Part-4 Ketosis can lead to health problems like kidney failure. Ketosis is known by Atkins followers as the fat-burning process, and is one of the key factors making the diet different from other approaches. Normally, carbohydrate provides energy, but when the body uses up all its stored carbohydrate, it needs to find another fuel source.

Glucose is a carbohydrate which our brain operates on. When we do not have any carbohydrates or have shortage of carbohydrates, we commence to convert protein to carbohydrates. Glucose then excites cells in the pancreas to secrete insulin to exclude that glucose and take it into tissues to be used as fuel or stored. Protein and fat consumption do not have the same insulin production impact due to the whole point of insulin is to sustain the sugar stability level.

Ketosis results from the incomplete metabolism of fatty acids. It comes on when the body is deprived of carbohydrates, its preferred fuel source, and turns to its own fat and the fat in food for fuel. Ketosis (so named for ketones, the byproducts of burning fat) is an abnormal metabolic state also seen in starvation and uncontrolled diabetes. In fact, ketones can kill, but the healthy body gets rid of them promptly--through the kidneys and the lungs (an unpleasant effect of the Atkins diet is called acetone breath).

Dieters accepting the low-fat regimen had a 22% drop in blood fats known as triglycerides and no rise in HDL, or "good" cholesterol. The Atkins dieters experienced a 49% drop in triglycerides and an 11% increase in HDL. Dieters are suggested to eliminate all carbohydrate for the first two weeks before moving on to the second section, where a few carbohydrates are reintroduced. After reaching their weight goal, dieters are then advised how to sustain the diet. Dieters are motivated or encouraged to continue this level of carbohydrate intake until their target weight loss goals are met. During the Pre-maintenance and Maintenance phases, dieters have to decide the level of carbohydrate intake that permits them to sustain their weight.

Carbohydrate, in the form of glucose, is the first fuel introduced to provide energy to our body. Dr Atkins suggests that when we lower our carbohydrates intake drastically, our body convert from burning carbohydrates to burning fat as fuel.

Atkins promises you can eat the delicious meals you like, never count calories, enjoy a good cheeseburger when you are hungry, even top things off with dessert and still lose weight. Sounds truly amazing! Robert Atkins developed it from a new nutritional approach he studied in the 1960's. Atkins used his diet on himself with considerable success before he began advocating it. Robert Atkins is an American cardiologist. The Atkins diet has been experiencing popularity as the low-carbohydrate craze once again hits American men and women. The Atkins diet is created or design to help people with weight loss and maintain their weight at optimal levels by increasing their intake of protein and fat while reducing carbohydrate consumption.