whats the right diet for swimmers,i've recently tried the controversial Atkins Diet and lost a few inches but gained muscle mass..?
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Former Member
I have done a lot of reading about diets, particularly the Atkins Diet, pro and con. This includes published medical reports. My position is that Atkins cannot be recommended, especially for athletes. The diet is nutritionally inadequate, the long term safety (still) has not been established, and besides: If you have the motivation and discipline to follow Atkins, then you might as well follow a nutritionally adequate, calorie controlled diet instead.
Atkins is particularly inappropriate for athletes, since the preferred energy source for muscles is fatty acids -- which can only be burned efficiently in the presence of carbs. Without carbs in the energy cycle, fats are burned incompletely, throwing off putrid products called ketones (think of a car that has smoky exhaust). This cannot be good for your body or your performance.
I've known more than a dozen people who have tried Atkins (several ladies at the office, plus church). This can be said of all of them: They all lost weight; they all cheated; they all gave up within a few months; they're all fat again. They claim that as soon as they're off the diet, the weight comes storming back with a vengeance. Sure, this isn't a scientific study, but it does not incline me to support Atkins.
Now, it is certainly true that the average American eats far too much carb. But we eat too much fat and too much protein, too.
With due respect to Laineybug, I do not believe that Atkins permits "unlimited veggies" -- you have probably ended up eating a fairly balanced and nutritionally adequate diet.
If your objective is to lose weight, you have to establish a calorie deficit, by eating less or exercising more (preferably both). There is really no other way (but there are good sensible strategies for making this easier).
I have done a lot of reading about diets, particularly the Atkins Diet, pro and con. This includes published medical reports. My position is that Atkins cannot be recommended, especially for athletes. The diet is nutritionally inadequate, the long term safety (still) has not been established, and besides: If you have the motivation and discipline to follow Atkins, then you might as well follow a nutritionally adequate, calorie controlled diet instead.
Atkins is particularly inappropriate for athletes, since the preferred energy source for muscles is fatty acids -- which can only be burned efficiently in the presence of carbs. Without carbs in the energy cycle, fats are burned incompletely, throwing off putrid products called ketones (think of a car that has smoky exhaust). This cannot be good for your body or your performance.
I've known more than a dozen people who have tried Atkins (several ladies at the office, plus church). This can be said of all of them: They all lost weight; they all cheated; they all gave up within a few months; they're all fat again. They claim that as soon as they're off the diet, the weight comes storming back with a vengeance. Sure, this isn't a scientific study, but it does not incline me to support Atkins.
Now, it is certainly true that the average American eats far too much carb. But we eat too much fat and too much protein, too.
With due respect to Laineybug, I do not believe that Atkins permits "unlimited veggies" -- you have probably ended up eating a fairly balanced and nutritionally adequate diet.
If your objective is to lose weight, you have to establish a calorie deficit, by eating less or exercising more (preferably both). There is really no other way (but there are good sensible strategies for making this easier).
