Notable Ketos: Dr. Atkins

Like most people, I enjoy chocolate. One of my favorite college snacks was those chocolate chip Atkins bars. Minimal aftertaste. Maximum flavor. I tried to google the ones I used to get, but it looks like they may have phased them out in favor of a HIGH-PROTEIN VERSION (shocking, I know). Regardless, in the early 2000s almost everyone seemed to have tried the Atkins Diet or knew someone who did. It is estimated that in the US, 1 in 11 people were on the Atkins Diet or some other version of a low-carb diet.

According to Wikipedia, Robert C. Atkins was a physician and cardiologist who pioneered low-carbohydrate, high-fat diets, based on the work of Alfred W. Pennington. As with most high-fat diets, his approach has been widely criticized by mainstream health and wellness experts, and Atkins himself later died following complications related to heart disease. But his book Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution: The High Calorie Way to Stay Thin Forever has sold over 12 million copies and was called “the best-selling fad diet book of all time.” Imagine being popular for 50 years and still being labeled a fad. In 2001 Dr. Atkins did an interview with WebMD, discussing the disorders that his diet plan could help, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that he mentioned PCOS, among the other insulin-related diseases exacerbated by the standard American diet. 

What about the Supportive Nourishment? Supportive Nourishment is one of the pillars of my Luxury Reset, 12 week program. Any sort of health and wellness plan should have some sort of nutritional component; it should be tailored to you and your needs, and should be easy to modify to fit your changing needs. I downloaded a few PDFs from the current Atkins website and was honestly impressed (I didn’t have time to read the book). I like the pointedness of it, similar to a Primal approach. There are foods that are not acceptable at any point. Their paragraph on portion sizes also made me chuckle a little; there’s nothing more disappointing than learning that a small drink is indeed considered two servings, because that doesn’t even make sense. It does lean toward some processed foods and processed sugars, and it is, for obvious reasons, a marketing tool with many of their prepackaged snacks listed and recommended. 

They even mention one of my favorite hills to die on: the hidden sugar in processed meat. It’s one of those things that once you see, you can’t unsee. 

And man, do I love dying on a hill.

Anywho. There’s also some BANANAS shit in there about burning an extra 950 calories a day through fat-burning. 

I don’t agree with everything the Atkins diet promotes. For starters, the shopping lists are too long, a complaint I have about soooooo many diet plans. In an era of trying to please everyone, we’ve overcomplicated so many things. Too many choices lead to analysis paralysis, and when a diet comes with a long shopping list, it’s easy to see why Atkins  and many other ketogenic diets get a reputation for being expensive. Buying beef, chicken, salmon, pork, tuna, and turkey all for one week of meals is excessive. It’s a little absurd and weird to imagine anyone eating without any repeat meals, using leftovers, or getting tired of at least some of those choices. I see this so often in my coaching. As I’ve mentioned before, I never did Whole 30 because the pages and pages of ingredients are frankly too much to read, let alone implement. 

There are some other things I’m on the fence about, too. I’ll preface this  by saying I know Atkins is a company with a profit motive, but the overall diet places a lot of emphasis on those prepackaged foods. Part of me likes it because it eliminates decision fatigue and makes the diet more accessible, especially if you don’t have time to cook all your meals or you’re still learning how to meal prep. But another part of me is concerned with the quality of the products and the nutritional density associated. 

Overall, from a Primal stance, I don’t hate it. But I don’t love it, either. Like I said, it’s accessible. You can find a few mainstream Supportive Nourishment plans that are closer to Primal than others, and I don’t think this would be such a bad stepping stone. Personally, though, I prefer a rip-the-Band-aid-off approach, especially if your goal is to make meaningful health improvements. 

Looking to learn more about ketogenic Supportive Nourishment, explore other notable keto approaches, and start a health and wellness journey that actually lasts? Send me an email at krystal@luxuryofthesunwv.com to get started!