A couple questions here im messed up about concerning Atkins.

1. During induction it is stated you can have 20 grams of carbs a day, but you are only allowed 3 cups of salad. I don’t understand this as 3 cups of salad only equals about 3.5 grams of carbs which is nowhere near the limit. Given this, if I have extra carbs sitting around at the end of the day can I eat salad until I hit the 20 gram mark?


2. Why is iron not allowed for the muilt-vitamin. Unfortunately the best supplement I can get in my area has iron in it. How will this affect the diet?

Hi o2cool!

As for the salad part, I do eat more veggies than the 3C. recommended and it hasn't caused a problem so I doubt that eating more salad would do damage to you as long as you count it.

Other veggies like broccoli, cauliflower, etc, can also help up the carb count. Also, if you use cheese or cream or things of that nature dont' forget to count the carbs in it. Even if an item has 0 listed on the package legally they are allowed to do that if the item even has .8 by law they can round down!! Of course yes most of your carbs should come in the form of veggies.


The reason that a no iron tablet is recommended is that in many of the meaty protein sources you will eat enough iron and if you have that plus the tablet you could eat tooo much iron which causes health problems. Not recommended.

A tablet that I found funny enough even though I am 25yrs old I use centrum sliver tablets which can be found most anyplace even though it says 50+ it is the only cheaper non atkins cha-ching vitamin out there with NO iron!

I also eat more veggies thatn the 3 c. allowed and it hasn't caused me any problems. I figured that I didn't get this way from eating too many veggies. I just make sure that I don't eat the high starch ones (like carrots and corn).

1. Salad isn't just lettuce. If you read the list of allowed salad veggies for Induction, you'll see bell peppers, celery, mushrooms, scallions, tomatoes (watch the carbs), olives, cucumber etc etc . Don't limit yourself to just the leafy stuff

2. The concern about supplemental iron, and too much being stored in the body is of greatest concern to men and post-menopausal women. Even so, there is controversy over the significance of higher stored iron levels (called ferritin). Check out this previous discussion thread on the topic .. Why not iron?.

Eating red meat is not a guarantee of adequate iron intake -- or absorption. The RDA for iron is 15mg for men and older women, and 18mg a day for younger women. An 8 oz. lean sirloin steak provides 6mg, 2 large eggs provide 1.6mg (from the yolk, there is negligible iron in the white). Some vegetables and nuts provide iron as well, but it's a less-absorbable form than from meat.

I suggest it's not necessary to avoid supplemental iron unless you're an older adult and/or have bee diagnosed with high stored iron levels, or you have a chronic blood disorder called hemochromatosis.


Doreen