It seems every time you turn around someone has the diet that will make all your weight loss dreams come true. Some have been proven good and others have turned out to be dangerous to your health. This brings us to the Atkins diet, what is it? Will it work for you?

Dr. Robert Atkins finished medical at Cornell University in 1955. Some years later, he found himself overweight and looking for answers. Atkins fashioned his now popular diet plan from a similar diet that he had read about in the Journal of American Medical Association. He first published Dr Atkins Diet Revolution in 1970.

Through the years, he changed his plan a little but he never got too far away from the diet's basic principals. The diets is focused on eliminating carbohydrates from the western diet.

The whole diet revolves around the idea that carbohydrates are the main cause of you being overweight. As you would imagine this means, the diet will restrict the intake of carbs. The diet is broken down into four phases each one building on the last.

Induction. The first part is definitely the most limited. The suggested time to stay on this phase is two weeks, but Atkins states that you it is safe to stay at this phase for months. Carbohydrates are limited to 15-20 grams per day of which 12-15 must come from leafy vegetables. This part of the diet will also let you eat little amounts of cheese, large amounts of meat and essential fats. At this stage, the goal is to put the body into ketosis and add some healthy fiber to the diet.

Ongoing Weight Loss. Phase 2 consists of slowly raising the carbohydrate intake until weight loss is being achieved at a more reasonable level, 1-2 pounds per week. Carbohydrates are to be increased at five grams per day and still from a safe list of foods, vegetables first determining how many carbs can be ingested without gaining weight. Dieters are to stay in this phase until they are five to ten pounds from goal weight.

Pre Maintenance. This is the time when weight loss slows even more, Atkins recommends loosing the last ten pounds or so over a 1-3 month period. During this phase, dieters should use the method in phase 2 and add carbohydrates in at as much as ten grams per day again to the point that they are able without gaining weight.

Maintenance. Take all that has been learned from the previous phases and continue on a healthy plan to maintain your optimum weight. Avoid the common end of diet mentality and return to bad habits.

Ketosis. This condition occurs when there are elevated levels of ketone bodies in the blood. This happens when the liver converts fat into fatty acids, a normal response of the liver to a diet that is extremely low in carbohydrates. Normally the body depends on glucose from the carbohydrates in your diet, when they are absent the body will begin to burn fat stores instead. You know your body is in ketosis state when you have a metallic taste in your mouth or bad breath.

Medical professionals are divided in their opinion on ketosis. Some say that it unnecessarily stresses the liver and can cause destruction of muscle tissue, however that debate is far from over.

For a large number of people, the diet does work. The first phase alone can reduce your weight ten to fifteen pounds in a week. As with any diet, the results will be multiplied with excercise in order to increase your metabolism and help to prevent heart disease.