The Atkins Diet helped launch the low-carb diet trend and is considered one of the most restrictive diets available with regard to carbohydrate intake. The Atkins Diet doesn't specifically focus on being low-glycemic, but the two plans share similar principles. Like other low-carb and low-glycemic diet plans, the Atkins Diet does elicit some potential health concerns. A conversation with your physician will help you determine if either of these approaches to weight loss will work for you.
Atkins Diet
The Atkins Diet, developed by Dr. Robert Atkins, severely restricts carbohydrates and encourages the consumption of protein and fat. This diet program involves four phases, starting with an extremely restrictive phase that eliminates all carbs except some vegetables and restricts consumption of these few foods to less than 15 g carbs per day. The second through fourth phases gradually reintroduce foods to the diet, but overall carbohydrate consumption remains low on all phases.
Low-Carb and Atkins
A diet is considered low-carb when it restricts carbohydrates below the level recommended by the Institute of Medicine, about 225 to 325 g per day. Since the Atkins Diet limits carbs to between 20 and 100 g per day, it fits the low-carb definition. The Atkins Diet's low-carb diet plan remains popular today, more than 30 years after its invention.
Low-Glycemic and Atkins
Low-glycemic diets focus on foods that have a low rating on the glycemic index, a system of measurements that rates how quickly and how high the carbohydrates in a given food increase blood sugar levels. While the Atkins Diet does not specifically look at the glycemic index of foods, the recommended foods on this diet tend to be low-glycemic ones. In general, refined carbohydrates score highest on the glycemic index scale and foods with few carbohydrates are low-glycemic foods. Plenty of low-glycemic foods contain more carbohydrates than recommended on the Atkins Diet, however, so this diet is typically more restrictive than a low-glycemic meal plan.
Concerns
While the Atkins Diet restricts carbohydrates significantly, its allowance of high levels of protein and fat, especially saturated fat, may raise the risk of heart disease and some cancers. Low-carb diets like the Atkins Diet might cause kidney damage in people with pre-existing kidney disease. The Atkins Diet is also unsuitable for pregnant or nursing mothers, since the severe restriction in carbohydrates may cause harm to a developing or nursing baby and may reduce milk supply in lactating women.
