by Westman, Dr. Eric C. ; Phinney, Dr. Stephen D. ; Volek, Dr. Jeff S.
THE NEW ATKINS FOR A NEW YOU
The ULTIMATE DIET for SHEDDING WEIGHT
and FEELING GREAT
Dr. Eric C. Westman,
Dr. Stephen D. Phinney,
and Dr. Jeff S. Volek
Fireside
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Phinney, Stephen D.
The new Atkins for a new you : the ultimate diet for shedding weight and feeling great forever / by Stephen D. Phinney, Jeff S. Volek, and Eric C. Westman.
p. cm.
“A Fireside Book.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Reducing diets. 2. Low-carbohydrate diet—Recipes. I. Volek, Jeff. II. Westman, Eric C. III. Title.
RM222.2.P4952 2010
612.2’5—dc22 2010002849
ISBN 978–1-4391–9027-2
ISBN 978–1-4391–9028-9 (ebook)
The late Dr. Robert C. Atkins established the nutritional principles that remain the core of the Atkins Diet. This innovative thinker worked tirelessly to help people understand how to improve their health by implementing these principles. With every passing year, independent research continues to confirm the wisdom of his ideas. We are proud to carry on Dr. Atkins’s legacy as we explore new frontiers in the low-carbohydrate dietary approach.
Contents
Foreword
Introduction
PART I : WHY IT WORKS: IT’S ALL ABOUT NUTRITION
Chapter 1 : Know Thyself
Chapter 2: The Road Ahead
Chapter 3 : The Right Carbs in the Right Amounts
Chapter 4 : The Power of Protein
Chapter 5 : Meet Your New Friend: Fat
PART II: WHAT TO EAT: HOW TO TAILOR ATKINS TO YOUR NEEDS AND GOALS
Chapter 6: Atkins for You: Make It Personal
Chapter 7: Welcome to Phase 1, Induction
Chapter 8: Moving to Phase 2, Ongoing Weight Loss
Chapter 9: Into the Home Stretch: Pre-Maintenance
Chapter 10: Keeping It Off: Lifetime Maintenance
PART III: EATING OUT, EATING IN: ATKINS IN THE REAL WORLD
Chapter 11: Low-Carb Fast-Food and Restaurant Meals
Chapter 12: Recipes and Meal Plans
PART IV: A DIET FOR LIFE: THE SCIENCE OF GOOD HEALTH
Chapter 13: Metabolic Syndrome and Cardiovascular Health
Chapter 14: Managing Diabetes, aka the Bully Disease
Acknowledgments
Glossary
Notes
Index
Foreword
That which seems the height of absurdity in one generation often becomes the height of wisdom in another.
—John Stuart Mill
When does a treatment once considered alternative become mainstream? Is it when thousands of overweight people shrink themselves and improve their diabetes control with a low-carbohydrate way of eating? Does it require years of an obesity epidemic in the setting of a lifestyle increasingly reliant on high-carbohydrate and processed foods? Possibly, but for physicians deciding whether to recommend a low-carbohydrate diet instead of a low-fat diet to their patients, it comes down to one thing: science.
Books, newspaper articles, and Web sites are wonderful ways to share new information; however, the ultimate way to change minds on a large scale is to do research. When study after study shows the same startling proof, physicians start to realize that what they previously regarded as unjustified is now scientifically verified.
In my work as a pediatric neurologist at Johns Hopkins Hospital caring for children with uncontrolled seizures, I have had the pleasure of witnessing a similar revolution in thinking over the past fifteen years. The ketogenic diet, similar to a low-carbohydrate diet, was created in 1921 as a treatment for epilepsy. Before the 1990s, even at major teaching hospitals in the United States, this dietary approach was often discarded as “voodoo,” unpalatable, and less effective than medications. Today, it is a widely used and universally accepted treatment worldwide. Skepticism is now rare, and almost all doctors acknowledge the effectiveness of the ketogenic diet. How did the perception of this treatment undergo such a radical change in just a decade and a half? Was it lectures at national meetings, parent support groups, or television coverage? They all certainly helped, but again, and even more important, research and hard scientific proof transformed disbelievers into advocates.
In The New Atkins for a New You, you will discover how in the same time frame science has similarly transformed the Atkins Diet from what was once considered a “fad” into an established, medically validated, safe, and effective treatment. This book also offers a wealth of new advice and insights into doing the Atkins Diet correctly, including numerous simplifications, making it easier for people everywhere to achieve the benefits of a low-carbohydrate lifestyle than ever before. As you will soon see, the volume you hold in your hands is far more than a typical diet how-to book. Not only have Dr. Eric C. Westman, Dr. Jeff S. Volek, and Dr. Stephen D. Phinney summarized the hundreds of research studies published in top medical journals, they have also authored many of them. In more than 150 articles, these three international experts on the use of low-carbohydrate diets to combat obesity, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes have led the way in repeatedly proving how a low-carbohydrate approach is superior to a low-fat one.
