The New Atkins for a New You Cookbook: 200 Simple and Delicious Low-Carb Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less (Volume 2) - Softcover

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As vice president of nutrition and education, Colette Heimowitz is the driving force for nutrition information at Atkins Nutritionals, Inc. She is the nutritionist face to the Atkins Community, which is dedicated to helping people reach their weight management goals. As part of this initiative, she publishes a weekly nutritionist blog, creates content devoted to educating new members about the program, and stays up to date on emerging research on human nutrition. Colette has been a guest on radio programs nationwide, as well as on television networks including CNN, Fox News, and MSNBC. She has more than twenty-five years of experience as a nutritionist and received her MSc in clinical nutrition from Hunter College of the City University of New York.

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New Atkins for a New You Cookbook

Chapter 1

A BRIEF LOOK AT THE NEW ATKINS DIET

In a nutshell, the New Atkins Diet adheres to the underlying principles that Dr. Robert C. Atkins set forth four decades ago but includes modifications that allow for greater flexibility. Some of these subtle but substantial shifts are simply the result of a greater understanding of human metabolism and food science. For example, now that we understand that fiber doesn’t significantly impact blood sugar levels, it means that you can eat lots more high-fiber veggies than Dr. Atkins originally allowed.

As the sales of The New Atkins for a New You evidence, even forty years after Dr. Atkins introduced his diet, interest in his low-carb diet remains high. Moreover, many individuals who don’t follow the program per se do watch their carbs. (If you’re one of those people, this book’s for you, too.) People also increasingly understand that going on any quickie diet to lose 10, 20, or even 100 pounds and then returning to their earlier way of eating won’t result in permanent weight management. Only by adopting lifestyle changes, including a regular exercise program, is it possible to maintain weight loss.

Meanwhile, there’s also greater understanding on the part of the medical, nutrition, and research communities that the causes of obesity are more nuanced than once assumed. Most health professionals have slowly but surely come to understand that being overweight is not just a matter of overconsuming calories. It’s now widely acknowledged that it’s not just the quantity but also the quality of the food we eat that has played a major role in the obesity epidemic of the last several decades.

THE MEANING OF THE WORD DIET

Atkins is a diet in the primary sense of the word: a way of eating. It’s also a healthy way of eating. A large body of scientific research now associates heavy intake of sugar, white flour, and other refined carbohydrates with an increased risk for high triglyceride levels, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels, and elevated blood pressure. These markers play a large role in increasing the risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and other disease conditions. In fact, more than sixty studies support the principles upon which the Atkins Diet rests. We’ll look at what’s new about Atkins shortly, but first let’s look at how burning fat, including your own body fat, for energy continues to be the governing principle of the Atkins Diet.

ATKINS BASICS

If this is your first exposure to the Atkins Diet, here’s a quick snapshot of how it works. Your body burns both carbohydrate and fat—both, along with protein, known as macronutrients—as fuel for energy. Most people instinctively understand what fat and protein are and which foods contain them, but carbohydrates are a bit more elusive. They’re found not just in grains, cereals, pasta, bread and other baked goods, and potatoes, but also in leafy greens and other vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, legumes, and dairy products. (Most of these foods also contain fat and/or protein as well.) As long as you eat the typical high-carb American diet, your body never gets much of a chance to burn its fat stores for energy.

SWITCHING TO FAT BURNING

Just as a Prius can run on either its electric battery or gasoline, your body can use either fat or carbohydrate as fuel. When you sufficiently reduce the total amount of carbs you consume and focus on vegetables and other such fiber-rich foods as nuts, seeds, and berries, your body shifts to burning primarily fat, including the stores of fat on your belly, hips, thighs, or buttocks. Adequate protein, which makes you feel full, as does fiber, is also essential. The result of eating this way: unwanted pounds and inches melt away.

When you reduce your carb intake and your body is running on a mostly fat metabolism, it’s fine to have olive oil, avocados, olives, and other natural fats (as opposed to the chemically altered trans fats found in hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils). That’s why our recipes call for butter, not margarine (some margarines still contain trace amounts of trans fats) or shortening. Natural fats also contribute to feeling pleasantly full. When you do Atkins, you watch your carbs but don’t have to count calories. (The nutritional data that accompany each recipe do include calories. Note that grams of carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber have been rounded off to the nearest whole number.) With such satisfying meals and equally tasty snacks, most people find they aren’t overly hungry when mealtime rolls around, enabling them to control their appetite—and ultimately their weight.

NO MORE BLOOD SUGAR ROLLER COASTER

As legions of failed dieters know, when your appetite is stimulated, it’s very hard to ignore the messages your brain (and tummy) are beaming out. That’s where blood sugar control comes in. When you moderate your carb intake, eat high-fiber, nutrient-dense carbs, consume sufficient protein (which is satiating), and have a meal or snack every three or four waking hours, your blood sugar stays on an even keel—and with it your appetite. In contrast, when you skimp on fat and protein and fill up on carbohydrates—which quickly convert to glucose (sugar) in your bloodstream—your blood sugar level rises quickly. Then a few hours later, it plummets as you run low on fuel, making you hungry, jittery, or sleepy—and craving another fix of high-carb foods. We call this the blood sugar roller coaster. It’s almost impossible to control your appetite when your blood sugar is careening up and down. Doing Atkins almost immediately puts the blood sugar roller coaster out of business.

A FOUR-PHASE PROGRAM

The Atkins Diet is designed to allow you to transition from a relatively restrictive eating program to an increasingly liberal one. The first two phases are designed for weight loss; the third is initially for weight loss and then becomes a dress rehearsal for Phase 4, which is all about weight maintenance. By gradually introducing more grams of carbohydrate while simultaneously broadening the array of carbohydrate foods, you stay in control of your intake, learn to identify foods you have trouble eating in moderation, and ultimately segue into a permanent, sustainable way of eating—a diet for life. Let’s take a brief look at the four phases.

WHAT ARE NET CARBS?

The only carbs that matter when you do Atkins are Net Carbs, aka digestible carbs or non-impact carbs. In whole foods, such as vegetables, fruits, or cheese, you simply subtract the number of grams of dietary fiber in the food from the total number of carbohydrate grams to get the grams of Net Carbs. Why discount fiber? Although it’s considered a carbohydrate, fiber doesn’t impact your blood sugar level the way most carbohydrates do. Let’s do the numbers: ½ cup of steamed green beans contains 4.9 grams of carbs, of which 2.0 grams are fiber, so subtract 2.0 from 4.9 and you get 2.9 grams of Net Carbs. Here’s an even more dramatic example: 1 cup of romaine lettuce contains 1.4 grams of carbs, but more than half the carbs (1.0 gram) are fiber, for a Net Carb count of 0.4 gram. With packaged foods, simply check the Nutrition Facts panel and again subtract fiber grams from total carb grams to get the Net Carbs. Low-carb products, such as sugar-free chocolate, may use sugar alcohols as sweeteners. Moderate portions of sugar alcohols, including glycerin, don’t...