One in four ranks as obese. And it's not just an issue of appearances. Six out of the ten leading causes of death in this country can be traced to diet. We know that being overweight increases risk for heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, and all sorts of other chronic health problems. In fact, the government estimates that nearly 280,000 deaths a year are caused by illnesses related to the effects of obesity.
Exercise is one required solution.
There are several popular approaches. One is a high-protein diet popularized by Dr. Robert Atkins that allows one to eat plenty of red meat, eggs, and cheese. Under that plan, one eats far fewer sugars and far less carbohydrates, like bread and pasta. According to Atkins, those kinds of carbohydrates increase the body's production of insulin. That insulin, in turn, converts sugars from carbohydrates into body fat.