The Atkins diet allows you to lose weight with a low-carbohydrate food intake. You'll not only be on the road to better heart health and memory function, but you'll also feel satisfied and full. You don't have to starve or be hungry on the Atkins diet.

The Atkins Diets is just one of the Diet Fads discussed at the social networking site where members exchange experiences and success stories.

The Atkins diet is based on the notion that overweight people eat too many carbohydrates. Our bodies burn both carbohydrates and fat for energy. Carbohydrates are used first. By reducing the carbohydrate intake and eating more protein and fat, our bodies are forced to lose weight by burning stored fat more efficiently.

The Atkins diet is also known as the Atkins Nutritional Approach. It is the most marketed and well-known low-carbohydrate diet. It was developed by Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1960's from a diet he read about in the Journal of The American Medical Association. He then went on to resolve his own weight problem shortly after graduating from medical school. After successfully treating over ten thousand patients, he began to popularize the Atkins diet in a series of books. The first of these was the Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution in 1972. He then revised this book, called Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution.

There was also a business formed to provide diet products for people on the Atkins diet. This was known as the Atkins franchise. This franchise has been highly successful due to the marketing of the diet. It is considered the iconic and driving entity of the larger low-carb craze. The Atkins logo is still highly visible through licensed-proprietary branding for all types of food products that can be found in your local grocery store.

Dr. Atkins claimed that there are two main unrecognized factors when it comes to Western eating habits. The first main cause of obesity is eating too many refined carbohydrates. This includes flour, sugar, corn syrups, high-fructose, and saturated fats. He stated that only trans fats, which come from hydrogenated oils need to be avoided.

Dr. Atkins rejected the advice from the food pyramids, asserting that the increase in refined carbohydrates is responsible for the rise in disorders of the metabolism in the 20th century. Supposedly, the focus on the detrimental effects of dietary fat has actually added to the obesity problem, instead of lessening it.

Although, a large part of the emphasis is on the Atkins diet, proper nutritional supplements such as multi-vitamins and regular exercise are considered equally as important.

The Atkins diet involves a restriction of carbohydrates so that it will switch the body's metabolism from burning glucose to burning protein and fat. This process is known as lipolysis. This begins when the body enters a state of ketosis, due to running out of excess carbohydrates to burn. According to the Atkins diet, low-carb diets have a 'metabolic advantage' because the body burns more calories than on other diets.

By using the Atkins diet, you can actually burn more calories, without always exercising more, and turn your body into a fat burning machine. Best of all, you don't have to feel hungry or starve, and still burn unwanted fat.