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The Atkins Grapefruit Diet

By Joy Mitchell

The Atkins Grapefruit diet is a diet plan, not supported by the company of Dr. Atkins, that plays on the popularity of the grapefruit diet and the Atkins diet name. A closer look into this diet reveals that it may not be all it purports to be.

First of all, it's very hard to find information on the Atkins grapefruit diet plan. Clever people realize that when anyone is perpetrating a deception, or a con, they will usually gloss over facts. This is what the Atkins grapefruit diet seems to do in an attempt to get people to associate it with two purportedly effective diets.

So, is the Atkins Grapefruit Diet part of the Atkins Diet or endorsed by the estate of the late Dr. Atkins? The answer is a resounding 'no', not only is there no mention of the Atkins Grapefruit Diet on the Atkins website, but there is no fruit of any kind mentioned in the list of permitted foods in the Atkins diet Induction stage.

The induction phase includes the following foods:

Fish of any species; any fowl such as turkey and chicken; any shellfish; any meat such as beef or pork; eggs prepared in any style, including fried; cheese; vegetables; herbs and spices; fats and oils; low carbohydrate beverages, including diet sodas.

Did you notice anything? No fruit is on that list. Later phases of the Atkins diet, however, do include small amounts of fruits such as cantaloupe, strawberries and even lemon juice, and the pre-maintenance and maintenance phases even specifically permit small quantities of grapefruit. But when compared to the quantity of Grapefruit recommended on the Atkins Grapefruit Diet, again there is a disagreement.

The Atkins Grapefruit Diet recommends a cup of grapefruit juice or a cup of grapefruit sections, with 8 and 18 carbs respectively. Even the most generous phases of the Atkins diet recommends limiting grapefruit consumption to below 8 carbs per day. That's a exact contradiction of one diet with the other.

Most intelligent people would look at the Atkins website the moment they heard of the Atkins Grapefruit Diet. When they saw no mention of that diet on the site, a red light would go off and an alarm bell would sound.

Generally speaking, you should remember this: any diet that relies very heavily on one food, such as grapefruit on a grapefruit diet, is not healthy for all but extremely short periods of time. The Atkins Grapefruit Diet is nothing to do with the Atkins diet, and may disrupt with the efficacy of the Atkins diet in its early stages. - 26706

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