PARTTWOHowtoDoAtkins—TodayandforLife
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YouareprtostartAtkinsandbeginlositherearetortantstepsaicalpreparationsthatwilllaythegroundworkforyoursuccess。First,acruihseverekidneydisease(eover2,4)shouldnotdoakinsuodosobytheirphysi。AlsnantwomenandnursingmothersmaydotheLifetimeMaintenashouldnotdoalossphasesofAtkins。
&hingyoumustdoisreviewaionsyoulakeaor'sappoiapletephysiebloodworkas。I'dlikeyoutouandwhyhavingamedicalworkupbefinningAtkinsissoimportant,bothfromahealthperspedtohelpmotivateyoutofollramfaithfully。
ApatientofminenamedDavidFrencha52-year-oldstockbrokerhadtriedtlessdietsandfailedonallofthem,Heewhatreluagged,Isuspect,byhiswifeand。Duringourfirstcklyexpressedhisskepticism,groaoftakingvitamiomelikesomeonewhowouldnotstickwiththeprogram。Althoughbeweighed206poundsatoeightiall,hehadnoobvioushealthproblemseigueanddifficultywithevenverymildphysicalexertion。
"Let'satleastcheckyourbloodlipidlevels,Mr。French,"Isaid,"andthenwe'llhavesomeideaofwhetheryouhaveanythingtoworryabout。"(Thewordlpdsismedicaleseforcholesterlycerides,traditiardedasthemainbloodindicatorsforheartdiseaserisk。)Thebloodtestswereenlightening。Histotalcholesteroling284andhistriglycerideslevelwasanincredible1,200。Atourihimhaveitwithbothbarrels:"ffyoudon'tdosomethingsoon,I'dsayyouoihewo,Mr。French。"
Thatcaughthisattention。Inallprobability,Itoldhim,aheartattackorastrokewouldbehisundoing。Healsoshowedsignsofbeingaborderliiditionletelyreversible,butwhemyofficethatdayIdidn'tthinkhe'dmaketheefforttoreverseit。
IwaswroeddoingAtkins,andsixmouthslater,heweighed162pounds,histotalcholesterolwas1S5andhistriglycerideswere90。Hehadbeenacarbohydrateeaterhiswholelife—he'dhitthecelsandrolls,stoponthewayhomefromworkforaddranksodapopeveryday—butDavethrivedram,reassuredbythefacthecouldeatuntilheletelysatisfied。"Ifyry,eat,"Isaid。
IalsopersuadedDavetoahalfhourofexeresaweek。Hesoonfoubetterafarlessfiredduringtheday。Also,physicalexertionwasnolongerbeyondhim。
Daveisaslimahymannowandhewon'tlethimselfslipintohisoldways。"IhaveapicturethatIkeeponthedeskinmyofficethatshowsthemaximumme,"hesays。"IlooklikeI'mgoingtohaveababy。IkeepthephhttherewhereIseeit,toremiI'llneverbeagain。Nowadays,Idon'tevenlooklikethesameperson。"
Eveant,DaveFrenchprobablywouldn'tbealivetodayiftheresultsofhisbloodworkhadn'tshockedhimintoghis>
ReviewYourMedis
Withthatshti'slookatthosemedicalstepsyoushouldtakebefintogeyhabits。Youwilloptakinganyunnecessaryover-the-edis,suchascoughsyruphdrops,antacids,sleepaids,antihistaminesorlaxatives。Maioionsalsoiloss。Foralistofthesemedis,pleaseturnte262。Ifyoutakeohedragslisted,youmaybedisappointedilossresults。Talktoyourdoctortoseeifaivebefound。YoualsorefertoDr。Atkins'Vita-iouralapproachestodealwithyoursymptoms。
Therearealsoriessthatcauseadverseeffetakenwhileonatrolledcarbohydateeatingplan。Firstarethe'diuretics,becauseredugyourcarbohydrateintakealonehaveadramaticdiureticeffed,sikiiveatlhbloodsugar,peoplewhotakeinsulinororaldiabetesmedisthatstimulateinsulihdangerouslyLowblood-sugarlevels。Third,Atkinshasastrongbloodpressureleffeeasilyvertbloodpressuremeditoanoverdose,Ifyouaretlytaledis,youwillneedyourdoctor'shelptoadjustyes。
dBloodWork
