Most of the carbohydrate in this diet comes from vegetables. You should be aware about the carbohydrate content of the veggies you are consuming. This will help to ensure that the total carb count is not more than 12 to 15 grams a day.
3. Fats and Oils:
People resorting to Atkins Diet are not prohibited from eating fatty foods. In fact, adequate fat consumption is vital for this diet to succeed. Dieters are advised to maintain a balance of natural fats and avoid trans-fat completely. You can eat plenty of cold water fish and other foods that contain omega 3 fatty acids. Cook your food in virgin and extra virgin olive oil. Corn, soy, sunflower, and safflower oils should be avoided. Butter and other sources of saturated fat, such as coconut, should be eaten in balance with other fats. Avoid eating margarine unless it is trans-fat free.
4. Cheeses:
Cheeses can be eaten as they have less than a gram of carbohydrate per ounce. Atkins diet permits 3 to 4 ounces per day during induction. You can have cream cheese but avoid cottage cheese, farmer’s cheese or other fresh cheeses. While choosing mayonnaise, go for a regular full fat mayonnaise.
5. Beverages:
Atkins Diet advises drinking at least 8 glasses of water per day. You can drink soda water or carbonated water with sugar-free flavourings. Avoid any beverage with sugar in it including juice and cider. Herbal teas or decaffeinated beverages can be introduced. Diet sodas sweetened with sucralose are also acceptable. Clear broths are suitable as they are very low in carbs.
6. Foods Prohibited during Induction:
Certain food items should be avoided during the induction phase. The list given below includes, but is not limited to these food items.
- Any food that includes added sugars, which is mostly processed food. The list includes soft drinks, fruit juices, agave, candies and ice creams.
- Gluten grains like wheat, spelt, rye and barley. It includes items made from these grains such as breads, cakes, pastries, pastas and anything made of flour.
- Trans fats such as hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated fats
- Fruits and fruit juices
- Dairy products except certain cheeses and cream in limited quantities
- Starchy vegetables like potatoes, beets, corn etc.
- Legumes such as bean and peas
- High omega 6 and vegetable oils such as cottonseed, soybean, sunflower, grape seed, corn, safflower and canola oils.
- Alcoholic beverages
- Artificial sweeteners such as Aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, cyclamates and Acesulfame Potassium
7. Foods Allowed after Induction:
The following foods can be reintroduced after induction:
- Nuts
- Fresh cheeses such as cottage, ricotta etc
- Seeds such as sunflower seeds
- Other naturally low carb foods like unsweetened soy or almond milk, soy flour, coconut milk and other speciality low carb foods.
Benefits Of Atkins Diet:
Atkins diet plan has been studied in detail to understand its effects on the human body. It has proved to be moderately successful, especially in the first couple of weeks. The participants can gain the following benefits from the Atkins diet:
1. Weight Loss:
Weight loss is the major benefit of this diet. The drastic reduction in carbohydrates causes your body to burn fat for energy. The ultimate result is weight loss.
2. Simple to Follow:
This dietary plan is relatively simple to follow. All you need to do is learn what to eat and focus on basic carb counts.
3. Highlights Correct Carbs Level:
The biggest strength of this diet is that it enables you to know the correct carb level that you require to maintain a healthy weight. Different people have different levels of sensitivity to carbohydrates and this diet is a way to know your own level.
4. Weight Maintenance:
Atkins diet not only helps in losing weight but also in maintaining it. The diet enables you to determine the level of carb intake at which you can maintain a healthy weight through the eventual increase in the amount of carbs consumed.
5. Promotes Good Health:
Atkins diet encourages you to eat nutrition rich foods along with vitamin and nutritional supplements, when needed. Thus, it promotes good health.
6. Disease Prevention:
As stated earlier, restricting your carb intake lowers the insulin levels of the body, thus making it effective in prevention of diseases like diabetes. Research has indicated that followers of Atkins Diet have healthier blood pressure levels, better cholesterol levels and less weight gain in comparison to other diets.
7. Promotes Balanced Diet:
Atkins diet has been modified over the years to incorporate a variety of foods including lean protein, vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes and in certain cases whole grains and healthy fats.
Drawbacks Of Atkins Diet:
Atkins diet is effective if you stick to it, but the problem lies in compliance. People who start with this diet are often unable to continue with it on a long term basis.
1. Induction:
The induction phase is the most difficult phase of this plan and does not always have a positive effect. Most people suffer from carb crash within 3 to 5 days and are unable to proceed with this diet due to this negative reaction.
2. Difficult to Stay on Low Carbs:
It is rather difficult to get all the nutrients from an extremely low carb diet. The problem worsens if induction continues for more than 2 weeks. According to Atkins, some people are metabolically resistant to stay on a very low carb diet permanently to lose weight or maintain weight loss. But the fact remains that though vitamins and minerals can be replaced with supplements, phytonutrients cannot. This can lead to long-term health issues.
3. Boring:
A low carb diet like Atkins becomes boring very quickly, particularly during the induction phase, before it yields the desired results. This is one of the reasons why people turn away from low carb diets.
4. Confusing after Induction:
One of the drawbacks of Atkins Diet is that it is difficult to find out what carb level would work for each individual after the induction phase. Carb counting requires a lot of effort and it is all the more difficult to stick to it. It involves some experimentation to figure out what works best for you.
So, if you think you need to lose some weight and are ready to walk that extra mile, try Atkins Diet Menu Plan.
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