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The New Atkins for a New You Diet
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The New Atkins for a New You Diet: What You Can Eat continued...
Instead of counting total carbs on this diet, you count "net carbs," which you compute by subtracting the grams of fiber from the grams of carbs. Net carbs are the important number, the book says, because fiber doesn’t affect blood sugar levels.
Initially, most carbs in this diet come from high-fiber vegetables (you eat 2 cups cooked non-starchy vegetables plus 6 cups of leafy greens per day).In later phases, you can gradually increase net carbs from a list that includes low-sugar fruits, tomato juice, high-carb vegetables, and legumes.
Forbidden on the New Atkins for a New You diet are most grains, dried fruits, foods with added sugar, refined carbs, juices, most snacks and sweets. Carb-free snacks, like pork rinds, are allowed.
Dieters avoid alcohol during the first phase, but a cocktail (without juice or sweetened mixers) or glass of wine can be added in later phases.
The book recommends taking a daily multivitamin and mineral with an omega-3 fatty acid supplement.
The New Atkins for a New You Diet: How It Works
The plan has four phases -- induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance, and lifetime maintenance. Dieters' intake of fats and protein remains relatively steady during all these phases. But carb intakes vary from a low of 20 grams per day during induction to roughly 70 grams in the final phases.
Most dieters will follow the induction phase -- the most restrictive -- for at least two weeks. (You can skip this phase if you don’t have much weight to lose.)
As carbs are slowly increased in the later phases, dieters use their weight, energy level, and the absence or presence of cravings to determine whether they're at the right carb threshold.
The book suggests that women get 1,500-1,800 calories per day and men 1,800-2,200 calories. Eating too much protein and fat could lead to excess calorie intake and thwart weight loss.
Dieters are urged to drink plenty of fluids because a low-carb diet acts like a diuretic, releasing cellular fluids that contain the essential minerals sodium and potassium.
No exercise is required, at least initially. Since your body will be adapting to burning fat for fuel, the authors suggest you wait to engage in regular physical activity until the later phases.
And during the adaptation to fat burning, the book warns, you should be prepared for unpleasant symptoms such as tiredness, leg cramps, and weakness.
The New Atkins for a New You Diet: What the Experts Say
The new Atkins diet's warnings of dizziness, tiredness, leg cramps, and more should be a red flag, says American Dietetic Association spokesperson Joan Salge Blake, MS, RD.
Protein and high-fiber vegetables are important components of any healthy weight loss plan, she says, but eliminating healthy carbs goes against a wealth of scientific evidence.
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