So this week I bought about 70$ worth of Atkins products bars and shakes. Pleased with myself I thought I was making the right step on my Atkins adventure, you know. I wanted support so I registered with atkinsdietbulletinboard.com and in my introduction I stated that I had bought the products and was thrilled about trying them out but then I got a flood of hostility from people saying things like...

"bars and shakes are generally frowned upon on this forum for several reasons - in spite of what the package says, they contain non-induction ingredients (and lots and lots of chemicals). They also help keep our sweet tooth alive (which keeps cravings alive) and from personal experience, I can tell you they can act as a pretty effective laxative."
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"Atkins Nutritional company, the company that sells and suggests using the bars and shakes in their newest book from 2010. They push them in their menus and say they are ok to use. That's how they make $$$.

This board follows the last book written by Dr Atkins himself before he passed away.
Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution, 2002 (DANDR)

He mentioned those products in that book, (and they were quite different back then) but he said they were only to be used in emergency situations, not because of poor planning, or too rushed to make the right food.

Many members complain those products cause stalls, diarrhea, sweet cravings, besides the fact that they contain many ingredients not allowed on Induction, Actually not allowed until higher rungs of OWL.

Some people use them without problems, but that is rare."

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"If you spend any time perusing board threads, you will see a consistent pattern of people stalling on Atkins products, not only on this board, but other low carb forums. Keeping an emergency bar in your purse won't stall you. The occasional emergency bar won't stall you. The problem tends to be with regular use. You are right, perhaps there are nice ways to tell you the bars are crap. Read the label, you can see for yourself the ingredient list. Not stuff on Atkins induction list. "

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Ok so those are three examples. I feel like I got left holding the bag. I am challenging the site-forum members-company who ever is in the know to reassure me of their effectiveness with this diet plan. Give me some ammunition to use when I come up against nay sayers and the like. Why are the bars good for you? Whats in them? Why are they safe to use on this diet plan? I am not looking for a one sentence answer here I am looking for some hard facts to back your product up. I don't want to be out 70$ nor do I want to be fat anymore. I just want to make the right choices and I want informed advice. Thank you.

Also I would like to here from people who used the bars with the diet and still saw losses and maintained.

Hi hatedrain,
I have information from our nutritionist - Colette regarding the use of the Atkins products I will post below. I can also tell you from my own personal experience - the Atkins products help to make staying on plan even easier for me. I have used the products regularly and have not experienced any adverse effects, and in fact believe the convenience, nutrition and variety they help to provide is part of the reason for my success.

I believe it is also important to note that Colette worked directly with Dr Atkins and has a wealth of knowledge regarding his opinions and intentions with the Atkins program.

Here is the information from Colette:

"As a nutritionist one of the advantages of the Atkins Diet that I like the best is that it can be individualized to suit a person’s likes, dislikes, tastes and lifestyle. We are all heading in the same direction of permanent weight control and vibrant health but the paths we choose to get there may be very different.



While I agree that there are some individuals who may need a two week period of withdrawal from sweet tasting foods to break an addiction, there are also those individuals who would not succeed without a healthy substitute.

So my advice is usually as follows; if you can't stop at one bar or drink at a time, if products are sacrificing your intake of whole foods, then stay away from Atkins products for two weeks until you have things under control. Each individual has to determine for themselves what works or doesn't work.



Otherwise there is no reason why one should avoid Atkins products in Induction.



Out of the 60 plus studies supporting Atkins , there are 14 studies to date showing results of 6 month to 1 year follow up in which participants were allowed one to two serving of Atkins Bars or Shakes daily as part of the research protocol. The products did not interfere with weight loss and, in those studies that allowed Atkins products; there was better compliance and retention. In fact there was one researcher in another study from the Veteran's Administration who was opposed to using Atkins Products with her patient population and she had a tougher time with compliance and retention. At the end of the year, her study participants were consuming far higher levels of carbohydrates than the patient population who were allowed to use Atkins products, and the drop out rate was much higher."

Thank you Jac for your information and quick reply, it have been very encouraging. Could you link me to some of your sources as I would love to look into these studies in-depth. Again thank you for taking time out of your day to assist me in my quest for information.

Hi Holly,

Remember, these are just observations, there is no hard core evidence. Here are the studies Colette is referring to;

From Colette:

"Dr Westman of Duke University published several studies and allowed the use of Atkins products. During one such study the grams of carb that participants were advised to consume were 20 to 25 grams. The grams of carbs that were actually consumed on average were 23 grams .

1. Westman, E.C., Yancy, W.S., Edman, J.S., et al., "Effect of 6-Month Adherence to a Very Low Carbohydrate Diet Program," American Journal of Medicine, 113(1), 2002, page 30-36.

In another study where low carb products were discouraged, participants were advised to consume 30 grams of carbs. During the study analysis of food diaries showed that participants actually consumed 120 grams of carbs.

2. Stern, L., Iqbal, N., Seshadri, P., et al., “The Effects of Low-Carbohydrate Versus Conventional Weight Loss Diets in Severely Obese Adults: One-Year Follow-up of a Randomized Trial,” Annals of Internal Medicine, 140(10), 2004, pages 778-785.

Other studies that demonstrate similar observations can be found in the library at ; http://www.atkins-hcp.com/ArticlesList.aspx?id=58&catName=Research Supporting Atkins

Study

Greene 2003

Greene 2004

Sharman 2002

Sharman 2004

Vernon 2003

Volek 2002

Volek 2003

Volek 2004

Yancy 2004"

I hope that helps. :)