Dr. Agatston said in a chat that imitation crab was allowed, because it was made from white fish. However, he may not have realized that it also contains a lot of starch as a binder. Fish has 0 carbs per serving, where imitation crab has 11 carbs. That's a lot of starch.
Personally... I ate it when I did South Beach and it didn't affect my weight loss at all. A half cup serving only has 80 calories, and has 8 grams protein. If you want to go strictly by the book, then I'd avoid it.
I could swear there is sugar in the fake crab and know there is starch filler. It tastes sweet to me so I avoid it. As well as tuna, there is canned salmon. I find canned crab has little bits of cartilage sometimes - maybe I'm buying the el cheapo stuff. Sometimes I microwave a piece of frozen white fish and add onion, celery, mayo, capers, etc., and make a fish salad that way.
I'd avoid it in Phase I since it does have a good amount of sugars and starches- I believe it's 'OK' in Phase 2/3. I posted the same question a while ago when I started and had actually paid for the 'official' website - The response was avoid in P1, incorporate it back in when you're adding starches back.
I was right! They do have sugar and sorbitol. The starches are kind of scary too. And what the heck is "crab extract"? I am trying not to think about that!
Imitation Crab Meat
Sometimes I microwave a piece of frozen white fish and add onion, celery, mayo, capers, etc., and make a fish salad that way.
