The Atkins Diet and Appetite Suppression
A very common, and surprising effects of following the Atkins diet is appetite suppression. Many advocates of the regimen report that the inter meal hunger pangs they used to experience just fade away and very quickly too. This factor makes it easier to remain on the diet and continue to lose weight. While other diets have their followers hungry between meals, the Atkins diet offers relief from constant hunger. The Atkins diet, with its specific recommendation of foods and ingredients, has powerful appetite suppressing effects.
The first key component is the quantity of protein in the Atkins diet. Protein, much more so than carbohydrates, has the power to assuage hunger pangs. If you have ever eaten a carbohydrate dense meal and then felt hungry again a few hours later, you already know that carbohydrates do not have much lasting effect as a hunger satisfier. Protein, on the other hand, when it is combined with a small amount of healthy fats, can keep you feeling full for long periods of time.
One of the most sustained appetite suppressant foods on the Atkins diet are eggs. Eggs are a great sort of quick and easy protein. A recent study showed that eating eggs for breakfast would actually keep hunger pangs at bay throughout the rest of the day. The study concerned two groups of women. One group ate eggs for breakfast and the other had a breakfast of buns and cream cheese.
The calorie count for both breakfasts was precisely the same. The participants kept track of what they ate for the rest of the day and answered questions about their hunger levels and satisfaction levels throughout the day. The results of the study showed that the women who ate the eggs for breakfast felt more satisfied throughout the entire day and they ate less at each meal than those women who were in the bagels group.
Eggs contain about 6 grammes of protein each, which helps to regulate blood sugar levels and produces a feeling of well-being. Both of these factors help to control cravings. Egg yolks also contain lutein and xenazanthin. These nutrients have been proven to have amazing effects on eye health. Therefore, it is important to consume the whole egg, and not just the white. Eggs contain choline which is important for maintaining brain function and memory. These nutrients are just an added benefit to the appetite suppressing qualities.
Broccoli and cauliflower, two of the most suitable vegetables on the Atkins program, also have appetite-suppressing effects. These vegetables are very bulky and they help make your stomach feel full. When your stomach is full, it will actually create a chemical response in your body. Your body will reduce its call for food because it believes that your stomach is full of high calorie foods. This occurs regardless of what is actually in your stomach. You can get the same results with water and psyllium husk fibre. Both broccoli and cauliflower provide bulk in your diet and are essential vegetables for the Atkins diet.
The Atkins plan recommends eating small, protein balanced meals a few times a day. This will help maintain your blood sugar level in a stabilized state and avoid carbohydrate-induced cravings. With high carbohydrate diets, you are riding a roller-coaster of carbohydrate highs. After you have eaten, you feel great and full. Then after a few hours, you come crashing down and are hungrier than you were prior to eating the carbohydrates. This cycle continues ad infinitum and, over time, you will eat more and more and eventually gain weight.
The protein, fat and vegetable meals of the Atkins diet put your blood sugar back in balance. They give you just enough of each sort of food, with a proper amount of carbohydrates (from the vegetables). The vegetables provide quick carbohydrate energy, and the protein gives the meal its staying power. This combination helps suppress your appetite throughout the day.
The Atkins diet is really a craving control plan that helps suppress your appetite – your desire for food or calories. If you’ve had a problem with carbohydrate cravings before, this new way of eating ie dieting will help control those cravings. The more you eat on the plan, the better your cravings will be controlled and the easier it will be to follow the diet – the more you practice the diet the easier it gets, because you won’t want to eat carbohydrates all the time.
If you want to read our personal experience of the Atkins diet, please visit Appetite Suppression of if you want to read a lot more about the The Atkins Diet click the blue link.






January 30th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Hey, found your site by accident doing a search on Yahoo but I’ll definitely be returning. As for your post… I agree with a lot of what you’re saying here but wouldn’t it be just as easy to let it go? I mean why mess with your quality of life if you don’t have to?