The New Atkins Made Easy (6 page)

Packaged food labels don't make it easy for you to judge whether the sugar in a product is added or naturally occurring. You can distinguish whether a product has naturally occurring sugar, added sugar, or both. But when it contains both kinds, there's no way to know how much of each, as this example shows.

1. The Nutrition Facts panel lists the number of grams of sugar in a serving. In the case of a 6-ounce container of Dannon Fruit on the Bottom Mixed Berry Yogurt, which is made with low-fat milk, the label lists 27 grams of sugar.

2. When you look at the list of ingredients, you'll see that the first ingredient is low-fat milk, which contains naturally occurring sugars. But, tellingly, fructose syrup and sugar are listed before blueberries, which is followed by high-fructose corn syrup. Ingredients are listed in order of highest content, meaning there are more of these two added sugars than a key fruit.

3. So we've learned that there are lots of added sugars in this supposedly nutritious food, but we have no way to quantify the added sugar as opposed to the naturally occurring sugar.

This single example makes a strong case for having the Nutrition Facts panel distinguish between the two kinds of sugar.

Now let's preview the delectable foods you get to eat in Phase 1 (Kick-Start), along with a few to avoid. Rather than overwhelm you with the hundreds of vegetables and dozens of cheeses, for example, I've listed just a few common ones here. For more extensive lists, and for serving sizes complete with grams of Net Carbs, download the Atkins Carb Counter, which includes Acceptable Food Lists at
atkins.com
or use the mobile app.

• All fish, whether fresh, frozen, canned, or vacuum packed . . . except:

- Anything deep-fried, stuffed, breaded, battered, or coated in flour

- Pickled or creamed herring that contains added sugar

• Shellfish, including crab, oysters, shrimp, and clams . . . except:

- Anything deep-fried, breaded, battered, or coated in flour

- And limit oysters and mussels, which contain carbs

• All poultry . . . except:

- Chicken nuggets, breaded cutlets, or anything that has been deep-fried, stuffed, breaded, battered, or coated in flour

- Chicken or turkey sausages that contain fillers or other high-carb ingredients

• Beef, lamb, pork, and all other meats, including game . . . except:

- Products that contain fillers and/or added sugar, including hot dogs,
^I
sausage,
^I
salami,
^I
and bologna
^I

- Meatballs, meatloaf, Salisbury steak, and anything stuffed with bread crumbs

• Eggs prepared in any fashion (each egg contains 0.6 gram of Net Carbs)

No need to count carbs here. Oils are one of the few foods that contain just a single macronutrient: fat! A typical serving size is 1 tablespoon. Choose from among:

• Butter, stick or whipped

• Canola oil

• Coconut oil

• Flaxseed oil

• Grapeseed oil

• Mayonnaise
^II

• Olive oil

• High-oleic safflower oil

• Sesame oil

Most cheeses contain less than 1 gram of Net Carbs per ounce and are fine in this phase, with the exception of cottage cheese and ricotta, which you'll be able to add in Phase 2. Don't exceed 4 ounces a day, the
equivalent of four individually wrapped slices or cubes the size of large dice. A tablespoon or two of any grated cheese contains a negligible amount of carbs. Select whole-milk products. Avoid low-fat cheeses, “diet” cheese, “cheese products” such as Velveeta and Cheez Whiz, and whey cheese and any cheese flavored with fruit. Common cheeses are listed below. Consult the Atkins Carb Counter for a more extensive list.

• Blue cheese

• Brie

• Cheddar or Colby

• Cream cheese, full-fat or plain

• Feta

• Goat (chèvre)

• Gouda

• Havarti

• Jarlsberg

• Laughing Cow

• Mozzarella, whole-milk

• Parmesan

• Romano

• String

Feel free to use up to 1
¹
/
₂
ounces daily or a total of 2–3 tablespoons sour cream, unsweetened whipped cream, and liquid cream or half-and-half in your coffee or tea. Most so-called creamers are full of sugar or high-fructose corn syrup, and all too often they contain unhealthy trans fats as well. However, we've found a few unsweetened nondairy “creamers” without these problematic ingredients. A tablespoon of each contains no more than 1 gram of Net Carbs. See the Atkins Carb Counter for more details.

• Heavy cream, liquid or whipped

• Light cream

• Half-and-half

• Sour cream, full-fat

• Unsweetened or Sugar-Free MimicCreme Almond & Cashew Creme

• Unsweetened Original So Delicious Coconut Milk “Creamer”

Milk is off the menu for the time being, but you can have a cup of several different milk substitutes at 1–2 grams of Net Carbs. All should be plain (unflavored) and sugar free:

• Almond milk

• Coconut milk beverage (not canned coconut milk)

• Soy milk

There is a wealth of veggies acceptable in Phase 1, but we'll keep the list to a minimum for simplicity's sake. They include salad greens and other salad fixings, as well as vegetables that are typically cooked. Your daily minimum of 12–15 grams of Net Carbs translates to about 6 cups leafy greens and 2 cups cooked veggies. (If you're not sure how to get all those veggies in, see the meal plans in the following chapters.) Try to have both types each day, but have more salad veggies and cut back on cooked ones if you prefer. Frozen veggies are fine.

