Project 1: The Atkins Diet
The Atkins diet came into being in 1972, when Dr. Robert Atkins was searching for a way to shed his own excess weight. The diet has 4 major stages, starting from the bare minimum of ;
1. Induction: Begin the regime by consuming fewer than 20 Grams of carbohydrates a day for 2 weeks or until your within 15 pounds of your target weight, whichever strikes first. The idea behind this stage is to wean your body off burning carbohydrates. Fatty, protein rich, and leafy vegetables are the key. Remember, the cardinal rule here is to ingest as few carbs as possible. Here's a sample list of ok foods for stage 1;
Fat: try salmon, trout, sardines, ham, eggs, or lamb. Trying cooking it with Butter, Olive Oil, and Mayonnaise, provided that none have added sugar.
Protein: check out beef, venison, veal, poultry, tofu, eggs, and any of the fatty foods.
Vegetables: Kale, spinach, swiss chard, broccoli, cabbage, and collards are a good place to start.
Eggs: It should be noted that eggs are always lavished special attention on Atkins diet sites by getting a category to themselves, as they are both fatty, full of protein, and have high concentrations of Omega 3.
Dairy: 3-4 ounces of cheese daily
2. Balancing/Ongoing Wait Loss (OWL): Maintain stage one but gradually reintroduce and increase the number of number of nuts, vegetables, and tiny dosages of fruit into your diet. This segment of the program will continue until you're within 10 pounds of your goal, although the diet permits you to skip directly to stage 3 if you have in mind a slightly less painful program and are in no hurry to shed the weight. Listed below are some examples of what food items can be re-introduced to one's diet to supplement Stage 1.
Nuts: 2TBS on average
Dairy: Half cup on average
Fruit: 1/4 cup of berries only
Legumes: 1/4 cup
3. Maintaining Weight/Pre-Lifetime Maintenance: Its time to say hola to those grains and starchy vegetables again! This period lasts until you hit your target weight and ought to be continued until a month after you've hit your goal to ensure your weight loss is not short-lived. Once again, the items below are examples of what can be introduced in addition to what you're already allowed to consume under stages 1 and 2.
Starchy Vegetables: (ie: Potatoes, Squash) 1/2 cup for most
Grains: Pasta limited to 1/4 cup, rice to 1/3 cup.
Fruit: The rest of the fruits are not permitted, although they differ massively in consumable quantity.
The range is from 1/4 cup to 1 whole fruit.
4. Lifetime Maintenance: As its name suggests, this part of the should last diet last as long as you do. Since it's your life, there aren't any new concise instructions, rather they suggest you tinker a little with the formula given in stage 3 to best fit your body for long term weight stability. (If you really crave a few more carbs and are in danger of quitting the Atkins Lifestyle as a result, perhaps add another eighth cup of of pasta to your diet. If on the other hand, you fear even a quarter cup of wheat is putting you in danger of consuming too many carbohydrates, then maybe you'd choose to delete them from your life for good.)
1. Induction: Begin the regime by consuming fewer than 20 Grams of carbohydrates a day for 2 weeks or until your within 15 pounds of your target weight, whichever strikes first. The idea behind this stage is to wean your body off burning carbohydrates. Fatty, protein rich, and leafy vegetables are the key. Remember, the cardinal rule here is to ingest as few carbs as possible. Here's a sample list of ok foods for stage 1;
Fat: try salmon, trout, sardines, ham, eggs, or lamb. Trying cooking it with Butter, Olive Oil, and Mayonnaise, provided that none have added sugar.
Protein: check out beef, venison, veal, poultry, tofu, eggs, and any of the fatty foods.
Vegetables: Kale, spinach, swiss chard, broccoli, cabbage, and collards are a good place to start.
Eggs: It should be noted that eggs are always lavished special attention on Atkins diet sites by getting a category to themselves, as they are both fatty, full of protein, and have high concentrations of Omega 3.
Dairy: 3-4 ounces of cheese daily
2. Balancing/Ongoing Wait Loss (OWL): Maintain stage one but gradually reintroduce and increase the number of number of nuts, vegetables, and tiny dosages of fruit into your diet. This segment of the program will continue until you're within 10 pounds of your goal, although the diet permits you to skip directly to stage 3 if you have in mind a slightly less painful program and are in no hurry to shed the weight. Listed below are some examples of what food items can be re-introduced to one's diet to supplement Stage 1.
Nuts: 2TBS on average
Dairy: Half cup on average
Fruit: 1/4 cup of berries only
Legumes: 1/4 cup
3. Maintaining Weight/Pre-Lifetime Maintenance: Its time to say hola to those grains and starchy vegetables again! This period lasts until you hit your target weight and ought to be continued until a month after you've hit your goal to ensure your weight loss is not short-lived. Once again, the items below are examples of what can be introduced in addition to what you're already allowed to consume under stages 1 and 2.
