Appetite suppressants like dietary protein help Atkins dieters lose weight

The answer to that lies in the secretion of insulin by the pancreas in response to dietary carbohydates. The more carbs you eat, the more insulin you produce. A few hours after any insulin spike, your appetite skyrockets. In this way, eating carbohydrates actually increases your appetite, even when you are eating more calories!

A low-carb diet, in constrast, works because it avoids the appetite simulating side effects of high-carbohydrate diets. Eating proteins, fats and fiber -- all staples of the Atkins diet -- provides for steady, predictable levels of blood sugar and minimal insulin response. As a result, it does not stimulate the human appetite. Therefore -- and this is the important part -- people automatically eat less and lose wight on the Atkins diet.

Knowing this, you might conclude that you could lose even more weight on the Atkins diet if you were able to suppress your appetite even further. And you're right! In fact, I believe this is the ultimate key to rapid weight loss: get your appetite suppressed, and you hardly have to worry about counting calories or portions. So how to do it?

The answer lies in appetite suppressing plant chemical compounds found in a few rare plants. The best I've found are hoodia gordonii and Jojoba. When used in combination, these two plants offer natural, powerful appetite suppressant properties that can help you lose as much as 1/2 pound per day of actual body fat, not just water weight.

• Through a series of scientific experiments the programme shows that although the diet allows people a healty quota of fat and protein, they actually eat as few calories as people on low fat diets.
• The meat, fish and eggs in the Atkins diet control hunger and stop people eating their usual quantity of calories.
• The theory behind Dr Atkins' diet is that by cutting down on starchy foods like potatoes, bread and pasta and eating mainly protein and fats like meat, eggs and cheese you can eat as much as you want and still lose weight.
• In Horizon's investigation identical twins were put on different diets, one on the Atkins diet and one on a conventional low fat diet.
• Research has shown that fat is the least filling food.
• With no long term studies on the diet, any possible health risks of the diet are, so far, unproven.