The Atkins diet.  We hear about it all the time on television.  I even watched a talk show where the host has been doing this diet. 

Is this diet good for you?  Well, let's think about it for awhile.  Basically this diet tells you to eat all the meat, cheese, eggs and fats that you want.  Sounds like a great diet doesn't it?  I would love to eat a few steaks in the morning for breakfast. 

You can't eat any kind of carbs.  No bread or pasta, no rice or some veggies.  This is a high protein low carb diet.  It sounds good, hell, it sounds pretty yummy to be exact.

I have thought about doing this diet before.  I love meat, but I also eat way too many carbs.  The idea of being able to eat all the meat that I want sounds like a great thing.  I would eat so much meat, that I'd make a pair of pajamas out of meat and wear them to bed.

Like all things that sound too good to be true, this probably is too.  Well, you have caught on.  This diet really is too good to be true. 

Is it a hoax?  I don't know if I would call it a hoax.  It might actually be a good short term weight loss solution.  I certainly wouldn't do this diet unless you talk to your doctor first. 

Before you think about trying this diet, let's talk about the side effects:

Bad breath, gout (painful inflammation of the joints), high cholesterol (LDL = bad), kidney damage, weakness, bad (acne) or dry skin, thinning hair, increased risk of having a heart attack, yellowish instead of white eye balls, set back or sunken eye balls, muscle loss, frequent urination, vitamin and mineral loss, health related problems due to improper nutrition balance, and attitude or mood changes due to bad nutrition.

The next time your dog walks over to visit you or you get near a dog, sniff his breath.  Does it smell good?  Of course it doesn't!  Do you know why that is?  It is because he is on a high protein low carb diet.  If the idea just popped in your head that your breath will be as bad as your dog's, you are right.  Your breath will smell the same way a dog's does.  That doesn't sound like too much fun to me.

If you have high cholesterol you shouldn't even be thinking about a diet like this.  A diet like this will make your cholesterol shoot up like you won't believe.  Why?  Because you are eating foods that are high in cholesterol.

This diet is a unhealthy way to die, I mean diet.  That is right, if you were to stay on a diet like this for the rest of your life it would kill you.  Your body needs stuff that meat and fats don't provide.  I know it sucks, but it is true.  I would love to be able to tell you that you could spend the rest of your life eating steaks for every meal.

To me, this is the diet that counteracts all of the things that have been said in the recent past.  You know, eggs and milk are bad for you.  All of these things that we have ate for thousands of years are now bad for us. 

I don't think there is any magical diet out there.  The same is try with any exercise routine that you may have.  The only miracles come by hard work.  The only miracle diet, is the one that is right for you.

If you have read any of my past articles, you know that I don't think that eggs and dairy are bad.  You do know that I suggest that you monitor your carbs closely.  I don't think you should stop eating them, but I do think you should be careful how much you do eat.  Only because to me these are like sugar.  They give you a jolt of energy only to leave you feeling empty when the rush is gone.

As always, contact your doctor before starting any diet.  Make sure that if you have any health problems, you discuss how the new diet might effect those.  Most importantly, enjoy your meal.