With so many diet plans on the market, it can be difficult to understand the differences among them. The Sonoma Diet and Atkins Diet are two popular diets that focus on cutting out unhealthy foods and developing a healthy eating style to use for the rest of your life. While both may help you lose weight and improve your overall health, the underlying philosophies behind these two diets differ.
Sonoma Diet
The Sonoma Diet was developed by dietitian Connie Guttersen as a program emphasizing healthy eating and enjoyment of nutritious foods. It is partially based on the Mediterranean diet, a style of eating followed by cultures bordering the Mediterranean Sea, combined with healthy cuisine of the California coast. The diet was revamped in early 2011 to become the New Sonoma Diet. The diet New Sonoma Diet emphasizes twelve power foods that dieters are encouraged to eat often. These foods include whole grains, blueberries, beans, almonds, bell pepper, broccoli citrus, olive oil, grapes, tomatoes, strawberries and spinach.
Atkins Diet
The Atkins Diet was developed by cardiologist Robert Atkins as a low-carb diet plan designed to switch the body's mechanisms from carbohydrate burning to fat burning. Reduction of diabetes risk and an improvement in cardiovascular health are stated goals of the diet. The Atkins Diet is considered a very low carbohydrate diet, since it restricts carbohydrate intake below about 100 g a day throughout the program and as low as 20 g a day during the beginning induction phase.
Similarities
Both the Sonoma Diet and Atkins Diet are commercial weight loss diets. Both diets are divided into different phases, starting with the most strict phase that requires a reduction in the amount and type of carbohydrates you eat. Rapid weight loss occurs during the first phase of both diets. While both programs note the importance of exercise in addition to the diet, neither offers specific exercise recommendations. The Sonoma Diet and Atkins Diet agree that refined carbohydrates, such as sugars and white flour, should be restricted.
Differences
The Atkins Diet has a wide range of approved diet foods available for purchase by dieters in addition to books, cookbooks and an online program. The Sonoma Diet does not provide specific food items, only a book, cookbook and online site. The Atkins Diet requires carbohydrate counting, while the Sonoma Diet doesn't require any calculations since it focuses exclusively on portion control and emphasizing specific healthy foods in your meals. The carbohydrate content of meals on the Atkins Diet are typically much lower than those on the Sonoma Diet.
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