In This Article
In This Article
The Atkins and the ketogenic diet, or Keto, are two of the most popular diet trends. Atkins is a less restrictive ketogenic type of diet.
Both diets focus on low-carb consumption, limiting your intake of sugar and other high-carbohydrate foods.
But despite their similarities, these diets are different in important ways. Find out in this article which one is best for you.
The Atkins diet is a way of eating that promotes high-fat and low-carb intake. This eating plan was introduced by a cardiologist named Dr. Robert C. Atkins.1
The diet focuses on the right balance of your carb, protein, and fat intake. Since it was created, it has evolved into two versions. But the original approach remains the most popular among dieters.
The Atkins diet has four phases. You can choose to start from any of the four phases depending on your weight goal.
With the Atkins diet, you can enjoy more variety of food as you progress through the phases, making it less restrictive than Keto.
However, remember that the diet limits your daily carb intake to 100 grams of net carbs even during maintenance. This could last a lifetime.
The average American consumes around 250 grams of carbs per day.2 So, while the Atkins diet seems more flexible than Keto, it still significantly reduces carbs compared to the typical American diet.
Summary
The Atkins diet is a high-fat, low-carb eating plan with four phases. Its carb limit gradually increases during each phase. Atkins has more food variety than the Keto diet but still significantly cuts down carbs compared to the average American diet.
The Keto or ketogenic diet is similar to Atkins, but it’s meant to last longer. It is also considered a very low carbohydrate diet.
The Keto diet encourages you to limit your carbs and replace them with fat to trigger your body to burn fat for energy.
The Keto diet aims to induce a metabolic state called ketosis in your body. During ketosis, your body uses its fat stores or ketone bodies for energy instead of the glucose typically derived from food.
It speeds up the fat-burning process, leading to weight loss and other health benefits.
People who follow the Keto diet limit their intake to 20 to 50 grams of carbs daily. The average macronutrient breakdown for a keto dieter is as follows:
Summary
The Keto diet is a low-carb, high-fat eating plan that follows a daily carb limit of 20 to 50 grams. The low carb intake triggers ketosis. Ketosis is a metabolic state where the body burns fat for energy instead of glucose.
Both the Atkins and Keto diets share several similarities. Here are some overlapping vital points:
Both Atkins and Keto are low-carb diets. They cut down or eliminate sugar and high-carb foods like bread, pasta, and starchy vegetables.
Atkins’ initial phase and the Keto diet limit your daily carb intake to around 20 to 25 grams.
The carb restrictions trigger your body to enter ketosis. Both diets change the way your body uses food for energy.
Atkins and Keto diets encourage you to cut down your consumption of refined carbohydrate foods, leading to a lower overall calorie intake.
Most people lose weight and lower their body fat percentage when they follow these diets.3
Keto and Atkins diets encourage more consumption of high-fat foods to make up for the lessened carb intake. It includes healthy fat sources, like:
A high-fat diet can help speed up your weight loss through ketosis. Studies also show that fats can affect your satiety and keep you full for extended periods by regulating your appetite.4
Both Atkins and Keto include a moderate amount of protein in their meal plans, despite having different ratios of macronutrients.
The potential health benefits associated with both Atkins and Keto include:
Consequently, they share many common food choices. Some of these include:
Summary
Atkins and Keto are both low-carb, high-fat diets that promote weight loss and share potential health benefits such as improved blood sugar management. They have many common food choices like meat, poultry, fish, eggs, low-carb vegetables, and healthy fats.
Despite how similar they are, these diets have their differences.
Diets like Atkins and Keto require your commitment to low carb regimen to achieve optimal weight loss. However, your carb intake increases over time with Atkins since it has a phased approach.
On the other hand, the Keto diet is a long-term eating plan that requires you to maintain a very low carb intake consistently.
Some may even argue that it’s more of a lifestyle than a diet plan. You need to eat low-carb continuously to keep your body in ketosis indefinitely.
Atkins encourages more protein intake, allowing for up to 30 percent of your daily calories from protein. Keto, on the other hand, limits your protein intake to 20 percent.
Many dieters consider Atkins more flexible since it allows for a wider variety of food as you go through the phases.
On the other hand, the Keto diet can be more restrictive regarding food choices. It is because it promotes a consistently low carb intake.
Atkins has a maintenance phase (Phase 4) with a daily carbohydrate intake of 80 to 100 grams. The Keto diet indefinitely maintains a daily carb intake of 20 to 50 grams.
Summary
Atkins and Keto have different approaches to carb and protein intake. They also have different lenience on food choices. Lastly, they have distinct daily carb maintenance.
Atkins and Keto diets offer a range of benefits for a healthier lifestyle. Some of the advantages include:
Low-carb diets can contribute to weight loss mainly because they make you more aware of your food choices.
Monitoring your macronutrient intake can help prevent overeating. And cutting out processed carbs—often high in calories—also contributes to shedding excess weight.
Besides, studies show that reducing your carb intake results in rapid weight loss within the first six to 12 months.5
Many people choose the Atkins or Keto diet to help them manage their type 2 diabetes. Studies show that ketogenic diets help manage type 2 diabetes by lowering your blood sugar level.
The American Diabetes Association considers low-carb diets safe and effective for people with type 2 diabetes.6
Some studies show that low-carb diets can help lower triglyceride levels and boost HDL (good) cholesterol, despite the increased saturated fat intake.7
Low-carb diets like Atkins and Keto have been linked to a variety of positive health outcomes, such as:
Remember that each person may experience varying effects from both diets. It's always important to talk to your healthcare provider before making significant changes to your diet.
Summary
The Atkins and Keto diets share several benefits, including weight loss, better blood sugar management, and potential heart health improvement. Low-carb diets can also improve digestion, mental health, and sleep quality.
It may be difficult to choose which diet is better since our bodies respond differently to eating plans.
However, when choosing between the two diets, you must consider your preferences, lifestyle, and health goals.
Both diets can help you lose weight and improve your overall health when you follow them properly. But remember to choose the eating plan you can consistently follow.
Whichever you choose, remember that both diets still require a significant reduction in your carb intake.
It’s also essential to work with your doctor deciding which diet plan to follow. They may need to consider factors like your current health.
Summary
Choosing between Keto and Atkins depends on your preferences, lifestyle, and health goals. Both diets can lead to weight loss and improve your health when you do them properly.
