Atkins Diet FAQs
What is the difference between the Ketogenic Diet and the Atkins Diet?
The Atkins diet is less restrictive than the Ketogenic diet (KD) in so far as it doesn't restrict protein, fat or calories and therefore you don't have to do as much weighing out (only having to weigh out carbohydrates).
The diet is not worked out to any set ratio as with the Classical diet and you don't have to give a percentage of the meal in the form of a liquid fat supplement as you do with the MCT diet.
The Atkins diet refers to ‘net carbs’ what does this mean?
Net carbs is the total carbohydrate in a food MINUS the fibre content and any sugar alcohol content. Atkins say that these two things do not have any effect on the Blood Glucose levels so therefore you don't have to count them as carbs and can deduct that amount from the total carbohydrate content.
With the modified version of the diet Dr. Kossoff uses, once again fibre is free, but he is very cautious about the sugar alcohols, especially for some of the processed foods where the sugar alcohols seem very high, such as the chocolate and sweets that are available. This would be something you would need to discuss with your dietitian.
Can I use all the Low Carb products that are available?
This again is a matter that you would need to discuss with your dietitian. Some are very useful whereas others we would tend to urge caution. Matthews Friends has tested a lot of low carb products and "carb free" products, (all for research purposes obviously!) especially the chocolates and sweets and a word of warning, do not eat very many or you could suffer with awful stomach ache and lots of visits to the loo!
Be especially careful when giving them to your children and make sure you restrict their use – believe us when we say that it was incredibly painful.
We have had some families that have used them just for Christmas, Birthdays and Easter time as a very special treat but their use has been restricted and the children have been carefully monitored to see if there were any changes. Some children were able to have them and unfortunately for some others, it did affect their ketones and they could no longer use them.
It is one of those situations where it may be trial and error – but we do suggest that before you try anything new – discuss it with your dietitian.
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