Rating: 
Summary: This is disgusting
Review: This was written by someone who cared nothing about long term effects, or overall health---just in how fat his pocketbook became.
I'm appalled over how popular this has become--You can't go anywhere without seeing Adkins propaganda. Sure, people lose weight while they're on this, but they're so unhealthy. People who are on this "diet" for extended periods of time look sick. They're all red, and their blood pressure must be through the roof.
I can't wait until this ends, like all of the other fad diets.
Rating: 
Summary: Surprsingly Balanced!!
Review: A lot of myths are out there about the Atkins diet, however after reading this book and using the diet plan - I now see how balanced the Atkins diet is. The only things Atkins dieters take out of their diets are sugars, breads, pasta, rice and potatoes. Since low carbing, I have lost 60 lbs in 4 months. My blood levels are normal. My blood pressure is 118/78. I am full of energy. I am never hungry! I eat eggs, meat, poultry, fish, cheese and a TON of veggies!! I also eat some fruits as well. I have cut out pop and drink mainly water and juices now. My life is changed and I have Dr. Atkins to thank for it. Do not believe the rumors about people "dying" from this diet. It is simply not true! It is possible to eat low carb for life. There are 4 stages of the diet - induction (1st two weeks), ongoing weight loss, pre-mainteance and maintenance. Maintenance is what your family can eat while you are doing induction or O.W.L. It's a wonderful way of eating! It's a lot healthier than you think!
Rating:
Summary: How long does it work?
Review: In my early 20's my son was born and I stayed home to take care of him for two years, at the expense of 60 pounds. I went on the Atkins diet (first publication) and into maintenance for the next 31 years, maintaining a great weight for me and felt powerful, physically. Last year stresses were causing me to cheat a little too often and my cholesterol shot up. (First time) My doctors put me on a high fiber diet and I've gained 25 pounds in one year. My new doctor has just suggested that I go on the Atkins diet, if I thought I could do it, because not only would it get/keep my cholesterol low, but I'd melt off the excess pounds. HALLELUJAH!!!! Gonna buy two books tonight. One for me and one for a friend.
Rating:
Summary: Atkins vs. South Beach Diet
Review: Reviewer: Sbrobin from Columbia, SC USA
So you're considering a low carb diet and can't decide between Atkins and South Beach? Hopefully I can describe some of the differences for you:
The South Beach Diet (SBD) is virtually identical to the Atkins diet with a few exceptions. You're allowed more carbs than Atkins, you're allowed to occasionally cheat with sweets, and you're allowed more vegetables and whole grains. Atkins is more stricter, but you will lose weight more effectively. Both are good diets, but should be geared to different people. If you have a lot of weight to lose (40+ pounds), I would recommend Atkins over SBD. If you have more willpower, I would recommend Atkins. There is zero allowance for cheating on the Atkins plan, unlike SBD. But that is one of the main reasons you will lose more weight. Even if you're thinking of starting the SBD, get this book in addition to it and read it. Atkins writes a very thorough book with great recipes and a very good explanation of why many carbs are bad and how the whole fat-burning process works. This was lacking severely in SBD. This book is filled with well documented research and examples of why this program works, and why the critics are wrong. I've lost 50 pounds on Atkins in 4 months. If you're worried about how all the eggs and meats will effect your cholesterol, it will decrease. Studies have proven that all forms of cholesterol except LDL drop significantly on Atkins when compared to low fat diets. My cholesterol improved by 40%. I do have a few problems with the book. A few things are unclear by Atkins in terms of the rules of the program. He states that controlled carb products with sugar alcohols (food made by Atkins Nutritionals Inc) are acceptable on the program, but doesn't state why. He should have spent more time discussing sugar alcohols. He also spends very little time discussing saturated fats, and only a few paragraphs on the importance of exercise. These points should have been brought out more. Regardless of which diet you're thinking about doing, I would recommend reading this book anyway as it is an invaluable resource for ANY restricted-carb diet. Ultimately, do not listen to the critics, because there is way too much inaccurate and misguided information out there. Do your own research, and you will see what is true, and what is fabricated. Unlike what the media portrays it as, Atkins diet is not a diet where you "can eat bacon and eggs all day." It encourages a diet with a generous amount of complex carbohydrates (vegetables), exercise, and lots of healthy fats. One thing is true however. If you do this diet exactly as stated by the book, you WILL lose a lot of weight, and will lose it fast. I have seen thousands of testaments over the various message boards, and very few instances where people failed on this diet when following it to the letter.
