Veggie Question

[rosie321]

Full disclosure: I have NOT read the book, but I'm hoping someone here can answer a quick question for me.

I absolutely love salad and eat one pretty much every day already. I'm kind of a purist and typically eat only lettuce and cucumber. From what I've read, you're only allowed to eat 3 cups of salad greens a day. 3-cups of iceberg lettuce is only 0.6 net carbs though.

So here's the question: as long as I'm staying within the 12-15 grams of carbs that can come from veggies, am I allowed to load up on lettuce? Where is that 3-cup minumum coming from?

Thanks for the help!

[Georgiana]

Originally Posted by rosie321

So here's the question: as long as I'm staying within the 12-15 grams of carbs that can come from veggies, am I allowed to load up on lettuce? Where is that 3-cup minumum coming from?

Dr. Atkins never mentioned a 12-15 g net carbs rule in his book. This is something that was added later by Atkins Nutritionals.

The rules in the book say:
1. Eat 3 cups of salad vegetables per day OR 2 cups of salad vegetables and 1 cup of "Other Vegetables".
2. Most of your net carbohydrates should come from vegetables.

So if you're eating only lettuce, 3 cups of it, and they add up to 0.6 net carbs, then you would have to eat a total of maximum 0.5 net carbs from other sources like eggs, cheese (1 oz = 1 net carb), cream, spices, avocado, olives, etc. This is one of the reasons why it is better to choose more nutritious vegetables, so that you are able to vary your menu by including other carb-containing foods. The other reason is that iceberg lettuce is very low in dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, which is not beneficial for your general health.