Atkins Diet Books

There are a number of Atkins Diet books available to help you follow the plan, and it can get confusing as to which ones you need to get started, and which ones can be used to enhance your experience when you progress to later stages of the Atkins lifestyle.

Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution

Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution is the essential Atkins reference -- if you can get only one book, this is the one to get. It explains the basic science behind the diet and gives the guidelines for following each stage. It also provides tips for difficult situations that may arise, and recipes for making Atkins-friendly dishes. A very helpful section of the book explains how to determine whether the Atkins Diet is right for you, with questionnaires and test-interpretation guidelines.

Dr. Atkins' New Diet Cookbook

Dr. Atkins' New Diet Cookbook is a perfect companion volume to Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution. The book summarizes the diet and offers sample menus along with the 175 pages of recipes. There are a number of recipes that offer an alternative to favourite foods that are not allowed on the Atkins Diet, including manicotti and gnocchi, cheesecake, and various pies and other desserts. And there are many recipes that will become new favourites, like "Cheesy Brussels Sprouts" and chocolate ice cream.

Dr. Atkins' Quick and Easy New Diet Cookbook

Dr. Atkins' Quick and Easy New Diet Cookbook addresses the frequent complaint of Atkins dieters that preparing friendly meals takes too much time. The meals and dishes features in this book can be prepared in thirty minutes or less. As in Dr. Atkins' New Diet Cookbook, there are both adaptations of old favourites and new recipes that are sure to become favourites. This cookbook presents a number of great sauces for dressing up low-carb dishes without adding sugar or other "forbidden foods."

Dr. Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution

Dr. Atkins' Vita-Nutrient Solution is the next step in Atkins dieting. Unlike the other selections, this volume does not teach you how to follow the diet. Its purpose is to teach you how to intelligently enhance your food intake with the best nutritional supplements available. More than 120 supplements are profiled in this book, with explanations of what each supplement is supposed to do, how one should determine the right dose, and what specific health problems each supplement may target. There are three parts to the book. Part 1 explains why nutritional supplementation is preferable (in most cases) to drug therapy. Part 2 profiles more than 120 vitamins, minerals, amino acids, fatty acids, digestive aids, "superfoods," unique vita-nutrients, cartilage building nutrients, hormones, and herbs that are used to improve health. Part 3 explains how to apply parts one and two to improve specific health problems. This is a very useful book, but it should be one of the last books you try to incorporate into your Atkins diet plan -- learning the basics of the diet should take precedence over supplementation.

Atkins for Life

Atkins for Life is one of the newest books. Part one explains the basics of the plan and addresses some of the more common misconceptions. (Yes, you can eat carbs on the Atkins Diet!) It also recommends exercise as a part of the weight-loss journey, a component missing from previous material. Part two of Atkins for Life explains how to plan your kitchen and your meal plans so that you get the most out of your low-carb experience. This section offers meals plans for various levels of the maintenance phase, from 45g to 100g of daily carbohydrate intake. It also provides special occasion menus and 125 recipes. This book is the last Atkins book you will need, as it is designed to help those who have completed their weight loss and are ready to adjust to lifetime maintenance of their weight and health.

Other Low Carb Books

While the Atkins plan is the progenitor of the modern low-carb diet, it is not the only plan out there. Just about any cookbook or weight loss plan that calls itself "low-carb" will have something to contribute to the Atkins dieter. Any cookbook that provides carbohydrate counts can be a useful reference. The most crucial reference, however, is a good carb counter. Many different carb-counter books are available, including one published by Atkins Nutritionals. The best carb counter on the market, however, is Corinne Netzer's The Complete Book of Food Counts. It includes comprehensive nutritional information for various sizes and preparations of common foods, even fast foods and frozen dinners.