Primal Vs. Adkins page 3

[jfrendek]

Atkin's always told folks to eat real whole foods whenever possible of high quality and include low starch vegetables. He told folks to use food supplements sparingly (even his own) but no one ever seemed to pay attention to anything except the media hype of "eat all the meat you can possibly fit in your stomach and nothing else" bullshit.

Yes everyone is different but not too different. No unique snowflakes. We all know folks that are not like ourselves but take a walk through Walmart and you will see that more people than not could benefit greatly from low carb eating so even if it's not right for you give than man credit rather than bashing. He went a long way toward saving my life and I know many others.

[sbhikes]

A paleo diet will make folks healthier but a ketogenic diet will literally bring people back from near death. That is why I combine the two and use intermittent fasting and tailor it to my own genetics and likes. Also low carb diets are never no carb diets at any stage and anyone who pigeon holes it that way is obviously a media-soundbite imbecile.

My experience, too, although I wasn't near death. Just incredibly messed up for a person who wasn't super obese or diabetic. The ketogenic thing brought me back to health so that I can eat a paleo/primal diet that is carb agnostic. I don't do a lot of carbs mostly because there's only so much food I can eat in a day. None of it would have worked without the ketogenic phase, of this I'm certain. But not everybody is me, and not everybody is messed up the way I was.

Still, I see Atkins as a weight loss plan and paleo/primal as a life plan. You can add low carb to primal if you want, or not if you want, but primal is a plan for life. I have no intention of going off it. There's no reason to. It's not a restriction diet.

[whitebear]

Atkin's always told folks to eat real whole foods whenever possible of high quality and include low starch vegetables. He told folks to use food supplements sparingly (even his own) but no one ever seemed to pay attention to anything except the media hype of "eat all the meat you can possibly fit in your stomach and nothing else" bullshit.

Yes everyone is different but not too different. No unique snowflakes. We all know folks that are not like ourselves but take a walk through Walmart and you will see that more people than not could benefit greatly from low carb eating so even if it's not right for you give than man credit rather than bashing. He went a long way toward saving my life and I know many others.

Yes! I don't know why people seem to think he pushed artificial sweeteners and processed crap. He did not. He actually advised against it. I know there is that huge Atkins product line but most of that crap came out after he died. Unfortunately the Atkins diet of today is more about selling products than actually helping people. The original version however was very solid and it works. Here is an example of the things I ate on Atkins -fresh meats, fish, lots of green leafy salads, butter, cheese, bacon, fresh veggies, mushrooms, get the picture. I ate real food, lost lots of weight, and had rock steady energy throughout the day. Hmmm, that sounds familiar.

[Nady]

Wow~ maybe I shouldn't be surprised at how few people here actually know about Atkins'72~ the real version. You need to remember that this was before GMO grains, and all the crap that's in the food now~ like Round-up And yes, if you read the book and followed the plan as written, it was possible to make it a permanent healthy lifetime WOE (way of eating) But instead, people kept putting their own spin on it and when it didn't work, blamed the diet instead of themselves. Of course, that's not really surprising, is it? What does surprise me though, is how many people think they know what they're talking about and keep spreading the same incorrect BS.

[jenn26point2]

Ok. I think i get it now. It doesn't HAVE to be low carb - I'm making it that way b/c Mark said so if I wanted to remove fat from my body - and since I'm considered obese based on the BMI charts, I have a lot of adipose fat that needs to be removed. Same with my husband.

Atkins (sorry for the typo - obviously I don't know much about the diet as I never jumped on that bandwagon) is ketosis based, slowly build up the carbs to find a good maintenance point.

Paleo/Primal is no grains (which helps lower the carb count a LOT), healthy, grass-fed meats and fats, organic and healthy plants.

Atkins, from what most of the previous posters were saying is eat whatever protein and fat you want, healthy or not, just no (or very very few) carbs. Explains why my brother-in-law could eat 3 McD's burgers without the bun on the plan but we can't with Paleo - b/c it's not healthy with all the added man-made fats (oils and whatnot).

I get it now... now if I can convey this info to my husband... effectively.

