MADSheet – A Spreadsheet Tool for Modified Atkins Diet Administration

We came into the ketogenic diet in a non-standard way for Nora.  We started with a low glycemic index diet for a few weeks in the fall of 2011, then to a modified Atkins diet for a few weeks, then to a 3:1 ratio ketogenic diet for a few months, and finally to a 3.5:1 ratio ketogenic diet from April of 2012 to April of 2014.  Each increase provided better seizure control.

Because we transitioned slowly into the ketogenic diet instead of the traditional 24 hour hospital induction, we had time to develop many of our own tools for tracking Nora’s diet and seizures.  When we went full keto, we continued to use these self-developed tools — mainly a Google Docs spreadsheet — with the approval of our neurologist and dietician team.  (Although we administered the diet differently, we greatly support the Charlie Foundation’s Keto Calculator, and recommend that tool for administering the ketogenic diet.)

Starting April 2014, after two years of seizure freedom, we slowly weaned Nora by decreasing the ketogenic diet ratio by 0.25 every 3-4 weeks.  In December of 2014 we finally weaned down to a 1:1 ratio.  We then transitioned to a modified Atkins diet in which only carbs are tracked (as opposed to the full suite of carbs, protein, fat, and fiber).  This greatly simplifies administration of the diet, but we still use a simplified version of our spreadsheet.

We get a lot of questions about our methods for administering the diet, and because the modified Atkins diet can be done with less strict medical oversight, we are now posting a version of this spreadsheet in case anyone finds it useful for administering the modified Atkins diet.  (For the ketogenic diet, we recommend using the Charlie Foundation’s Keto Calculator as that is a widely supported and vetted tool.)

We recommend using a tool like this if you aren’t sure you are estimating portions right, and want to learn the proper proportions of foods using a gram scale (a traditional kitchen gram scale will be fine, no need to measure to the tenth of a gram as in the ketogenic diet). We have also found it useful in weaning off the ketogenic diet, after you have been accustomed to weighing all food and want to learn how to think in portion sizes again and only count the carbs, not the ratio.

Note that the modified Atkins diet is still a high-protein, high-fat diet. You are still going for a 1:1 ratio. This spreadsheet only helps you count carbs and is not intended to help you plan full meals at a 1:1 ratio. Notice that cheese and meats are not listed (unless it is a product with significant carbs). Add protein and fats to every meal, and use the higher fat foods in the spreadsheet (labeled in green) to supply healthy fats.

WARNING
The modified Atkins diet is less demanding on the patient than the ketogenic diet, but it is still a restricted diet with potential side effects.  We strongly recommend you inform your medical care team if you are going to use the MAD diet for your child.  Low carb diets can interact with other medications, and some medical conditions are contraindicated with low carb diets and could be very dangerous.  Check with your medical team.  If your child is struggling, sick, or is continually not feeling well, stop the the diet and check with your medical team.

You can download the MADSheet (version 1) here: MADSheet-v1.

Instructions are given in the “INSTRUCTIONS” tab in the spreadsheet.  Foods with no (or very little) carbs (such as butter) are not listed in the spreadsheet as they don’t need to be calculated and weighed.  But they will still be part of most meals.  As an example, for a morning snack for Nora I would like 3 grams of carbs of apple and 1 gram of carb of 85% dark chocolate and 3 grams of carbs of peanut butter.  Using the MADSheet, I put 3, 1, and 3  respectively in cells J24, J27, and J29.  It is then calculated that I need 24 grams of apple, 3.6 grams of chocolate, and 24 grams of peanut butter.  If I were doing this for Nora I would then put an additional dollop of butter in with the peanut butter to push the ratio up a bit, but I don’t need to measure that as it doesn’t have any carbs.  (In the full keto version of the diet though, I do need to calculate and weigh the correct amount of butter along with everything else.)

Lastly, the MADSheet tool is not intended as an optimized, finished product in any way.  We do not guarantee the spreadsheet to be free of errors or bugs.  We are providing it as a template or starting point to be modified as necessary to fit the needs of the user.  Please delete foods, add foods, change and modify cells and calculations as you see fit.  Please take care to double check all calculations and formulas, especially after making modifications.  This is not intended as medical advice.  Please check all methods with your medical team.  Use at your own risk.

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6 thoughts on “MADSheet – A Spreadsheet Tool for Modified Atkins Diet Administration

  1. Oh my goodness…just spent four hours today attempting to create my own spreadsheet. You posting this is a godsend! Thank you thank you!

  2. Hey There,

    This spreadsheet is really helpful for the MAD diet where you only count carbs and then estimate protein and fat. I guess starting out with this I’m struggling to figure out definitely what we want our goals to be…MAD, or a strict 1:1… For our daughter we have her on a low glycemic diet with added in fat… this has done a lot for her… so, now we’re looking to see if we can tighten it up a bit, but aren’t sure whether to do MAD or 1:1 (simply so I can see that she is getting the right ratio in all areas of fat / protein / carbs). Being veterans at this by now, you guys probably just have a really good idea overall of what Nora is getting. My question is… do you still have a specific goal each day for Protein and Fat servings for Nora? Or (I remember your wife mentioned you’re now just letting her eat what protein she feels comfortable with as that was working).. so, does that mean, besides counting carbs are you just aiming at only getting a certain amount of fat servings in?

    Thanks,
    Helen

    • Helen,
      At this point, we are just counting carbs. Protein and fat are not recorded or calculated. We depend on Nora’s hunger level and the availability of carb-free foods like cheese and meat to allow her to self-regulate her calorie, fat, and protein needs. The first few days Nora went to carb-counting-only MAD, I still recorded everything she ate to see what ratio effectively was being achieved, and found it to be very close to 1:1.
      My advice would be that it probably doesn’t make sense to do a strict 1:1. I think you will get the same benefit from MAD (carb counting only) with lower administrative overhead. Stronger ketosis starts kicking in at 3:1 and higher (for Nora, anyway), so that requires more care and precision.

  3. WOW! Thank you for sharing this. We have had our daughter on 2:1 for a couple of months now…sort of a combo MAD/keto. Have improvement but no complete control. I had been wanting to start tracking everything so that I could see trends/what was working etc…..but I am a bit of a dinosaur with spreadsheets! Just figuring out the KetoCalculator, now trying to incorporate your spreadsheet will be super helpful. When you were on more strict ratio’s with Nora, did you use the same spreadsheet style and just add in fats/proteins? So happy for your girl that you have seizure control, and thank you for all your sharing!

    • Jen,
      Yes, we used the same spreadsheet approach, but a different spreadsheet that incorporates protein, fat, and fiber as well. As we’ve stated before, we got the OK from our medical team to do it that way after we demonstrated it to them, to assure them we were administering the diet correctly. Certainly we encourage you use a spreadsheet or log with your daughter’s diet to help see what works and what doesn’t, but in general we recommend you use the Keto Calculator as your main tool. We’ve provided this spreadsheet as a tool for MAD administration, which is not as strict, with a ratio around 1:1.

      I hope your daughter continues to improve. Hang in there. She is going to be OK.

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