Atkins Diet for People with Diabetes

	By: Editors at DiabetesIQ	\|	Published: March 03, 2022	This DiabetesIQ content is fact-checked and expert-reviewed to ensure strict editorial guidelines. Our content is evidence-based and provides objective analysis while maintaining the highest editorial standards in accordance with our integrity policy.
Published: March 03, 2022
This DiabetesIQ content is fact-checked and expert-reviewed to ensure strict editorial guidelines. Our content is evidence-based and provides objective analysis while maintaining the highest editorial standards in accordance with our integrity policy.

Since people with diabetes need to keep a healthy diet to control their blood sugar levels and body weight, many diets have been developed (and keep evolving) to help diabetic patients achieve their goal. Some of those diets even gained worldwide recognition and popularity. Among them is a famous Atkins Diet, or as it officially named, the Atkins Nutritional Approach, which was mentioned in many publications. Atkins Diet is a low-carb eating plan that was developed by a cardiologist Robert C. Atkins in the 1960s. It emphasizes consumption of fats and protein, while restricting carbohydrates, which is highly important for managing blood sugar in people with diabetes.

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The main goal of the Atkins Diet is to alter your eating habits, helping you lose weight and, most importantly, not to gain it back. This diet is not a temporary solution and is intended to become a part of your life.

According to the Atkins Diet, type-2 diabetes and such health issues associated with it as heart disease and obesity, happen mostly due to a typical American diet that is high in carbohydrates and low in fat. People should not remove excess fat or avoid fatty cuts of meat. Instead, people should concentrate on controlling the amount of carbs they consume and should enjoy more fat and protein.

Atkins Diet consists of 4 stages: induction, balancing, pre-maintenance (or fine-tuning), and maintenance. During the first stage, which should be at least 2-week long, you are allowed to eat just 20g of net carbs a day, mostly from vegetables, such as broccoli, asparagus, cucumber, celery, peppers, and green beans. You have to also drink 8 glasses of water daily and consume foods rich in protein, including red meat, fish, shellfish, poultry, eggs, and cheese, at every meal. You can also include oils and fats and avoid most fruits, nuts, pastas, baked goods, and alcohol.

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In the second phase, which should last until you are approximately 10 pounds away from your desired weight, you keep consuming 15g of carbs daily from vegetables and keep avoiding sugary foods. However, you can add now a bit of nutrient-rich carbs, including berries, seeds, and nuts.

The third phase, in which you stay until you reach your desired weight, you can slowly broaden the range of foods to enjoy, adding whole grains, starchy vegetables, and fruits. You are allowed to add up to 10g of carbs each week, but if your weight losing progress stops, you will have to cut back on carbs again.

The fourth phase, to which you graduate once you reached you desired weight, is the stage in which you stay indefinitely. You may eat what you consumed in the previous stages and add healthy carbs foods such as oats, potatoes, quinoa, pumpkin, buckwheat, beats, and yogurt, as long as your weight doesn’t increase and your blood sugar levels stay normal.

Atkins Diet is not only healthy and good for people with diabetes, it’s also not boring. You can enjoy a broad variety of dishes, while staying in shape. Here we’d like to share with you a few recipes of the dishes that are suitable for the Atkins Diet.