Starchy Vegetables: (ie: Potatoes, Squash) 1/2 cup for most
Grains: Pasta limited to 1/4 cup, rice to 1/3 cup.
Fruit: The rest of the fruits are not permitted, although they differ massively in consumable quantity.
The range is from 1/4 cup to 1 whole fruit.
4. Lifetime Maintenance: As its name suggests, this part of the should last diet last as long as you do. Since it's your life, there aren't any new concise instructions, rather they suggest you tinker a little with the formula given in stage 3 to best fit your body for long term weight stability. (If you really crave a few more carbs and are in danger of quitting the Atkins Lifestyle as a result, perhaps add another eighth cup of of pasta to your diet. If on the other hand, you fear even a quarter cup of wheat is putting you in danger of consuming too many carbohydrates, then maybe you'd choose to delete them from your life for good.)
The Atkins Food Pyramid**Graphic used from 2012-2015 by the Ireland-based organization, Eating Atkins. The pyramid has not been replaced by any graphic of any kind thus far, but still adheres to the guidelines prescribed by the Canadian, American, and Irish variants of the program.
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The USDA Food Pyramid****1992 United States Department of Agriculture Food Guide. Used in place of Canadian Food Guide since The Canadian Food Guide is not offered in Pyramid form, and the easiest format to compare the two diets were as pyramids. The portions proscribed by the two Guides are also identical except for the fact Canada's Food guide recommends up to one more serving in the Fruits and Vegetable category than is shown on this pyramid. 1992 was also the last year Food Pyramids were employed as a Food Guide graphic by The United States.
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Analysis
The most fundamental difference between The Atkins Diet and Public Health Food Guides lies not in each diets' wildly different prescriptions, but in their intended purposes. As with most 'fad' diets, The Atkins Diet's sole objective is that of weight loss (and making a handsome profit while doing so). In contrast, Public Food Guides such as Health Canada's are to ensure the health and wellbeing of the public it serves, which encompasses far more than a person's fat content. After all, not everyone is overweight!
Therefore, the short answer to the question posed on the project page is no, The Atkins Diet is not healthy for teenagers, overweight or otherwise. While it may come as a surprise to learn that rates of obesity and overweight youth are virtually identical to those among other age groups, everyone agrees (including Atkins himself) that youth have different needs when it comes to food than adults, namely because they are still developing physically and mentally. This is accounted for in The Canada Food Guide by advising Youth to consume an additional serving of Meat (high in Iron, Vitamin D, Protein, etc.) and Dairy (high in Calcium, Protein, etc) over their adult counterparts in order to produce strong, healthy bones and fuel the development of superior muscles and an increasingly complicated brain, all in conjunction with 60 minutes of rigorous exercise per day. It is obvious that The Atkins Diet enthusiastically endorses the increased meat intake, with some going so far as advising youth out-meat adults here too, seeing it as the sole method of carbohydrate acquisition for the energy-hogging demographic. The Diet is less supportive of extra dairy however, wary of its proportionally higher carbohydrate and sugar count. Where the diet really fails in its suitability for youth is in its denial of carbohydrates, which is the number one source of energy essential for exercise. In addition to the physical changes youth experience mentioned above, mentally it is equally important as an endorphin-releaser, a necessary counter-balance against high levels of testosterone, melatonin, etc, which, left unbalanced, can create depression and stress. Here's a chart I created based on the Mayo Clinic's piece on Atkins.
Therefore, the short answer to the question posed on the project page is no, The Atkins Diet is not healthy for teenagers, overweight or otherwise. While it may come as a surprise to learn that rates of obesity and overweight youth are virtually identical to those among other age groups, everyone agrees (including Atkins himself) that youth have different needs when it comes to food than adults, namely because they are still developing physically and mentally. This is accounted for in The Canada Food Guide by advising Youth to consume an additional serving of Meat (high in Iron, Vitamin D, Protein, etc.) and Dairy (high in Calcium, Protein, etc) over their adult counterparts in order to produce strong, healthy bones and fuel the development of superior muscles and an increasingly complicated brain, all in conjunction with 60 minutes of rigorous exercise per day. It is obvious that The Atkins Diet enthusiastically endorses the increased meat intake, with some going so far as advising youth out-meat adults here too, seeing it as the sole method of carbohydrate acquisition for the energy-hogging demographic. The Diet is less supportive of extra dairy however, wary of its proportionally higher carbohydrate and sugar count. Where the diet really fails in its suitability for youth is in its denial of carbohydrates, which is the number one source of energy essential for exercise. In addition to the physical changes youth experience mentioned above, mentally it is equally important as an endorphin-releaser, a necessary counter-balance against high levels of testosterone, melatonin, etc, which, left unbalanced, can create depression and stress. Here's a chart I created based on the Mayo Clinic's piece on Atkins.
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Project 2: Challenging islamophobia in the Media
https://www.emaze.com/@AZOIOQZW/islamophobia
Digital Tools Tracker:
8. Emaze
8. Emaze