Atkins products -- should I have them?

[Georgiana]

Re: Atkins products -- should I have them?

Does "contains milk and soy" really mean it contains "milk and soy" or is that on the label as a warning to those potential allergens? (sort of like "the machine used to make this product is also used to make peanut-based products").

The reason why Atkins Nutritionals writes that on their label is for allergy reasons. Since they are selling their stuff as "legal" for all phases of Atkins, I'm quite sure they wouldn't write about milk and soy if they didn't have to.

The shakes. While they don't contain milk and soy per se, they do contain milk and soy products. Now of course, cheese has milk too. So what's the big deal?

Milk protein concentrate is a product made from skim milk, and it contains casein and whey protein. Whey protein can have a significant amount of lactose (a form of sugar) -- up to 50% in milk protein concentrate, while, for comparison, milk has about 5%. Whey and milk protein concentrate are also part of the reason why we warn people on Induction about American cheese. While "real" American cheese is okay even during Induction, many people think American cheese is the "junk cheese" sold as "imitation cheese", "American cheese food" or similar. For example, here are the ingredients in two American cheeses: (1) Kraft Singles American Cheese and (2) Kraft Deli Deluxe American Cheese.

Ingredients in (1): milk, whey, milkfat, milk protein concentrate, salt, calcium phosphate, sodium citrate, whey protein concentrate, sodium phosphate, sorbic acid as a preservative, apocarotenal (color), annatto (color), enzymes, vitamin D3, cheese culture.

Ingredients in (2): American cheese (milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), water, milkfat, sodium citrate, calcium phosphate, salt, sodium phosphate, sorbic acid as a preservative, oleoresin paprika (color), annatto (color).

(1) is not allowed during Induction. (2) would be "legal" though. (Personally I don't buy any, just to save myself a headache.)

Back to our shakes. I have no idea what is the amount of sugar in the milk protein concentrate (MPC) used by Atkins Nutritionals. It can be 1% (similar to cheese), it can be 50% (10 times higher than milk).

Maybe if someone calls Atkins Nutritionals they can tell us what kind of MPC they use and then we'll start counting the shakes towards our cheese allowance. lol. No, in fact we could only drink the Vanilla Shake, because the others have other "illegal" ingredients like cocoa powder and stuff.

Soy now. Soy protein isolate is a product made from soy meal, by removing almost all fat and carbohydrate content. Soy protein isolate is legal during Induction as it is one of the ingredients added to give a firmer texture to tofu (tofu, or "soy cheese" as it appears in DANDR, is a type of cheese acceptable on Induction).

The soy products not legal during Induction appear in the Atkins bars (e.g. soy lecithin, dry roasted soybeans).

[Slapshot]

Re: Atkins products -- should I have them?

Georgiana - very interesting analysis. The take-away for me is no bars, but vanilla shakes at my own risk.

One follow up question: you wrote: "Whey protein can have a significant amount of lactose (a form of sugar) -- up to 50% in milk protein concentrate, while, for comparison, milk has about 5%."

Doesn't the gross carb count of 2g help us deduce an answer here? i.e. the MPC in the shakes likely has a lactose content on the lower end of the range?

Thanks again for your incredibly thoughtful analysis here...

[Georgiana]

Re: Atkins products -- should I have them?

Doesn't the gross carb count of 2g help us deduce an answer here? i.e. the MPC in the shakes likely has a lactose content on the lower end of the range?

I am a bit puzzled by their math, which is why I didn't comment on this last night. For the vanilla shake, it says 2 g total carbs, 2 g fiber and 1 g sugar. Now 2+1 is not exactly 2... But let's say they did some approximations. That 1 gram of sugar comes mainly from the MPC (as lactose) and from sucralose. You can get 1 gram of sugar either by using a MPC with low lactose content or/and by using a very small quantity. I believe it's both. How low is the lactose percentage in the MPC though? Is it 1% or 3% or 5%? I have no idea.

Among the shakes, the vanilla ones look the "best". In my opinion, they are not acceptable during Induction, since it is not only about the carb count -- otherwise we would be allowed to eat a few almonds or a tablespoon of milk. I have seen different opinions on other boards though and I'm sure there are plenty of people here who do not agree with me on the shakes. ROLL CALL!!! [jk]

Personally I am trying to avoid processed foods as much as I can and I am not willing to take the risk of slowing down my weight loss with frankenfoods, but that could be just me lacking a sense of adventure.

[imagood1]

Re: Atkins products -- should I have them?

Georgiana -- this thread should be required reading for all newbies or anyone on extended induction....I keep seeing newbies talking about bars and shakes and when you tell them they are not allowed they get upset with you - it's not my rule - it's Dr. Atkins rule. As far as I'm concerned the bars and shakes should be taken off the market -- too many people say they are "doing Atkins" when in fact as long as they use these products they are NOT "doing Atkins"...very frustrating especially when the next post you read they have diarreah or they aren't loosing weight...duh!!!

[Slapshot]

Re: Atkins products -- should I have them?

Thanks again, Georgiana. I'm going to keep one shake a day or two in since I'm finding it hard to get enough calories. If I notice anything resembling a stall, I'll take them back out...

[msanjelpie]

Re: Atkins products -- should I have them?

While "real" American cheese is okay even during Induction, many people think American cheese is the "junk cheese" sold as "imitation cheese", "American cheese food" or similar. For example, here are the ingredients in two American cheeses: (1) Kraft Singles American Cheese and (2) Kraft Deli Deluxe American Cheese.

Ingredients in (1): milk, whey, milkfat, milk protein concentrate, salt, calcium phosphate, sodium citrate, whey protein concentrate, sodium phosphate, sorbic acid as a preservative, apocarotenal (color), annatto (color), enzymes, vitamin D3, cheese culture.

Ingredients in (2): American cheese (milk, cheese culture, salt, enzymes), water, milkfat, sodium citrate, calcium phosphate, salt, sodium phosphate, sorbic acid as a preservative, oleoresin paprika (color), annatto (color).

(1) is not allowed during Induction. (2) would be "legal" though.

THANK YOU so much for this info!... I didn't even realize there was a difference... I went out and bought the Deli Deluxe and had it on my eggs this morning. It was a lot more rich flavored, almost like cheddar...