Hi folks,
In the book I have, Atkins is vague about whether you can eat the Atkins brand low-carbohydrate products during induction. Does anyone know whether it’s permitted, say, to drink an Atkins shake during induction? I can’t be eating hunks of chicken while I’m teaching, and at presents I eat almonds when my blood sugar dips, which won’t work if I decide to try Atkins.
Thanks.
In the book I have,
I think the book went through a couple revisions, so you probably have the new one. Supposedly, after the Good Doctor smacked his head a little too hard on the ground, the people who owned the rights to his name started manufacturing Stuff.
Atkins is vague about whether you can eat the Atkins brand low-carbohydrate products during induction.
Of course you want to eat low-carb. It’s just HOW do you want to do it. All the Endive, Nutri-Whack, No-Carbs-At-All bars have tons of carbs in them. It’s in the form of sugar alcohols. Supposedly, this stuff won’t affect your blood sugar, which is good, but counts as carbs, which is bad. One bar with 25 grams of sugar alcohols is 5-10 grams OVER the induction limit just by itself. Not good. Splenda, by the way, counts for one gram of carbs. Imagine drinking tea with real heavy cream and a packet of Splenda for sweetness. It’s amazing, and you can have 25 of these, or one bar of Whatever.
I used to eat these bars on induction, but I’d make one bar stretch for a week.
Does anyone know whether it’s permitted, say, to drink an Atkins shake during induction?
Depends on the version of the book.
I can’t be eating hunks of chicken while I’m teaching, and at presents I eat almonds when my blood sugar dips, which won’t work if I decide to try Atkins.
My experience with Atkins is that I didn’t really feel like snacking at all. If anything, after I ate, I didn’t even want to look at food again for a while. I had to kind of force myself to sit back down and eat again.
I’m also down ~20 lbs in 2 months. I know other people who have had greater success than I have had, but I’m not in a race.
Best of luck!
A long time Atkid checking in hear. At one time the good Dr. said stay away from sugar alchols, then his line of products came out, which containd those S.A., then he started saying they were OK. Hmmmm, Add to that that I heard him say several times that those products are not good for induction. So it appears no, but you can check it your self w/ ketosticks.
Yes, I see on their website that they allow their products during induction but suggest sticking to one a day.
I would definitely stay away from the sugar alcohol and maltitol based candy snacks; they seem to affect ketosis equivalently with real sugar, in my experience; however, the shakes seem more on the level and I’ve enver seen a problem with them, especially if you make sure to bulk out your fat intake when possible.
This is all quite fascinating for me. I usually only test my blood sugar after dinner, but I may try some experiments to see what effect the different Atkins and other low-carbohydrate products have on my metabolism.
I was a bit shaky earlier today but that seems to have passed, and I’m looking forward to chicken sauteed in herbed butter with a side of 7/8 cup of snow peas tonight.
While the latest versionf of Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution says you can have shakes during Induction, I personally think it’s a bad idea.
One of the main points of induction is to “clean” yourself up and get ready for a life without sugar. For many many many people, one little taste of sweetness brings on cravings which they can’t control. Induction really helps in suppressing these cravings because your metabolism starts to change and you aren’t eating the carbs that make you want more carbs.
As for sugar alcohols, they’re a tricky thing. Most bars advertise their products as having very few carbs - subtracting all the sugar alcohols. But SAs effect everyone in different ways. And all the different SAs effect you differently, too. Some folks have been able to determine how much % of each SA count they have to “count” - say for one person they count 1 carb for every grams of SA or others dont’ have to count any.
What I’ve been told about SAs is that the more they upset your stomach, the less they’re being absorbed into the bloodstream. If they really don’t upset your stomach, then you are being affected more by them. So it’s a lose-lose situation.
FWIW I did not do the shakes on Induction, but I do them now on occasion. Lots of people report that the bars and shakes will stall their weight loss.
I suggest for you to not have the bars and shakes for at least 2 weeks. Then if you feel you need them, try only having them in moderation. Or try making your own shakes with protein powder and Splenda to take to work.
There’s lots of ways to eat “on the go” with Atkins.
Oh, and in regards to nuts - yeah, they’re not allowed on Induction but they are encouraged when in Phase 2, Ongoing Weightloss. High in fiber, high in fat an high in protein.
Here’s an article on sugar alcohols for you
Here’s a forum to poke around for more tips on doing Atkins
Good luck to you, whatever you decide to do!
Shoshana, a little bit of a hijack, cuz you may already know that I don’t really do Atkins, per se, but do have a snack suggestion for you (safe for school). My groccery store now carries, in the dairy section, poly bags that are filled with little pouches of cheese cubes. Probably 1 and 1/2 oz. of cheese per pouch. I know that you are allowed up to 2 oz. per day on Atkins. This cheese is hideously overpriced, if you compare the price-per-pound to block cheese; but it comes in more flavors than string cheese, which is usually just mozzarella. Also, the cost would be worth it, perhaps, just to have it prepared, pre-measured and pre-packaged. A couple more induction-friendly, easily transportable snacks are Slim Jims and bacon bits (they come in poly bags; look for them near salad dressings. Make sure you get the real bacon, though, and not the bac-o’s which may or may not be Atkin’s-friendly, but are just gross tasting).
Good luck!