Atkins Diet Food List

When you start a new diet, you need to know what foods to eat. The following Atkins Diet food list will help you choose the best foods for following the Atkins plan from induction level through maintenance.

Why an Atkins Diet Food List?

Too many people have the misconception that the Atkins Diet is a no-carbohydrate, high-protein, high-fat, free-for-all. It isn't. What the Atkins Diet does is teach you to eat the kind of carbs that your body processes most efficiently --- plant-based carbs. From day one, ample carbohydrates are allowed in the form of vegetables, which are one of the basic foods for a healthy diet. The Atkins Diet food list, therefore, is necessary to dispel the myths and help low-carb dieters find the best possible nutrition, while they use the Atkins plan to pursue their goal weight.

Free Foods

The following foods may be eaten without concern for quantity -- eat until you are satisfied:

• Meat: all unprocessed meats, including beef, pork, lamb, veal, mutton, venison, and ham. Bacon is allowed if it is not processed with sugar; if nitrite-free bacon is available, it is preferable.
• Poultry: any unprocessed poultry, including chicken, turkey, goose, duck, cornish hens, pheasant, quail, ostrich, or emu.
• Fish: all unprocessed fish, including tuna, salmon, catfish, trout, snapper, sole, sardines, herring, and any other fish.
• Shellfish: any unprocessed shellfish, including oysters, clams, crab, shrimp, calamari, lobster, mussels, and scallops. Imitation crab or other imitation shellfish products are forbidden.
• Eggs: any real eggs are allowed, including chicken, duck, quail, or goose.

Vegetables

Dr. Atkins New Diet Revolution divides vegetables into two groups: salad vegetables and other vegetables.

• Salad Vegetables: Any lettuce, including iceberg, romaine, Bibb, escarole, mache, raddichio, arugula, and endive. In addition to the lettuces, leafy herbs (such as dill, thyme, basil, oregano, and cilantro) and many other vegetables are listed as "salad vegetables." These other vegetables include bok choy, chives, cucumber, fennel (anise), parsley, celery, peppers (hot or sweet), radishes, daikon, sprouts, mushrooms, olives, and jicama are all considered salad vegetables.
• Other Vegetables: Among the other vegetables allowed on the Atkins plan are asparagus, cabbage, cauliflower, eggplant, kale, kohlrabi, tomatoes, onions, summer squashes (yellow, pattypan, and zucchini), okra, turnips, avocado, brussels sprouts, leafy greens (mustard, turnip, beet, collards,) broccoli, celeriac, and artichokes. In fact, just about any vegetable you might wish to eat is permitted, with the exception of corn, potatoes, green (English) peas, and other sweet or starchy vegetables.

Fats

Most fats are allowed. Cold-pressed vegetable oils are preferred, and it is important to include some source of omega-3 fatty acids, such as linseed oil or salmon. Butter is allowed; margarine is not. Olive oil, nut oils, seed oils, and vegetable oils are all permitted. You may eat (or use for cooking) any fat that is part of your meat.

Dairy

Most dairy products are permitted, but they should be full-fat and as low in carbohydrate as possible. Yoghurt is not permitted, and cheese (a free food during the two-week induction phase) should be limited to one or two ounces per day.

• Cheese: full-fat cow, goat, or sheep's milk cheeses, as well as soy cheese, are permitted, and they may be either hard or soft cheeses. No diet cheeses, cheese spreads, processed cheese food, or whey cheese.
• Other Dairy: heavy cream, light cream, sour cream, butter.

Condiments and Spices

It is important to be very careful when choosing your condiments while following the Atkins plan. Sugar in any form is expressly forbidden, and most people are surprised to learn how many of their favourite condiments, dressings, and spice blends contain some form of sugar. For this reason, most salad dressings are not permissible on the plan, unless you make your own from scratch. The Atkins Diet food list includes the following:

• Salad dressings: oil and vinegar, olive oil and lemon juice, or sour cream may be used. If using bottled dressings, ensure that they do not contain any form of sugar.
• Spices: any individual spice may be used, with the exception of sugar. If using spice blends, avoid those containing any form of sugar or maltodextrin.
• Other condiments: sugar-free versions of mayonnaise, ketchup, and soy sauce are permitted. Sour cream is allowed, but yoghurt is not.

Beverages

You can drink a wide variety of beverages while following the Atkins program. The two taboos for this category are sugar in any form, and caffiene.

• Water, sparkling or still
• No-calorie flavoured seltzer
• Decaffeinated coffee, tea, and diet soda
• Cream, but not milk
• Club soda
• Herbal tea
• Bouillion
• Lemon or lime juice, but no other fruit juices

Sweeteners

Any artificial, non-sugar sweetener is permitted on the Atkins Diet food list. Some of the possibilities include sucralose (Splenda), aspartame (Equal}, saccharine (Sweet 'n' Low), and acesulfame potassium (or ace-K, usually found in conjunction with another artificial sweetener). If you prefer a natural sweetener, you may use Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) -- an herb that is intensely sweet and is available both processed and unprocessed, in bulk and in packets, in most health food stores.

Sweeteners to avoid include all of the sugar alcohols (mannitol, sorbitol), natural sugars (fructose, sucrose, maltose, dextrose, glucose), and such things as honey or corn syrup.

Related Diet Links

• Basics of the Atkins Diet
• Atkins Diet Tips
• Atkins Diet Menus
• Atkins Diet Pros and Cons
• Eating a Healthy Diet: Fats and Oils
• Eating a Healthy Diet: Water

• Summer Snacks
• Diabetic Snacks
• 10 Healthiest Foods
• Fast Food Statistics
• Healthy Food Myths Quiz

• The Lemonade Diet
• Weight Watchers Points Calculators
• Weight Watchers Points
• 1200 Calorie Menus
• Weight Watchers Restaurant Points