|
Fatigue was also reported by subjects following the Stillman diet. "The Doctor's Weight Loss Diet" or the Stillman diet is another diet that recommends unlimited protein and fat but is restricted in terms of carbohydrate. The breakdown of 98% of calories from protein and fat, and 2% (7gm) from carbohydrate fits the induction phase of Dr. Atkins diet. The average duration of the diet periods studied was 7.6 days. Most subjects on the Stillman diet complained of easy fatigue, lathargy, and mild nausea. Some felt these symptoms interfered with their work performance and therefore discontinued the diet after only a few days.5
Most recently on the Internet there was a letter to the editor of Prevention Magazine. The woman wrote and asked the editor about the Atkins induction diet. She had been following the diet for four days and had lost some weight but complained of having less energy, especially when exercising.6
These reports are in sharp contrast to Dr. Atkins' assertions that his diet will have the opposite effect, that "it's a high energy diet". Of course they are in perfect agreement with what we know about in terms of diet composition and exercise.
Simply and basically, active muscle relies on ingested carbohydrate as readily available energy. Studies have shown the endurance capacity of subjects fed a high-carbohydrate diet averaged more than 3 times greater than when they consumed a high-fat diet. Additionally, due to the role of carbohydrate in central nervous system function and neuromuscular coordination, exercising under conditions of low glycogen reserves increases the likelihood of injury.3
|
|
