From the Mayo clinic: “Weight loss
Health benefits
The claim: The Atkins diet claims that it can prevent or improve serious health conditions, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease. Atkins also claims that digestive problems such as heartburn, gallstones, gas and bloating will improve when you greatly reduce carbohydrate consumption.
Exercise
The claim: The Atkins diet says that exercise is a vital part of its approach. It also says exercise is important to maintaining weight loss and achieving other health benefits. And it disputes any notion that you can do the Atkins diet successfully without exercise.
The reality: Physical activity and exercise help you burn more calories, aiding weight loss. Regular physical activity is also vital to prevent regaining the weight you’ve lost and, of course, provides numerous health benefits. Although the Atkins diet says exercise is important, it doesn’t specify how much you need. Healthy adults typically need at least 30 minutes of physical activity a day, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. However, if you’re obese or you want to lose weight, you may need to increase your activity.
Risks
It’s not known with certainty what risks, if any, the Atkins diet may pose to your health, especially over the long term.
Some health experts believe that eating a large amount of fat and protein from animal sources, as allowed on the Atkins diet, can increase your risk of heart disease or some cancers. However, it’s not known what risks, if any, the Atkins diet may pose over the long term because most of the studies about it have lasted for a year or less.
In addition, the Atkins diet isn’t appropriate for everyone. For example, Atkins warns that people with severe kidney disease should not follow the diet. It also cautions that the weight-loss phases of the diet aren’t suitable for women who are pregnant or nursing. The Atkins diet recommends that you consult your doctor before starting the diet, especially if you have diabetes or gout or take diuretics, insulin or oral diabetes medications.
There are other risks associated with any commercial weight-loss diet:
?If you skip a face-to-face evaluation with your health care provider, you may be unaware of important medical concerns.
?The diet isn’t tailored to your specific situation, including your weight-loss goals and any health conditions you might have.
?A very restrictive menu may cause you to give up on your weight-loss goals.
?You may not get enough fiber on low-carb diets, which may increase your risk of constipation, certain kinds of cancer and other digestive problems.
?Unless you take a multivitamin or nutritional supplement, you may be at risk of certain nutritional deficiencies.”