Quote:
Originally posted by heyitsmesheila
actually......... we were not designed to be meat eaters...if we were we would have differently designed teeth... to tear and shred flesh. We are vegitation eaters with teeth designed to grind. Try this test....
When you see a squirrel cross the road do you think to yourself "yum!" and start to salivate?
When you see a cow in a field do you feel the urge to run up and "git yerself a drink?"
Cow's milk is designed to turn a small 100 or so lb animal into a very large animal-- in a short amount of time. Human milk is for baby humans....and only for a short amount of time.
Humans also have to cook meat before it's eaten safely. Carnivores don't have to. and so on and so on..... |
Humans are omniverous, both carnivore and herbivore. Our front teeth are designed for shredding and ripping meat, while the back teeth are for grinding. And because we have a higher level of thought process, we don't behave as animals (well, most of us anyway...lol.)
Atkins deosn't condone a complete lack of carbs except during the induction phase. And that is just to break the cycle we have let ourselves get into. What he does prohibit is anything futher processed and containing man-made crap. Grains processed by today's methods are so empty of nutrients that the manufacturers must ADD nutrients...along with various other chemicals. White bread is poison...not so much because of the carbs, but because of the chemical crap in it.
If we had the time and resources to provide for ourselves the way Americans did just 100 years ago, we would grind our own grain and make our own bread. In my interpretation of Atkins, he would approve of that, as long as we didn't make it our primary means of nutrition. Since most of us can't or won't, we need to eliminate it from our diets...for the purpose of eliminating the crap.
I am nearly 40 years old. I have always had a weight problem. I have tried nearly every diet designed by man, including the Food Pyramid from the FDA. My personal experience has not been good. On the Food Pyramid, I became so tired, cranky, and just icky that I had to FORCE myself to exercise. My thoughts were cloudy...afternoons you could just write off. I wasn't going to have a decent line of reasoning at all.
After 3 months, I went to the doctor. My cholesterol was sky high, I had GAINED 15 pounds (and not muscle) and my triclicerides (sp) were through the roof.
I've been on Atkins for 2 weeks. My energy is through the roof now. I don't have to force myself to exercise...I'm constantly running and going. I can think straight again. I am going to stick with it because I can see such a huge difference in myself. I haven't stepped on a scale, so I don't know about my weight, but at this point, I don't worry about it. I feel great, and that's all that really matters. The weight will level off simply because I AM more active and energetic. Here in a couple of months I will go back and get my bloodwork done again. I expect I will see a tremendous change for the better.
Another thing to consider is age. Younger people will react differently during induction simply because they haven't abused their bodies for years and years...lol. We older people have to go to some rather extreme measures to get our insulin back on track.
It is not a cookie cutter diet. Not everyone reacts the same way. Some people can tolerate more carbs than others. But what Atkins says over and over is for us to LISTEN to our bodies. If we feel like crap, reduce carbs or increase carbs depending on the type of crappiness we are feeling...lol. If we aren't getting enough calories, we won't have energy. But he says to get the calories from protein sources rather than carb sources. I use a soy shake that is almost all protein and zero carbs. And I'm never hungry...really.