As you now know, the Atkins plan begins by restricting carbohydrates. When your body is not given fuel in the form of carbohydrates, it uses fuel in other ways. So, let’s say you’ve just started following the Atkins plan and are consuming a modest 20 grams of carbohydrates or less. Here is what’s happening inside your body, besides the nightmare you are living in your mind, caused by the idea of enjoying a refreshing and delicious ice cream, or just a simple piece of bread:

  • The liver stores glucose by converting it to glycogen. It holds perhaps a 12-hour supply of glucose in its glycogen. Once you finish digesting all of the carbohydrates that you last ate, the liver starts converting its stored glycogen back into glucose and releases it to maintain glucose in the blood. Lipolysis also starts breaking down fat in the fat cells and releasing fatty acids into the bloodstream. Tissues that do not need to use glucose for energy (for example, muscle cells) start burning the fatty acids. This reduces the glucose demand so that nerve cells get the glucose.
  • Once the liver runs out of glycogen, the liver converts to a process called gluconeogenesis. Gluconeogenesis turns amino acids into glucose.
  • The liver then begins producing ketone bodies from fatty acids being made available in the blood by lipolysis. Brain and nerve cells convert over from being pure consumers of glucose to partial consumers of ketone bodies for energy. This process is called ketosis — which is why the Atkins plan is also known as a ketogenic diet.

So, what does this mean in simple terms? In theory, the Atkins diet enables your body to switch from a machine that uses carbohydrates for fuel to one that uses fat for fuel. Therefore, a diet with little or no carbs forces the body’s storage of fat to become its main energy source.
To further understand the way your body loses weight on the Atkins diet, you must consider the way the body uses sugar as fuel. To turn sugars into fuel, your body uses the hormone insulin. Insulin enables our cells to turn carbohydrates into glucose by controlling the amount of sugar in our blood. The body secretes insulin to keep blood sugar from getting too high. Insulin is a storage hormone, meaning that it causes sugar we don’t use for fuel to be stored as fat. It also keeps the body from burning stored fat. The Atkins diet suggests that it is this “insulin response” that continues to add fat to our bodies. This function is an asset when food is scarce, but an abundance of sugar-filled and high-carbohydrate foods will promote the accumulation of body fat.
On the contrary, a low-carbohydrate diet allows your body to release less insulin. According to the Atkins plan, when insulin levels are normal, your body will begin to burn its own fat as fuel; thereby resulting in weight loss. By keeping insulin levels stable, not only does your body burn fat, but it may also lead to less hunger and fewer cravings. Simply put, according to the Atkins folks, their diet attempts to control insulin levels by controlling the amount of carbohydrates you eat.

Glossary of Atkins Terms

  1. Carbohydrate: One of the nutrients that supply calories to the body. Compounds composed of carbon, oxygen and hydrogen arranged as simple sugars. Sources include grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes and other plant foods.
  2. Induction: The initial phase of the Atkins plan, which lasts a minimum of two weeks. During this time, it is recommended that carbohydrate consumption not exceed 20 grams a day, in order to trigger ketosis, in which the body burns its own fat for energy.
  3. Insulin: A naturally occurring hormone secreted by the pancreas that helps transport glucose into muscle cells and other tissues, where it is stored for energy use. Insulin is also known as the fat-producing hormone.
  4. Ketone: The normal products of fat metabolism, when there are insufficient carbohydrates as a source of energy. For people who are restricting their intake of carbohydrates, ketone presence in the urine indicates achievement of a fat-burning phase that will result in weight loss.
  5. Ketosis: This is a biological process that results when sufficient glucose as a source of energy is not available from dietary carbohydrate and the body switches to primarily using fat.
  6. Protein: One of the nutrients that provide calories. Protein, needed for the growth and repair of all human tissues, is composed of 22 amino acids. Protein provides the body with energy and heat, and is needed for the manufacture of hormones, antibodies and enzymes. Forms of protein include meat and poultry.

If you want to learn more about the Atkins Diet, read the articles: “The Atkins Diet - Review, Controversy, Pros and Cons“, and “Food you can and Can’t eat in the Atkins Diet”

Extracted from: howstuffworks.com

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