The culprits, he uncovered, are the carbohydrates. Those building blocks turn into glucose and if we do not use all of that energy on physical activity, it turns into fat and accumulates in our bodies.

Therefore his diet is based on a few or no carbohydrates at all. You can eat as much proteins (meat and animal products) as you like and you can eat as much fat as you like, as long as you avoid carbohydrates you will lose weight.

The diet was based on proteins; bacon is OK, huge steaks are OK, creams, cheeses are OK and you can eat as much of it as you want. Eliminate the flower, rice, sugars and other carbohydrates from your food and you will lose weight.

Low and behold it worked! People were losing weight in huge amounts while gorging on their favorite foods and Dr. Atkins became the talk of the town.

The diet calls for a ridiculously small amount of carbohydrate for the first two weeks, about 20 grams a day (one slice of bread has about 18gr.) and no fruit at all because they are high in carbohydrates and sugars.

After the initial two weeks and after you have lost 4-8 pounds a week, you can slowly and carefully increase the amount of carbohydrates until you stop losing weight. That is your plateau, your base line and now you know what your limit is and reduce the intake in order to lose weight. You can also check the amount of ketosis in your urine which is an indication that your body is burning the fat it has been storing.

The problem with this diet is two pronged ; you deny yourself some foods and you start craving them after a while. There’s a risk you will go off the diet and start eating carbohydrates. Together with the fat you’ve been eating it is a recipe for an immediate weigh gain.
The more serious problem is the cholesterol which you have been consuming in big quantities.

It has been known for years that cholesterol is a major factor in heart attacks and cardiovascular system problems and is altogether dangerous to your health. Indeed when Dr. Atkins stepped out of his office in New York, in April 2003, slipped on the ice and fell; he died 9 days later at the age of 72. His cause of death was characterized as “blunt impact injury of the head” but subsequent reports show he had congestive heart failure and his weight at the time of death would have made him obese.

Since his death, although his wife tried to continue with his institute and diet empire, the popularity of this diet has declines dramatically, and it is the least recommended diet by doctors and health professionals.