It seems as if the Atkins Diet has been a source of controversy for a number of decades now. It was first released in the seventies, and has been in and out of favor ever since.

One of the big problems with diets generally is that they mess around with the body's metabolism. One minute your body is getting used to going without certain foods, then when you've lost weight and go back to your normal eating habits, suddenly the weight starts to creep back on again. Weight that yo-yos up and down is very common for long-term dieters.

The Atkins Diet is one diet that people complain only works for as long as you follow it. Basically, the diet plan is based on protein and water. It's important to drink a lot of water while you're following the Atkins Diet, and in fact for most diet plans. One of the big concerns with the Atkins Diet is that your body loses weight very quickly, which means your kidneys can struggle to flush all the toxins out of your system if you're dehydrated.

The reason protein is so important is because your body uses up a lot of protein burning up calories. By eating certain foods, your body starts to use up stored fat to help process the protein. When you're eating a normal, balanced diet, your body will use carbohydrates first for burning calories. With the Atkins Diet, because carbohydrates are almost completely eliminated, the body turns to stored fat to supplement energy resources.

This low-carbohydrate approach can almost seem like a miracle, because it's very common to lose lots of weight very quickly. The restrictions placed on what you can eat, however, can be a little boring for most people. After a while, it's not unusual for people to get tired of eating cheese, eggs and meat, and want to break out and eat some bread.

And this is the biggest problem with the Atkins Diet - it's just not realistic. At some point, most people are going to start eating carbohydrates again. Unfortunately, as soon as carbohydrates are introduced back into the diet, it's quite common for the weight to start creeping back on again. Some people even complain that they gain weight quicker than they lost it in the first place.

Still, if you're looking to lose weight quickly for a short period of time, then the Atkins Diet may be for you. It's not as successful as a long term eating plan. In that case, you might be better aiming for an overall balanced diet.