MEETING THE AUSTRALIAN DIETARY GUIDELINES AND NRV'S

THE AUSTRALIAN DIETARY GUIDELINES

The Atkins diet does not meet the first guideline as it does not promote or encourage any physical activity, it all just based on the food. The diet also does not meet the second guideline as it states “Enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods from these five food groups every day”

• Plenty of vegetables
• Fruit
• Grain foods
• Lean meats
• Dairy Products (low fat)

(National Health and Medical Research Council, 2013, p. v)                                                                         (Rayner, 2014, Image)

This diet doesn’t represent a balanced diet and therefore it does not comply with the guidelines. The guideline only recommends that only one third of your diet should be fat where as the Atkins diet requires you to consume double that amount of fat in order to follow the diet.

THE NUTRIENT REFERENCE VALUES
The nutrient reference values are there to guide people to the recombined amount of nutrients, minerals and vitamins an individual should consume daily. They also address the Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Ranges (AMDR) which were designed to prevent chronic disorders.

	AMDR (%)
Protein	15–25%
Fat	20–35%
Carbohydrate	45–65%

(NHMRC, 2013, p. 16)

With those figures being shown when following the Atkins diet with restricting carbohydrates, you would only be consuming 10% of carbohydrates instead of the proposed 45-65%. (NHMRC, 2013, p. 16)