SALAD VEGETABLES 
A cup of each of the following raw salad greens comes in at less than 1 gram of Net Carbs:

• Arugula

• Cabbage

• Endive

• Lettuce, all types

• Spinach

• Sprouts, all kinds

• Watercress

OTHER SALAD VEGETABLES 
These are usually slightly higher in carbs. Consult the Atkins Carb Counter for more details on serving sizes and carb counts.

• Hass avocados (the dark green or black ones)

• Bamboo shoots, canned

• Bell peppers, any color

• Celery

• Cucumber

• Mushrooms

• Olives, black or green

• Onions

• Pickles, dill or sour

• Radishes, daikon

• Scallions

• Tomatoes

VEGETABLES TYPICALLY COOKED 
Half a cup of the following cooked veggies contain no more than 3 grams of Net Carbs. (Be sure to measure them after cooking rather than before.) Those with an asterisk have considerably less.

• Asparagus

• Broccoli

• Cauliflower*

• Chard*

• Eggplant

• Green beans

• Kale

• Mushrooms

• Okra

• Sauerkraut*

• Spaghetti squash

• Spinach*

• Zucchini and other summer squash*

• Turnips

Water can be bottled, filtered, mineral, spring, sparkling, or from the tap. Jazz up H
₂
O with a couple of tablespoons of lemon and/or lime juice, if you wish. Most vitamin waters are full of added sugar (see “The Scoop on Sugar: Multiple Aliases” on page 70), but a few brands with acceptable sweeteners have zero grams of carbs. Ditto for canned or bottled iced teas, but always check the Nutrition Facts panel to uncover any added sugar. You can also have hot cocoa mixes sweetened with noncaloric sweeteners and mixed with water (and a splash of cream) instead of milk.

• Coffee (caffeinated or decaf, hot or iced) and espresso

• Tea (caffeinated or decaf); sugar-free iced tea (brewed, bottled, or canned)

• Herb teas without added sugar

• Club soda and seltzer (plain and flavored)

• Diet cola, ginger ale, root beer, birch beer, and other sodas

• Sugar-free fruit refreshers

• Sugar-free tonic

• Sugar-free beverage mixes such as Kool-Aid, Crystal Light, and True Lemon

Such flavor enhancers give zest to meals. All fresh herbs are acceptable in this phase and contain virtually no carbs. So are small amounts of dried herbs, including basil, bay leaves, chives, coriander, cumin, oregano, rosemary, thyme, and others, plus salt and pepper. Most spices and spice mixes such as chili powder, curry powder, and crab/shrimp boil mix are fine, but avoid spice mixes that contain added sugar. Again, this list gives just a small taste of the condiments and seasonings you can use in Induction.

• Bacon pieces

• Celery salt

• Chile peppers

• Garlic

• Ginger root

• Italian seasoning

• Lemon or orange peel, grated

• Paprika

• Red pepper flakes

• Liquid Smoke

• Mrs. Dash

• Mustard (without added sugar)

• Poultry seasoning

• Spike

This category is a bit of a minefield. While one brand of, say, barbecue sauce may be made without sugar, another may be swimming in it. Check the Nutrition Facts panel carefully for added sugars as well as flour and other starches. In cases where the range of carbs can be significant, we've listed acceptable brands (which are often specialty
products sweetened with sucralose, stevia, or xylitol). A tablespoon of any of these sauces should not contain more than 1 gram of Net Carbs.

• Alfredo sauce

• Barbecue sauce (Hallman's or Walden Farms)

• Buffalo chicken wing sauce (Beano's)

• Cocktail/seafood sauce (Walden Farms)

• Enchilada sauce (Las Palmas)

• Fish sauce

• Garlic sauce

• Horseradish sauce

• Hot sauce (Tabasco)

• Salsa

• Taco sauce, green or red

• Ketchup (Walden Farms)

• Pesto sauce

• Pasta or pizza sauce (Rao's Sensitive Formula Marinara Sauce, Walden Farms)

• Sofrito

• Soy sauce or tamari (San-J tamari, Seal Sama sugar-free)

• Steak sauce and marinade (Trinity Hill)

Tomato sauce, canned or stewed tomatoes, tomato puree, and tomato paste are all acceptable in Induction, as long as they contain no added sugar. Muir Glen is one such brand.

Any prepared salad dressing without added sugar and no more than 3 grams of Net Carbs per 2-tablespoon serving is acceptable. A lower-carb option is to make your own vinaigrette with olive oil plus either vinegar, lemon juice, or lime juice.

• Blue cheese

• Caesar

• Italian

• Ranch

• Vinaigrette

You can also have up to 2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice a day.

Count each packet as 1 gram of Net Carbs, and consume no more than three per day. Although the sweeteners themselves contain no carbs, the powdered agent that keeps them from clumping has a small amount.