intake is greater than our calorie-consumption, we put on weight; if our intake is less than our consumption we lose weight. Low carb diets such as Atkins' purport to circumvent this basic fact of nutrition and attribute the weight loss to factors such as insulin resistance, ketosis, and increased fat burning. On closer scrutiny, however, it becomes apparent that such claims have no scientific basis and the low carb fad diets carry significant health risks."

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