The Dr Atkins Diet has been around for ages, but it has gained significant popularity just over the last several years. Despite its popularity, as with many low carb diets, the Dr Atkins Diet has been the subject of a lot of controversy.

Many doctors, especially cardiologists, argue the safety of the Dr Atkins diet. On this diet you are allowed to eat, virtually, unlimited amounts of many fatty foods. You can have bacon and eggs every morning for breakfast, you just have to skip the toast and hash browned potatoes. It would not be uncommon, on the Dr Atkins Diet, to fry up a juicy cheeseburger for dinner, as long as you toss the bun and fries out the door.

The upside to passing on carbs is that your body is forced to feast on the fats for energy and you lose weight. However, this results in what most doctors would consider a toxic state, ketosis. This is actually a goal on the Dr Atkins Diet. But with no carbs to fill you up, you are obviously going to eat more of what you are allowed, fat.

So while you may lose a significant amount of weight on the Dr Atkins Diet, the artery clogging, fatty foods that you are subjecting your body to on a daily basis can catch up to you before you know it. The question is whether the health benefit of the weight you are losing is going to outweigh the potential health risks in the future. The data is simply not available to weigh the long term risks of the Dr Atkins Diet, so eat at your own risk on this one.