What Food Can I Eat on the Atkin's Diet?

What food can I eat on the Atkin’s Diet? Well, the Atkin’s Diet is based on a low-carbohydrate, high-fat and protein diet. Most dieters think that they must cut out carbohydrates completely, but this is not the case. Your body uses carbohydrates as fuel and without them your body is left feeling tired. The Atkin’s Diet is set up where the dieter eats the carbohydrates that can be burned more efficiently. This guide will give an overview of what a person can and can not eat on the Atkin’s Diet.

Free Foods

The Atkin’s Diet calls the foods in this section, “free foods” meaning that you can eat as much of them as you want, until your hunger is satisfied. This section of the diet mostly includes meat, poultry, shellfish, eggs and fish. You do not want to include meats that have a high fat content, you will get most of the fat you need from your dairy portions. This is not heart healthy and where many dieters go wrong. All diets should stick to a health regimen and followed with a doctor’s supervision. As long as the meat is unprocessed and does not contain sugar, it is allowed on the diet.

Vegetables

The Atkin’s Diet put vegetables into two different food groups, salad vegetables and other vegetables. The salad vegetables include any type of lettuce and most vegetables that you would put on your salad such as cumbers, peppers, chives, radishes, sprouts, mushrooms, and olives. The other vegetables group includes every other vegetable you can imagine. There are only a few vegetables that you can not eat on the Atkin’s Diet and these include: starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn and peas.

Dairy

When including dairy in the Atkin’s Diet, you must follow a certain regimen. Your dairies must be full-fat and low in carbohydrates. All types of full fat cheeses are allowed but are limited to a two ounce per day limit. All heavy and light creams, sour cream and butter are allowed on the diet. The only type of dairy that is not permitted on the diet includes any type of low fat, diet, yogurt or processed type of dairy.

Beverages

There are a wide variety of beverages that are allowed on the Atkin’s Diet. Most beverages are permitted as long as they do not have caffeine or sugar. You can not have milk or any type of juice, unless it is an all natural lemon or lime juice.

Condiments

The condiment portion of the Atkin’s Diet includes your salad dressings, spices, and miscellaneous condiments. Most store bought dressings are not permitted but you can make your own. Oil, vinegar, olive oil, and sour cream can be used to make your salad dressings. All spices can be used on the diet as long as they do not contain sugar. Ketchup, mayonnaise and soy sauce can be used if they are sugar-free versions.

References

Atkins: Atkin’s Diet Program - www.atkins.com/diet_program