s2huang's Journal, 12 August 2012

I don't think Atkins is that healthy either, but humanity and its precursors got along fine in the hundreds of millions of years of evolution before humanity discovered and domesticated wheat. It isn't even native to our ancestral cradle in Africa. Wheat as a domesticated crop has only been around for about 10,000 years. The Atkins induction period allows for plenty of leafy greens, mushrooms, a modest level of nuts, and all the cheese and meat you could ever want. It's really not that different from the Paleo diet come to that as long as you stick to whole foods. Still, it's only for two weeks, and the primary purpose is to get your body accustomed to using protein and fat as an energy store again, which it probably hasn't in a good long while if your bloodstream is constantly awash in glucose from a refined grain/low fiber diet.