As a member of the Atkins Science Advisory Board, I have admired the work of these three clinician-scientists. It has been helpful to be able to call on each of them for their willing advice, and in a way now you can too, through this book. Their commonsense approach to startin
g and maintaining a low-carbohydrate diet is evident throughout the book, and their vast knowledge is especially evident in part IV, “A Diet for Life: The Science of Good Health.” I know that I will often refer my patients to this section.
I find it sad that Dr. Robert C. Atkins did not live to see his diet so strongly validated both in scientific research and in this new book, which so heavily bases its recommendations on that research. Many of his ideas, personal observations based on thousands of patients, and philosophy, which appear in Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution and his other books, have been validated in this book, with science to back them up. When the first edition of Diet Revolution was published in 1972, the low-carbohydrate concept was not one that physicians embraced, nor did they think that it would prevail. In Dr. Atkins’s lifetime, his dietary approach was subject to skepticism and disbelief by much of the nutritional community. Perhaps there is no greater tribute to his memory than that this is typically no longer the case today.
I foresee exciting times ahead for the Atkins Diet. Already in my field of neurology, researchers are studying the application of low-carbohydrate diets for epilepsy in adults, as well as for Alzheimer’s disease, autism, brain tumors, and Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). There is published evidence from Dr. Westman and others that these diets help not only obesity and type 2 diabetes, but possibly even schizophrenia, polycystic ovarian disease, irritable bowel disease, narcolepsy, and gastroesophageal reflux. Obviously, there is growing evidence that low-carbohydrate diets are good for more than just your waistline! I am also personally hopeful that the Atkins Diet will become an accepted tool to combat the growing worldwide epidemic of childhood obesity. With its new content and firm underpinning of research, The New Atkins for a New You will also enable researchers to use it as a “bible” to develop correct protocols in low-carbohydrate studies.
I urge you to use this book not only as a guide to a healthier lifestyle but also as a scientific reference for your bookshelf. Friends and family may question why you are following the Atkins Diet, and even some physicians who have not read the latest research could discourage you from trying this approach. Although your personal results in your appearance and laboratory tests may change their minds within a few weeks, even before that, please let this book help you to enlighten them. Drs. Phinney, Volek, and Westman suggest at the beginning of chapter 13 that “you may want to share these chapters with your health care professional.” I could not agree more. Be sure to also point out the more than one hundred references at the end.
So I ask again, when does a treatment believed to be “fad” science turn into an accepted fact? When does one man’s “diet revolution” become the status quo for people committed to leading a healthier lifestyle? The answer is … now. Enjoy all the advice, meal plans, recipes, success stories—and most important—science this book has to offer our generation and our children’s generation.
Eric H. Kossoff, M.D.
Medical Director, Ketogenic Diet Center
Departments of Neurology and Pediatrics
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Baltimore, Maryland
Introduction
Welcome to the new Atkins.
You have a lot on your plate. Between holding down a job and/or raising a family and other activities, you’re probably long on responsibilities and commitments and short on time. No doubt your to-do list grows with every passing day. So the last thing you need is a dietary approach that’s complicated or time-consuming. Instead, you want an easy-to-follow way of eating that allows you to slim down quickly and stay there, address certain health problems, and boost your energy.
Atkins is the program you’ve been looking for.
Maybe you’ve heard about Atkins before. Maybe you’ve even tried it before. If so, this book will show you a whole new way to live the Atkins lifestyle that’s easier and more effective than any previous book has offered. Welcome back. You’ll love the updated Atkins.
Or perhaps you’re new to the Atkins program. Read on and find out why the Atkins lifestyle is the key to not just a slimmer body but also a healthier life. Not only is doing Atkins easier than ever, a growing number of researchers have recently conducted experiments aimed at better understanding how carbohydrate restriction impacts health. In the last few years more than fifty basic and applied studies have been published which, in addition to validating the safety and effectiveness of the Atkins Diet, also provide new insights into ways to optimize the Atkins lifestyle.
We’ll tell you how the right foods will help you take charge of your weight, boost your energy, and generally make you feel better. You’ll learn everything that you need to know now and for a lifetime of weight control. You’ll also come to understand that:
• Excess weight and poor health are two sides of the same coin.
• The quality of the food you eat affects your quality of life.
