Colette Heimowitz - 'The Evolution of the Atkins Diet with a Tribute to Dr. Robert C. Atkins'

Colette Heimowitz, MS, is Director of Education and Research for Atkins Health and Medical Information Services. In this role she manages public relations, directs research efforts, designs continuing medical education programs and directs the Atkins Speakers Bureau. In addition, Heimowitz serves as a member of the Atkins Nutritionals New Product Development Committee.
Previously, Heimowitz was the Director of Nutrition at The Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine. Prior to working at The Atkins Center, Heimowitz spent 20 years directing nutrition departments in the offices of complementary doctors such as Leo Galland, MD, Serafina Corsello, MD, and others. Her corporate experience includes Vice-President of Research and Development at Col-Air Laboratories, a company specialising in herbal technologies.
As the spokesperson for the Atkins Company, Heimowitz has been featured on national television networks such as CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC and appears frequently across the country on the lecture circuit and on radio programs.

[@MrFahdYehia]

I tried LCHF. I did lose weight, however, it was a miserable existence. The headaches were the worst that I had ever experienced and my gym performance suffered significantly, I was consuming around 50g carbohydrates my healthy fats were high and protein was moderate. I used Himalayan salt to help combat the side effects but eventually I had to increase my carbs to 150g. I found this amount to be optimal for me.
I do agree LCHF can serve well those who are carb intolerant/diabetic.
I do believe we consume way too many carbs in this day and age and having a lower carb intake is a better proposition.

[@bparkman]

Fahd, the headaches are what we call 'Atkins flu' or 'keto flu'. They're from the detox that happens to your body when you go low carb. The fact this happens is all the more evidence one needs to go on low carb eating. The same thing happens when fasting. One had to completely detox in order to get rid of those symptoms. Increasing the carbs to get that to go away is just feeding the problem again.
Also, the weakness will continue until you become 'fat adapted' and your body gets used to burning fat for fuel instead of carbs. This can take several weeks. Increasing your carbs to 150 gets rid of all that because now you are burning carbs again, but then you're not getting the health benefits of your body burning fat for fuel. You just have to persist on the low carb until you get used to it and get through the detox period.

[@Jefferdaughter]

In addition to the salt - (Himalayan is great, eh?!), did you also increase your water intake? And supplement with magnesium? These details have made a huge difference for many people while they are adjusting to nutritional ketosis, and going through the 'keto flu', even eliminating the symptoms for some.
Maybe I should say instead, while they are weaning themselves off of carbohydrates. :)
All the best to you~

[@MattApple_]

Fahd, when you go LCHF there is often a transition period of a day or two where you feel tiredness, headaches or achey. It's frequently called "Atkins flu" or something similar. But this is only a transitional thing and most people who try LCHF don't stick with it long enough to come out the other end of that tunnel. On the other end is energy, clarity and appetite suppression.
The effect on workouts also gets better over time although to be fair most people who do low carb and workout report that some of the upper end of their strength range goes. This is a function of having less ready glycogen in your muscles. Some hardcore workout people follow a "cyclic ketogenic diet" which seems to provide the best of both worlds. Google "ketogains" to find out more on that subject.
PS I've been LCHF for just shy of 5 years, lost over 100 lbs. I even went zero carb for a month as an experiment. I'm a firm believer that carbs aren't necessary and people should go as low carb as you can tolerate.

[@bigbenhebdomadarius6252]

There is actually no need for carbohydrates at all, as Stefansson and Anderson showed in 1927. They had returned from several years among the Inuit peoples of Canada (who believed vegetables were unfit for human consumption), and no one believed that they could possibly have stayed healthy all that time without carbohydrates in their diet. They agreed to a year-long experiment at Bellevue Hospital in New York, where their meals were supervised to make sure they didn't sneak any carbohydrates. They ate organ meats almost exclusively, the fattier the better, and the only time they had any trouble was when someone convinced them to try only lean meat for a bit (they soon started feeling quite ill, but a couple of pieces of fatty meat perked them right up again).

[@carrollhoagland1053]

Nice defense of Atkins Colette ... but you are still stuck with some of the Atkins dogma. There is no known carbohydrate deficiency disease. Modern carbs are the root cause of the Saccharine Diseases Insulin is a growth hormone ... not a glucose control mechanism. Excess proteins are used to make carbs if and when we are short on glucose, the issue is that the body recycles half of the protein it needs from cellular recycling and has a huge store of this material just as fats. It really does not store carbs.
Modern foods and farming practices have all been directed at "Hyper-Palatable" foods, "Less Bitter" and "More Palatable" ... just chew a multi-min if want to know what micro-nutrients taste like. I like Mark Sisson's the Primal Diet ... definition of the Apple - "A Bag of Sugar" ... just eat a crab apple is you really want to see what the apple use to taste like ...
We support you with your work on NIH and its misdirection ...
70 Going On 100 ... the Centenarian Diet