big problems with new Atkins (?) book two week induction phase menus

[bannock_powered]

Hi Folks,

Have any of you seen the new Atkins book (Trager, Stuart and Collette Heimowitz 'The All New Atkins Advantage')? I picked it up at Costco the other day. The reason i started this thread is that i'm (again) slightly confused - in its menu plan for the 14 day induction phase, the authors allow all kinds of (supposed) no-nos, not recommended in Dr. Atkin's 'New Diet Revolution'. I looked for any threads on this but couldn't find any.

To give you a better idea of what I'm talking about, here's a day 3 breakfast menu for the induction phase:

'1 slice Rye toast topped with 2 slices lox and 2 tablespoons cream cheese'

or a day 4 breakfast menu: '2 scrambled eggs, 1 slice rye toast, 2 slices bacon'

this book appears to have the support of the Atkins foundation (for example, they thank Dr. Atkins' wife in their acknowledgments) but their menus seem to contradict directly the Atkins 14 day induction.

does anyone have any insight on this?

Chris

[DigitalMocking]

Diets change, this one isn't DANDR, it's kind of a cross between zone, low GI and Atkins.

[sallyseachange]

I'd say stick with DANDR 2002 edition and the advice you get on this board. Anything that came after Dr A's death has been meddled with.

[IrishIrish]

This is my opinion.

DANDR was penned by Dr. Atkins. His knowledge was gained through is practice of medicine, having seen overweight and cardiac impaired patients. In DANDR, Dr. Atkins only marginally refers to commercially prepared low carb products. Soon after his death, there was a fight within the Atkins "empire" as "low carb products" saturated the marketplace. The fight was serious enough that it split the Atkins organization.

Dr. Atkins discussed shopping the perimeter of the grocery store for veggies, fish, meat and limited dairy and avoiding the inner aisles where processed foods and carbs are sold. Those of us that continue to avoid the newer twists of the Atkins money making organization continue to avoid frankenfoods.

[kate58]

I absolutely agree with IrishIrish, stick with what Dr A himself said.

That man was pilloried by the medical, nutritional, dietetic and scientic community for years. But he stood his ground, never wavered and continued to use what he knew from his medical practice worked to make adjustments to the diet. He was evangelical about it - he wanted EVERYONE to know. Sure he sold gazillions of books and made a lot of money doing it, but he never sold them by compromising his message to shift product.

In the face of those critisisms, which still continue, the Atkins company's primary focus seems to be to keep sales of their products up and thus they want to formulate some kind of a pseudo-Atkins diet that will gain wider acceptance among the critics, because that will let them sell more stuff. I bet their marketing people had just as much input into this book as any medical or nutritional staff.

I hate this happening. There are about 15 carbs in a slice of rye bread - ON INDUCTION. It just makes a mockery of all Dr A's work, he must be turning in his grave.

I haven't seen this book - don't know if it's out here even - but I'd be interested to know how central a place Atkins products play in the menus. I think I probably already know the answer.

[Lorgakor]

How can they still call it the Atkins diet? Having bread on induction changes the whole thing. I mean grain is the LAST rung! It makes no sense to me. I certainly woulnd't follow it. What kind of changes were made to other parts I wonder, like the OWL rungs?

[SugarFreeSheila]

If an Atkins book was written and published years after the man's April 2003 death ... don't buy it!

[Debi2007]

I was so happy to finally see the Atkins book at the library. I haven't read it yet, so I checked it out. It is the new book. It is interesting to see that during the description of the induction phase they list exactly what Dr. Atkins did on his website for foods. However, the last paragraph of the description has a paragraph about "Convenience Foods." It does say to eat primarily of unprocessed foods but that there are more and more companies creating healthy products that can be eaten during induction. These products are not mentioned, however, in the two weeks of Atkins induction menu samples they list things like: Atkins Advantage Bars, low carb dressing, Toast, waffles (made from special mix), sugar free pancake syrup, reduced carb milk.. and so on. There are many things listed that are actually not induction friendly according to the original Atkins book. There are rye breads that actually only have 4 carbs, but it doesn't list which brands. A person would really have to be paying attention.

The other thing I noticed immediately is that they say in the induction rules to limit your carbs to "approximately" 20 per day. So, the sample menus range from 19 - 22 carbs daily for the first two weeks.

I am taking the book back to the library. I didn't even get past the induction chapter because I didn't want to throw myself off track. I suppose like any diet, it will work for some people. I just like staying with the original and the one that has give all the wonderful people on this site so much success.

[Debi2007]

I still have this new book, using while I wait for my other book to arrive. I noticed that they changed the carbohydrate ladder. In the new book, they took out the dairy and the wine rungs completely. There are only 7 rungs in the same order, just without those two. I just wanted to mention that.

[not2late]

Dr. Atkins took the alcohol rung out of OWL in the last book he published
Atkins for Life. He said that he noticed people were using their carbs for booze rather than for healthful foods like veggies, fruits, nuts, legumes and grains.

The only thing I can guess about them removing the dairy rung is to make Atkins more "low fat"---dairy products are relatively high in fat.