• Atkins is a way of eating for life, not a quickie weight loss diet.
• Activity is the natural partner of a healthy diet.
Before telling you more about The New Atkins for a New You, let’s establish the logic of a low-carbohydrate lifestyle.
BEAT THE EPIDEMIC OF OBESITY
Here’s a pop quiz for you. When eaten in large amounts, which macronutrient raises your blood levels of saturated fats and triglycerides: protein, fat, or carbohydrate? You’re probably tempted to answer fat. But the correct answer is carbohydrate. Second question: Which of the three lowers your HDL (“good”) cholesterol? Again, the answer is carbohydrate.
In the last four decades, the percentage of overweight American adults and children has ballooned. As Albert Einstein once remarked, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting different results.” In this time frame, the medical and nutritional establishment has told us to follow the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Guide Pyramid, skimp on calories, avoid fat, and focus on eating carbohydrate foods. Americans now consume less saturated fat than they did forty years ago but have replaced those calories—and added another 200 a day—with carbohydrates. Clearly, something is seriously wrong with the way we eat.
So has our population become thinner? Quite the contrary! Today, more than 65 percent of American adults are overweight. Likewise, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes has skyrocketed. Are you a part of this statistical nightmare? Or are you at risk of becoming part of it? If so, this book provides the tools to escape that fate. But it’s not just enough to read the words, you must also truly take responsibility for your health. Remodeling your eating habits—like making any major life change—takes commitment. But if you’re truly ready to exchange your old habits for new ones, your reward will be the emergence of a slimmer, healthier, sexier, more energetic person—the new you!
The New Atkins for a New You will make clear that doing Atkins isn’t about eating only beef, bacon, and butter. Rather, it’s about finding how many carbohydrates you can tolerate and making good choices among carbohydrate, protein, and fat foods. In terms of carbohydrates, that means a wide array of vegetables and other whole foods. And if you choose not to eat meat or fish or any animal protein—whether for personal or other reasons—or to minimize their intake, you can still do Atkins.
CHANGE IS GOOD
In its almost forty-year evolution, the Atkins Diet has seen a number of modifications reflecting emerging nutritional science. This book reflects the latest thinking on the diet and nutrition and introduces several significant changes, including:
• A daily requirement of a substantial amount of high-fiber “foundation vegetables.”
• An easy way to reduce or eliminate symptoms that sometimes accompany the initial conversion to a low-carb approach.
• Ways to smooth the transition from one phase to the next, ensuring the gradual and natural adoption of healthy, permanent eating habits.
• Detailed advice on how to maintain weight loss, including a choice of two paths in Phase 4, Lifetime Maintenance.
• T
he ability to customize the program to individual needs, including variations for vegetarians and vegans.
• An understanding that we eat many of our meals outside the home with detailed suggestions on how to strategize and what to eat on the road, in fast-food places, or in different kinds of restaurants.
The book is full of other small but significant updates, again based on recent research. For example, we now know that consuming caffeine in moderation actually modestly assists fat burning. So your eight daily cups of fluid can include some coffee and other beverages in addition to water.
Simplicity, versatility, and sustainability are essential for any dietary program to succeed—long term. Atkins meets all three challenges.
1. Simplicity. Above all, the goal of this book is to make Atkins simple to do. In a nutshell, here it is: The key to slimming down and enhancing your health is to train your body to burn more fat. And the way to do that, quickly and effectively, is by cutting back on sugars and other refined carbohydrates and allowing fat—including your own body fat—to become your primary source of energy. (Before you know it, you’ll understand why fat is your friend.) This book will give you all the tools you’ll need to make this metabolic shift.
2. Versatility. Atkins now allows you to personalize the program to your lifestyle and food preferences. If you’ve tried Atkins before and found it too difficult, too restrictive, you’ll be very pleasantly surprised with the updated approach. For example:
• You determine which phase to start in and when to move to the next phase.
• You can eat lean cuts of meat and poultry—or none at all—if you prefer.
• You can do Atkins and still honor your own culinary heritage.
• You choose when to begin a fitness program and what activities to pursue.
• You select one of the two approaches to Lifetime Maintenance that better suits your needs.
3. Sustainability. Atkins doesn’t just help you shed pounds and leave you there. We know—as you do—that the problem with every weight loss program is keeping the weight off for the long term. Understanding the power of fat burning is equally essential to lifetime weight maintenance. Importantly, the four-phase program trains you to gauge your personal tolerance for carbohydrates, so that you can tailor a program that not only fits you to a T but also enables you to permanently banish excess pounds and maintain improved health indicators. And once you find a way of eating that you can live with, yo-yo dieting will be a thing of the past.