You’ve heard about the Atkins diet. Now, there’s an Atkins pill that could help you lose weight even faster. Find out everything you need to know about this pill today.
What is the Atkins Pill?
The Atkins pill is a diet pill based on the Atkins diet. The Atkins diet, for those out of the loop, was a trendy diet that emphasized low carb – or no carb – consumption.
It recommended switching out foods like bread and potatoes for steaks and fried breakfasts. High protein consumption was important.
The problem with the Atkins diet was that it often led to a diet high in fat content. Dieters ended up eating lots of fried foods and meats – like bacon.
The low carb concept worked – but the results were often overshadowed by the negative health effects of a high-fat diet.
Researchers decided to take that concept in another direction by making the Atkins pill. This pill purportedly harnesses the health benefits of the Atkins diet without the need to stick to an extreme diet.
It takes one crucial element from a high-protein diet and puts it in the form of a pill.
About the Atkins Diet
The Atkins diet was created by Dr. Robert Atkins. It rose to prominence in the 1990s and early 2000s, fueled by endorsements from celebrities like Jennifer Aniston and Renee Zellweger. The main principle of the diet was cutting out carbohydrates for two weeks.
Cutting out carbs, according to Dr. Atkins, would turn your body into a “fat burning machine”. Without carbs available as fuel, your body would be forced to burn alternative sources of fuel – like fat. That’s why the diet emphasized eating lots of fish, meat, and eggs.
How Does the Atkins Pill Work?
Researchers took a close look at why the Atkins pill worked. They found that high-protein diets led to increased feelings of satiety. Your body felt fuller after eating a protein-rich meal compared to, say, a carb-rich meal.
Researchers tracked this activity down to a specific chemical produced in the gut. This chemical, phenylalanine, is produced when you eat foods like meat, fish, eggs, and other protein sources.
That’s important because phenylalanine also reduces levels of ghrelin in your gut. Ghrelin is the hormone that tells your body it’s hungry. Less ghrelin means you feel less hungry.
At the same time, phenylalanine also increases levels of another hormone called GLP-1. GLP-1 is used by your body to signal that you’re full.
The end result is that the Atkins pill tells your body it’s full, which means you naturally eat less.
One reason why researchers wanted to make the pill was because high protein diets can be hard on your body over the long-term.
By isolating one of the most important ingredients from a high-protein diet, researchers are able to avoid the negative health effects.
In other words, you get all of the benefits of a high-protein, low-carb Atkins-style diet – just with none of the negatives.
When Will the Atkins Pill Be Released?
Unfortunately for prospective dieters, the Atkins pill is not yet a thing. Researchers presented their work at the annual Society for Endocrinology conference in Brighton, England on Tuesday.
The next step in bringing the pill to market is to establish that phenylalanine has the same effects in humans as it does in mice.
Here’s what lead researcher Mariana Norton had to say about the project in a statement to the Daily Mail:
“Our work is the first to demonstrate that activating CaSR can suppress appetite. It highlights the potential use of phenylalanine or other molecules which stimulate CaSR – like drugs or food components – to prevent or treat obesity.”
Research was led by a group from Imperial College London.
Where to Buy the Atkins Pill
We don’t know if the Atkins pill will be released ever – not to mention where it will be available. However, if the pill indicates the same benefits in humans as it did in mice, then it should be available through all the usual channels in the near future – like health food stores and online supplement retailers.
Stay tuned to our blog for more information about this so-called “Atkins pill” as more research gets released!
