Low-carbohydrate foods are the Atkins Diet's primary foods because the late Dr. Robert Atkins believed that carbohydrates cause body fat, while high-fat and high-protein foods don't. You're allowed to eat only 20 grams of carbohydrates daily during the diet's first two weeks. Afterward, you're instructed to monitor how many carbohydrates you can eat without gaining weight, and not eat more than that. Consequently, Atkins' carbohydrate gram counter is crucial.
Meats
The Atkins Diet urges you to eat meat, poultry and fish because most of it has no carbohydrate content, while beans, fruits, grains, pasta, rice and vegetables often have many carbohydrates. Atkins' carbohydrate gram counter reports, for example, that all lamb has no carbohydrates, while the only beef, veal and poultry with carbohydrates are beef jerky, calf liver, deli roast beef and chicken or turkey sausage. Pork and lunch meats have zero to 2.4 grams of carbohydrates per serving. Shellfish such as clams, lobster and oysters have two to 13 grams of carbohydrates per serving, but are allowed. Other fish have no carbohydrates.
By contrast, many beans, breads, cereals and rices have more than 20 g of carbohydrates per serving. The carbohydrate content per serving in fruits and vegetables varies from close to none to more than 20 grams.
Berries
Fruits are banned during the Atkins Diet's first two weeks because they all contain carbohydrates, and Atkins believed your body needed to learn to get its energy from fat rather than carbohydrates before eating carbs again. Afterward, you should eat few high-carb fruits because they raise your blood-sugar level.
Berries are "lower in carbs than other fruit" and have phytonutrients that "can slow precancerous growths," according to "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution." They're also high in fiber. Atkins' carbohydrate gram counter subtracts the grams of fiber and calls the harmful carbohydrates "digestible carbs." In small amounts, Blackberries, blueberries, cherries, cranberries, raspberries and strawberries are recommended because their carbohydrate content is relatively low. By contrast, apples and oranges have 17.3 and 12.9 grams of digestible carbohydrates per serving.
Vegetables
Most of the 20 grams of carbs you can eat during the Atkins Diet's first two weeks are green vegetables. Afterward, vegetables are the first food you can eat more of as you increase your carbohydrate intake, but low-carb vegetables are preferred. Atkins wrote that the best low-carb vegetables are those with lots of antioxidants--vitamins that protect you from aging, disease and stress. Garlic is the vegetable with the highest "Atkins Ratio," the most antioxidants divided by carbohydrate grams per serving. Lettuce, kale, onions, spinach, broccoli and peppers also are low-carb foods with a high Atkins Ratio.
Nuts
Nuts are banned during the Atkins Diet's first two weeks, but they are encouraged afterward because they are low in carbs and are "densely packed with nutrients." Atkins' list of recommended nuts include almonds, which have 3.6 grams of carbs per serving and a lot of calcium, and hazelnuts, which have 2.8 grams of carbs per serving and a lot of vitamin E. Macadamia nuts and walnuts are also recommended.
References
- "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution"; Dr. Robert Atkins; 2002
- Atkins International: Home Page
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