Atkins Diet and DCI?

[raviepoo]

Last year I had a bit of a scare after a night dive. I turned out not to be bent. But in the course of figuring that out the dive master spoke to a friend of his who runs a hyperbaric chamber and found out that there is evidence to suggest that there is a link between the Atkins diet and other low carb diets and decompression injuries. This is just anecdotal information. I've never seen it verified.

I stopped using the Atkins diet after the incident and since then my weight has spiraled out of control. I want to go back to a low carb diet until I lose the wieght I put on since last September. Do you know if it is safe to dive while on a low carb diet? Has anyone else on the board done any diving while on a low carb diet without incident?

 

[Rick Murchison]

I'm not a doc - but I'm real interested in weight control - especially safe weight control. The way the Atkins diet works is to throw your metabolism into ketosis (this may not be the precise medical term, but your breath will smell like you're a diabetic about to die), an unnatural state. I personally think we know far less about DCS than we need to to accurately predict its incidence in folks under normal conditions, and would not intentionally introduce another variable like ketosis.
Weight watchers (no, I have no commercial ties to 'em) works and allows a balanced diet. For Scuba divers that's what I recommend.
Rick

 

[scubabear]

Rav.,
I've been diving on the atkins diet for the last 20 yrs. I'm pushing 50, diabetic, overweight and hypertensive. Other than a nightime inject. I control these conditions with oral meds., diet and exercise.
Originally I tried the "well balanced" diet recomended by the ADA. After watching my weight and blood sugars soar out of control, I went on the atkins diet. The only problem I ever had was one low sugar incident at depth, this was remedied by sucking down a glucose paste, waiting a few minutes then finishing the dive.
I will say that I do take my risk factors into account, and build in additional safety factiors to my dive profile, so far so good.

As far as the Atkins being an unnatural diet, our ancestors were hunter gatherers. Most of their diet consisted of meat with the occasional berry or root trown in. Not until 10,000 yrs. ago did man start farming, and much later came processed foods.
As a race are technolody has evolved by leaps and bounds but our bodies are still those of the hunter gatherers. So if you are comfortable with the Atkins, stay with it. Just be aware of your own particular risk factors and plan your dives accordingly .
Whew, this has made me hungry! I'm off to have a 4 egg and cheese omlet for lunch. And before someone starts screaming, my blood lipids are great. Enjoy the diet and most of all, enjoy the diving.

One of these days I want to make a trip to the Atkins center in NY to fine tune mine.

 

[Rick Murchison]

scubabear once bubbled...
As far as the Atkins being an unnatural diet, our ancestors were hunter gatherers. Most of their diet consisted of meat with the occasional berry or root trown in.

Interesting. Pauling and others postulate that the diet of ancient man was much more from gathering than from hunting, with the vast majority of the diet consisting of "roots & berries," fruits, greens in abundance, some fish - with the occasional gorging on red meat whenever the tribe was lucky enough to make a kill. I find this much more likely - the notion that animals would stand around to be killed with primitive weapons is a bit far fetched. Try it sometime.
Yours is a special case (diabetic) with special risks of its own. Your metabolism and the Atkins diet is an apples to oranges comparison with those who do not have diabetes.
I don't like the Atkins diet and Scuba.
Rick

 

[raviepoo]

Rick Murchison once bubbled...

Weight watchers (no, I have no commercial ties to 'em) works and allows a balanced diet. For Scuba divers that's what I recommend.
Rick

Weight Watchers does not work FOR ME. I followed it to the letter and did not lose any weight. The group leader then suggested that I drop to a lower points level than the one indicated by my weight. I was already feeling deprived on the points level I was using. It was hell and I hated it. I hated strict portion control and having to write down every single bite of food that went into my mouth. I hated the amount of time that thinking about food took up in my day. I hated that I had to do math every time I ate. That's not natural.

I've tried "balanced" diets. They make me miserable. The only diet that works for me consistently is Atkins. I was a happy size 10 last year at this time. I stopped using Atkins to control my weight thinking that a "balanced" diet would be better. In 12 months I have balanced myself all the way up to a size 14 which is simply not acceptable to me.

My dad kept his wieght under control for 20 years using Atkins whenever the scale started to go up a little bit. His heart was strong and healthy and he did not have sugar or cholesteral problems.

I think I'm going to give DAN a acall about the diving safety issue to make sure I'm not taking any foolish risks to get my body back in line.

 

[Dr Deco]

Dear Readers:

I do not have any experience with the pluses and minuses of diets and diving. In addition, I am not aware of any relationship of these factors to decompression risk. We are all aware that hydration appears to influence DCS risk. I suspect that this is through the change of surface tension, but it also could be through a change of blood flow (local perfusion).

There is also experimental evidence that good physical condition is a factor in DCS mitigation (although this has been SUSPECTED for quite a while). We are all aware that Scuba is a relatively demanding physical activity. The sport by itself does not provide the activity level necessary to increase physical fitness. More must be done on a daily basis. Exercise and weight control are factors that go hand in hand. I work at both on a daily basis – without the success that I really desire. It is a struggle for me who has a very sedentary daily job.

In summary, I do not immediately see these diets as being factors. I appreciate the comments from readers, since recreational divers discover and test much of what we know in the field.

Dr Deco (on vacation this week) :mean:

 

[Lost Yooper]

I know a lot of people on the Atkins diet and one diver very well who is on it -- no problems with DCS. Avoiding DCS is relatively easy if you know the rules, follow them, and have no significant preconditions. Super slow ascents, avoiding deep air, using proper deco gasses, and avoiding post dive exertion are just a few of the rules of thumb to avoiding even sub DCS.

I seriously doubt that diet has any significant effect on DCS. If anything, I feel far better and have a lot more energy when I go onto a low carb diet a few days prior to a dive.

Good luck,

Mike

 

[ScubaDon]

I am a diabetic and have done the Atkins diet for several years and lost a considerable amount of weight. The problem with the Atkins diet is that you are not modifying your eating habits and as soon as you get off the diet or try to do the maintenance you are used to eating typically large amounts of proteins.

I have since started a daily exercise regiment and began controlling my daily diet. It is a constant effort but the rewards are well worth it. Since I have been doing the daily exercise routine I have been able to completely stop the diabetic medication that I have been on for almost 4 years, Glucophage for 3 years and last year I was put on Glucovance because I was having a very difficult time controlling my sugar, night time readings were as high as 300. Since I started exercising regularly my average glucose readings are between 93-124. A wonderful by product of all this, I have started to lose weight and I'm not hungry and as we have all heard, I have alot more energy than I have ever had before.

Long story short? There is no miracle diet, exercise is the key

Don

 

[raviepoo]

Thanks for the response. The question was really about DCI risk and not about the best way to lose weight though. I just wanted to be reassured that the chemical changes brought about by the Atkins diet would not increase my likelihood of injury.

I know the Atkins diet in unhealthy but I don't really care. I need a little leg up in my battle to lose about 20 lbs gained in the last 12 months. When I get back to a size 10 (about halfway to my goal) I'm going to go back to a healthier way of eating. And as far as excercise goes you are preaching to the converted. Excercise is the only thing that keeps my body under control.

I understand that weight loss can make a huge difference in Diabetes. One of my friends was diagnosed as bordeline diabetic a few years ago. She lost 20 lbs and voila! Normal blood sugar!

 

[Lost Yooper]

The 20lbs of fat is probably poses a greater danger to DCS than being on the Atkins diet.

Mike