Rating:
Summary: Beware the Vegans trying to shove their religion on you
Review: There was a review of this book above talking about some teenager dying. This sounds like the classic scare tactics that the vegans use to try to force their religion on people by telling them that eating meat and dairy is bad for you. Humans evolved as hunters and our natural food is animal flesh and fat, not carbs. Carbs mangle our metabolism and are unnatural to us. Vegans are responsible for perpetrating the "low fat" myth and have cause much pain and suffering to millions over the last 50 years by rigging scientific studies and outright faking science regarding fat. The Atkins diet saved my life - 126 lbs later I have normal cholesterol, normal blood sugar and feel better at 41 than I did when I was 21 - kind of reverse aging! This book and its lifestyle is a godsend! Ignore the crackpot vegans - their religion is bad for your health and is against nature.
Rating: 
Summary: Several unanswered health issues
Review: The diet works in reducing weight, hence the stars. The book doesn't however, address fundamental health questions. It deals with some obvious ones, but doesn't mention that the diet can double the risk of certain cancers, esp. meat-sensitive cancers, like colon cancer. The link between animal protein and certain cancers is as solid as the link between smoking and lung cancer. Stomach and esophageal cancer are linked to populations that do not consume sufficient fruit (there is little or no fruit on the Atkins diet). Foods that are known to prevent cancers, such as fruit, yellow and orange vegetables and beans are drastically reduced under Atkins. Supplements cannot make up for this. As mentioned, the high protein foods recommended for these diets are animal foods. These foods must be cooked. Cooking destroys nutrients (one of the main reasons diets don't work in the first place; the body is continually hungry, not for fuel, but for nutrients, which are lacking in cooked food, so it keeps craving food). Animal proteins contribute to heart disease, immune dysfunction, colon and reproductive cancer, prostate enlargement, diabetes, and a host of less serious conditions. Many people here argue in their reviews that their cholesterol levels have decreased on the diet. True! But it turns out your cholesterol level is not as good an indicator of cardiovascular health as is your homocysteine level. It's not the cholesterol in your blood that's bad, it's the cholesterol stuck to your artery walls that's dangerous. Many heart attack victims have "normal" serum cholesterol levels. The above is largely compiled from medical research readily available from the internet. I love meat and would love the diet to be beneficial (I know that the weight loss is beyond doubt), but I need to have satisfactory counter-arguments regarding the above before I proceed. Atkins has addressed some health concerns in his book, but none of the above. If anyone can address any of those concerns, please e-mail me at lkratochvil@hotmail.com - I would be very grateful. Best regards from London.
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Summary: 1 yr later and it's the best thing I've ever done for myself
Review: Well I can't believe it's been a year already! If someone would have told me this time last year that I could be sitting here 71 pounds less I would have not so politely asked them to have their head examined. It seemed too good to be true!
This time last year I was 252 pounds (a tight size 22) and at the rate I was gaining (about 10 pounds a year) I was well on my way to 300. My height allowed me to prolong the denial because people still can't believe it when I tell them what I used to weigh, a 5' 11" frame hides weight gain well - up to a point. But believe me my body knew the truth all too well! I was only 31 years old but suffered from excruciating pain in my heels every time I took my first step in the morning, my feet hurt so bad I would be doubled over in pain to the point of tears. I was on an acid reflux medicine, I had GERD so bad I went to the emergency room 2 times thinking I was having a heart attack. My back would go out about 5 times a year and I would be "paralyzed" for about 2 weeks. I was only 31!!! What the heck awaited me when I was 50 or 60 - would I even MAKE it to 50!?! I had open heart surgery when I was 6 years old and they corrected a congenital defect - they had saved my life and for all intents and purposes I was normal - and here I was throwing away all of their hard work and skill and condeming my heart to a taxing existence!
The thing that really did it was when my father said (not meaning to hurt me) that I wasn't his little girl anymore and that he was very concerned about my weight. I thought "what do you mean I'm not your little girl?!?! It's still me under all of this weight!!And I'm miserable to boot! My husband and I were thinking about trying to start a family, but I had no energy just to keep myself moving much less chase after a child. I would come home from work, eat dinner and collapse on the couch. I was afraid that if I got pregnant that would only add more weight on to me (then how the heck would I get THAT off too!)and how could I possibly function enough to take care of a child?!?!
