most every vegetable, although some in moderation or only rarely. Still, it is always a good idea to make the high-nutrient / lower-carbohydrate ones your primary choices.
================================================================== Nuts and Seeds: The Original Functional Foods
Nuts and seeds have been an important component of the human diet since the days when mankind survived as hunter-gatherers. I suspect that nuts and seeds were the original dessert in caveman days. The two combine protein, fat and carbohydrate in one tidy package. The protein content of nuts ranges from ten percent in walnuts to seventeen percent in almonds; the fat content ranges from about thirty-five percent in coconuts to over seventy percent in macadamia nuts; the remainder is carbohydrate, including a significant amount of fiber. Obviously, the higher the fat content, the lower the carb count, which is one reason my personal favorite is the macadamia nut.
These little powerhouses are also densely packed with nutrients. Almonds are a rich source of calcium. Almonds, sunflower kernels and hazelnuts are particularly good sources of vitamin E. Nuts also provide a long list of other nutrients, including niacin, vitamin B6, folic acid, magnesium, zinc, copper and potassium, plus a number of phytochemicals, including many antioxidants.
After the first two weeks of Induction, when you can introduce nuts and seeds into your menus, you will find they make excellent snacks and often an unexpected and tasty ingredient in an entree or vegetable dish. You can also use ground nuts and seeds in lieu of breading before baking or sauteing chicken breasts, veal scallops or fish fillets. Like all good things, nuts and seeds should be eaten in moderation. An ounce of most nuts or seeds contains roughly 5 grams of carbs.
Tasty and nutritious as they are, nuts and seeds should be a component of any healthy nutritional regimen. Numerous studies have shown that regular consumption of nuts and seeds minimizes your risks of coronary heart disease. A number of epidemiological studies( studies of populations over time) have shown that people who eat nuts regularly are less likely to have a heart attack than people who do not consume nuts and oil-containing seeds.~ t0 Moreover, the greater the frequency of consumption, the lower the incidence of heart attack. Lignans in seeds and nuts lower LDL( bad) cholesterol, as do the heart-protective vitamin E, betaine and arginine.
People on low-fat diets often eliminate nuts and with them a powerful source of omega-6 fatty acids and other nutrients. When you do Atkins, one of the many culinary pleasures is being able to enjoy the multiplicity of fat-rich and nutrient-dense nuts and seeds. ==================================================================
Giving It a Number
One way to look at nutrient value is to measure the concentration of antioxidants in food. Antioxidants are a special group of vitamins and phytochemicals that protect your cells from the ravages of environmental pollution, stress, disease and aging. Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston studied the antioxidant capacity of common vegetables and assigned each vegetable an antioxidant score. I ' ve taken that score and divided it by the number of grams of carbohydrate in the same-size serving of each vegetable or fruit and thus computed what I now call the Atkins Ratio.
The higher the number, the more antioxidant protection you get per gram of carbohydrate. Talk about bang for your buck. If you used this tool to maximize your nutrient intake and
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