Whenyou8otoyourdoctor,Ireendthatyouyourbloodchemistriesandlipidlevelsmeasured—andquitepossiblytheglucose-tolerahinsulinlevelsdrawuatfastingmadatowo-hourintervals)beforeyOUrstarttheprogram。Lipidlevelswillrevealyourtotalcholesterol,HDL(good)andLDL(bad)cholesterlycerides。Theseindicatorsoftehdrasticdietaryihebloodchemistrieswillmeasurebaselineglueyaion。Besureyourdoeasuresyoururicacidlevels。SinypelybelievethattheseindicatativelyaffectedbydoingAtkins,youmaylaterregretnothavinga"before"toparewithyour"after"results。
Ifyouchoosetokeeptrackofthosehiddenphysigesthataremeasuredinyourblood,you'llfindthat,afteryoustartAtikins,theyshouldbeginimprovingsteadily(see"Beforeas,"opposite)。Idon'twantyoutowaittohaveyourinitiallabworkdoilafteryoustartAtkihenyoumaythinkanyabheresultofyournewwayofeating。Youmaywellhavehadeveerlyceridesbefan。
Yourdoctorwillalsocheckyourblohbloodpressureknownas"thesile;—andbeieher。Havinghighbloodpressure(alsocalledhypertension)putsyouatclearriskforstrokeadiseaseandmayiedinsulihappenstohighbloodpressureonAtkins?Itgoesdown。Nothientlyormorerapidlyobservedthannormalizationofbloodpressure。
LouStazziowasa。goodillustrationofthat。This40-yearoldNewYorkpolihadgained50pouheprevioustwentyyearsandhad,intheprocess,acquiredarbloodpressureof180110。Hewasoionandwastlyfatigued。Doilyiothepleasureofstarvation。
Oneday,hereadauarticleabouthhtteenagelostweightmoreeasilyonatrolledcarbohyplanthan(mnlow-fldiet。wen,,whynothim?HedecidedtogiveAtkinsatry。Ihsontheplan,Loulost60pounds,wastakenoffhisbloodpressuremedidnowhasaedbloodpressureof11874-afirst-classadvertisementforcardiovascularhealth。
Beforeas
AfteryouhavebeendoingAtkinsforsixweeksorso,haveyourbloodworkredone;youmaybesurprisedatthedramatients。Awholebodyofpublishedliteraturesuggeststhatyououghttobeterrifiedofeatingliberalamoua,InfaoionI'maskedwheientecthimtoeatis'Butwon1mychoup?"Ihaveioninanswering,"Itwillprobablygodown?Andincaseswhereyourtotalchoesup,whatyouwillalmostInvariablyfindisthatyood)choesupmorethanyourLDL(bad)cholesteroldoes,thusimprovingtheallimportantHDULDLratio。
Typically,triglyceridesplummetwithimonthonAtkins,theorise。Insomecases,LDLwillrise。Ifitdoes,askyourdoctortotestforthesubtypesofLDLtodetermiheLow-risktypeh-risktypethathasrisen。Low-riskLDL,largefluffyUpo-protetnA,issodesigdoesn'tcauseplaquetoformieries。Researchhasshownthathigh-fatdietswillraisethebeneficialLow-riskLDL。
Yourkidneyaionsshouldalsobeext,s-eInfamyicalexperieneindividualsreviouslyhadelevatedfiverlevelsduetofattydepositsintheliverhaveshowerdoingAtkins。Youruricacidlevelsshouldtestnormal。Ifyouhaveelevateduricacidpriram,youmustbesuretokeepyourandmonitoryoururicacidlevel。Aeduricacidlevelleadtogout;ifyoutIreendyousultDr。Atkins'Vita-ioainvitashelpyoutrolyoururicacidleveis。YOUalsoaskyourphysiaballoprinol,whisistentlylowersuricacidlevels。
Youshouldalsoaskyourdoctoraboutyourthyroidfun。Asluggishthyroidisoftenresponsibleforobesity。Ifyouhaveahyroid,gettitreatmeatmayhelpshtproblem。Foradetaileddisofthyroidproblems,mmtoChapter20。
TheBlood-SugarTest
&'stalkaboutthelaboratorytestmostrelevaartingAtkins—thefive-hiucose-tolera)。If,afterreadifeters,yoususpeayhaveablood-sugarorinsulinimbalaistributingthtproblems,discussitwithyourdodrequestafive-hTIwithinsulinlevels。Siofdiabetesisinsidiousahebodyobeforefull-blowesisfirstdiscovered,itisvitallyimportanttobeawareofthepossibilityyouhavepre-diabetesandofthedegreeofriskyoumayalreadysuffer(seeChapter24)。
Ifyouarehesitating,siderthis:Wearenottalkingaboutheadaches,adigestirowntoenailshere。NeedIremindyouthatthestheGITwithinsulinlevelsdetebeprecursorstodiabetes?Sixteemmillionpeoplehavediabetes,sOhreedoesn'tknowheorshehasit。