I saw one of our MIS guys here at work who only comes in occasionally and he had lost 60 pounds!! At first I thought he was sick because that's the only way I knew you would lose so much weight in so short a time but he told me he had done it with Atkins. Then I talked to a friend's girl friend over New Year's Eve, she spoke of how she had done Atkins and lost 30 pounds easily. I then threw myself into researching Atkins. I read the reviews here for New Diet Revolution and saw that there were basically 2 kinds:
1) People who had done it, were successful and totally changed their lives (the vast majority) and
2) People who didn't understand what the heck they were doing - it was obvious they hadn't read the book or really committed to making it work.
I ordered the book.
Until the book came I cut out sugar, bread, rice and other obvious carbs I had learned about on the Atkins website. When the book came I read with a determination I hadn't felt for years. I had also ordered the Winsor Pilates DVD's and vowed to make 20 minutes for myself each day. On January 12th 2003 I started induction according to the book and tried to make it through the Pilates DVD. I could do only about 30% of the moves the way you're supposed to the rest I had to do the "modified" version. I forced myself to get on a scale again - we didn't even own one because I wouldn't allow such "things" in the house - why face the truth? I had to use my parent's so every other week or so I would go to their house and I couldn't believe it but IT WAS WORKING!!
In 2 weeks I had lost 13 pounds! Then all of a sudden a month had gone by and with it 20 pounds were gone - there was a light at the end of the tunnel. My acid reflux stopped - a 3/4 bottle of the prescription sits in my medicine cabinet! My feet stopped hurting and my pants and rings were getting loose! Now I could do 50% of the Pilates DVD the way you're supposed to. My backaches and headaches were a thing of the past! I could wear regular shoes again without orthotic insoles!!! I actually feel like I could handle having a child!!!
2,3,6 months went by in a flash and the pounds fell off too! Somthing more profound was happening too! I started to love myself again, I started to feel in control of my destiny.
So here I sit today - one year later weighing 181 - and only 23 pounds left to my goal, in size 14 pants (loose), my rings are ready to fall off, my aches and pains have vanished, that Pilates DVD is a breeze now (100% the way you're supposed to do the moves), my self confidence and self worth has reappeared, we're comtemplating starting a family this year, I'm Daddy's little girl again, and I've helped my brother and many friends find their way to the Atkins way of eating.
I only wish Dr. A was around to thank in person, he truly saved my life!
Rating: 
Summary: Do your homework please!
Review: To all of those who had negative comments regarding the Atkins diet, I would advise them to all read the book. I have read so many misconceptions from reviewers that do not do their homework. 1) Vegetables are allowed. Actually you eat more vegetables than you would on a normal diet because on other diets you are too busy trying to eat fruit, yogurt, cookies, pasta, rice, potatoes, and ice cream. 2) Moderate amounts of protein is allowed. No where in his book does he suggest eating 5 cheeseburgers or a pack of bacon a day. 3) Induction is the most restricted stage, which jump starts weight loss. After this phase (a minimum of 2-weeks) you can add more carbs to your diet. You should not gain weight ever again if you make it through all 4 stages of the program (ultimately Lifetime maintenance) because you will know your daily carb limits. And yes you can cheat a little (especially holidays) but you must know that you have to get back on the wagon again. As with all diets, you have to make a life change you cannot go back to the same old habits and expect the same results. Atkins = moderate amounts of carbs, exercise, vitamin supplements (as with all diets), and yes--VEGETABLES! Works for me, I've lost 10 pounds (since 1/1/04) and counting. Slow heart disease? I say no! Being overweight for long periods of time = slow heart disease. DO YOUR HOMEWORK (as with all diets)! & GET YOUR DOCTORS ADVISE!
Rating:
Summary: Good way to die of heart disease
Review: Stop. Get ahold of yourself. You know this is another fad. So what if he is a doctor? There are a million more like him. He just figured out how to get rich off of your bad self image. Just eat a healthy, balanced diet, and get a fair ammount of exercise. Do it for the rest of your life. Or follow this diet, lose a few pounds, gain it back after your body adjust to the diet and then die young of heart disease.
Rating:
Summary: It works!
Review: I lost 175 lbs in one year on this diet. You have to work at it and can't give in to sweets. And you need to get off your butts and exercise! I wiegh 175 lbs (half the man I use to be) and have never been more fit. And for some reviewers who don't check facts, DR. Atkins died from falling on the ice, not a heart attack. He had a heart attack several years ago, but not related to diet. (Just like John Ritter)
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