The Atkins Diet is a low-carb approach to eating, but this doesn't mean you have to completely avoid fruit for the entirety of the program. In fact, specific types of fruit are encouraged during different phases of the diet as good alternatives to sugary snacks when you crave something sweet. Because of the low-carbohydrate emphasis, however, some lower-carbohydrate fruits can be eaten earlier and more often than others.
Atkins Diet
Since 1972, when cardiologist Robert Atkins first developed the Atkins Diet, this low-carb eating plan has been updated and revised based on new scientific evidence about nutrition and dieting. The program emphasizes consumption of lean protein and healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats, while restricting many forms of carbohydrates. During the first phase of the program, called induction, carbohydrate intake is restricted to 20 g a day, not including fiber. During subsequent phases, the allowed level of carbohydrates rises as you discover through slow, controlled trial and error the level of carbohydrates that can help you maintain your weight loss over the long term.
Fruits
Fruits tend to be high in sugars, a type of carbohydrate, so it can be difficult to know when and how to include them in a low-carbohydrate eating plan such as the Atkins Diet. However, fruits also contain plenty of fiber, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that act as essential nutrients and antioxidants in the body, so you don't want to give them up forever.
How to Include Fruit
The Atkins diet does completely restrict fruit during the induction phase, which lasts for the first two weeks of the program. During the second phase of the diet, you can start to include berries as long as you keep your total carbohydrate intake below your weekly threshold. This phase involves adding 5 g more of daily carbohydrates to your diet every week, or about 1/4 cup of blueberries. Strawberries, cantaloupe, raspberries, honeydew melon, lemon juice and lime juice are also allowed in the second phase of the Atkins Diet. During the third and fourth phases, fruits high in fiber such as apples, grapes, peaches and plums are allowed, as long as your total carbohydrate count remains below the allotted limits during those phases. Starchier fruits, such as bananas, may be higher in carbohydrates and won't fit into your diet until you reach a phase with a carbohydrate level high enough to allow them.
Considerations
While fruits are allowed on all phases past the induction phase, you should be careful to divide your allotted carbohydrate intake between fruits, vegetables, legumes and grains. Another common mistake people on the Atkins Diet make is to unnecessarily restrict carbohydrates below the level allotted in each phase. If you are looking for a healthy way to get your extra 5 g of carbohydrates a day that you should be adding in phase 2, for example, a handful of berries is a good way to get those carbohydrates and some needed fiber, phytonutrients and antioxidants as well.
Member Comments