[jfrendek]

True there are a lot of similarities between paleo and low carb done correctly. Most people for whom weight is an issue will probably find low carb paleo the best of both worlds. If I didn't have a weight issue I would be happy to consume more carbs as long as they were from whole foods. I know that I not only need to keep my intake low but carbs are a drug for me. I get high and crash so I can not allow myself to slip back into an addicted state. I was never diagnosed as being diabetic but I can feel the sugar rise and crash. Also since I am so carb sensitive I am not quite as paleo as I would like to be for example I do lean on hard cheeses to satisfy me. Low carb generally allows it but some paleo folks frown on it. Perhaps if I could have a huge plate of tubers I could live without it but that's not happening. Addiction is never truly cured just curtailed. And yes carbs can be a "drug". (really)

I run everything through this...

Do I even want to eat it?
Is it low carb?
Is it Paleo?
Nutrition?
How do I tolerate it?
How much do I really want it?

If it comes out pretty positive it's going down the hatch! Any major failings and I ain't eating it.

[DarleenMB]

Atkins is NOT low-carb. Anyone who has read the book understands that it is self-directed carb levels ... IOW, you add in appropriate carbs until you stop losing weight (if that's why you're following it) then you back off a bit. It is the original YMMV eating plan.

No one ever bothers to read past the 2 week induction period.

[Nady]

Ok. I think i get it now. It doesn't HAVE to be low carb - I'm making it that way b/c Mark said so if I wanted to remove fat from my body - and since I'm considered obese based on the BMI charts, I have a lot of adipose fat that needs to be removed. Same with my husband.

Atkins (sorry for the typo - obviously I don't know much about the diet as I never jumped on that bandwagon) is ketosis based, slowly build up the carbs to find a good maintenance point.

Paleo/Primal is no grains (which helps lower the carb count a LOT), healthy, grass-fed meats and fats, organic and healthy plants.

Atkins, from what most of the previous posters were saying is eat whatever protein and fat you want, healthy or not, just no (or very very few) carbs. Explains why my brother-in-law could eat 3 McD's burgers without the bun on the plan but we can't with Paleo - b/c it's not healthy with all the added man-made fats (oils and whatnot).

I get it now... now if I can convey this info to my husband... effectively.

Again, that's not Atkins. It's not just about low carb. It's about changing the way you think about food, about macronutrients. If your brother-in-law is eating 3 McD burgers, he' s missing the point and will probably fail and blame the Atkins diet.

Remember, food has changed a lot since Atkins wrote his first book~ He very much followed paleo/primal type principles.

[jenn26point2]

Ok, so for the record, maybe this should be Primal vs Low-Carb diets as opposed to Atkins. Seriously, I know nothing about Atkins. I was against it from the start because I refused to give up carbs (again, going off of what I understood about the diet) and have always felt negatively toward it b/c it wasn't for me (and I subconsciously remain somewhat close-minded about things once I form an initial opinion of them - it's something I'm working on).

Thanks so much for everyone's input. I appreciate it.

With that, i'm going to go heat up my deer burger and sweet potato fries and chow on that bowl of yumminess before I go to the gym to lift heavy things.

[Meegeek]

Ok, so for the record, maybe this should be Primal vs Low-Carb diets as opposed to Atkins.

Yeah, I don't think it matters what Dr. Atkins original intent was at this point. Maybe it is because I am 10 years older and have blown through at least 4 to 5 CW diets since I did the Atkins plan, but I really feel different, emotionally & physically, since adopting primal/paleo lifestyle at the beginning of the year.

Compared to Atkins, or any other CW "diet";

- I don't feel like I am on a diet
- I am doing strange things like swinging cannonballs around and walking to work, 5 km, barefoot in the winter
- Driving with the windows down at 30F and taking cold showers
- Making my own jerky and learning to make killer beer can roasted chicken
- Sucking marrow from bones
- Purposely sprinting 6 flights of stairs to take a piss, 3 or 4 times a day
- Feeling good enough about myself to modify some very addictive behaviors
- Going all day on 3 fried eggs and a handful of bacon
- Actually feeling alive, fresh, and excited to be here and now
- Falling asleep, naturally, and sleeping through the night
- Being able to think clearly again
- Being able to breath clearly again

Oh yes, losing a few pounds of fat along the way.

But what the hell, that is just me. Tell your husband to get with the frakking program.