Before you choose a diet, you need to do research to make sure it’s safe and has regimens you can follow long term.
Then you may want to ask:
There are dozens of diets on the market. Why should I choose a diet that is low in carbohydrates?
The diet market is really huge, but there are really only three general diet groups:
1. Calorie Restricting Diet
2. Fat-restricting diets
3. Carbohydrate Restricting Diet
1. Diets that limit low fat can be good long-term diets for athletes who only have a few extra pounds to lose, or who just need to maintain their healthy weight. This type of diet can also be used to improve blood cholesterol and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases, but recent clinical data have questioned this approach.
2. A low-calorie diet requires self-discipline, support, and guidance. Probably the best-known is the Weight Watchers weight-loss program, which has attracted millions of dieters over the decades. An interesting note: Before the low-fat boom, Weight Watchers didn’t offer a carb-limiting and fat-limiting program.
3. Lastly the low carb diet is used to reduce your appetite which makes it easier to follow over time. Diet opponents often stress that the foods you need to eat are not considered balanced. Dieters are usually advised to take supplements to ensure adequate nutrient intake.
Increasing in popularity is the particularly strict ketogenic diet, which requires limiting not only carbs, but protein and even water.
ketogenic diet
There is one diet that, when followed faithfully, produces a byproduct called ketones. Most dieters can reach ketosis (a condition associated with increased amounts of ketones in the blood) by limiting their carb intake to less than 60 grams a day.
The state of ketosis makes a ketogenic diet metabolically similar to fasting, often referred to as controlled fasting.
This diet is a mathematically calculated diet that is high in fat and low not only in carbohydrates but also in proteins. It also limits water intake and carefully controls caloric intake to avoid dilution of ketones. The diet has existed since the 1920s, when it was considered a breakthrough in the treatment of childhood epilepsy, but was superseded by synthetic drugs in the 1950s. Now it is used in neurological treatment.
Clinics prescribing the ketogenic diet followed their patients’ progress for decades, collecting and documenting many cases. None reported any serious side effects, and none concluded the diet was unsafe.
Do low carb diets work?
Many people are successful for the simple reason that they are easier to follow than traditional diets. You don’t lose your appetite on a diet that limits fat and calories.
The first thing the body burns as a source of energy is carbohydrates. However, if the body has no carbohydrates to burn, it seeks another source of energy – fat. Therefore, by reducing your carbohydrate intake, your body naturally burns fat and you lose weight. Remember, anyone starting a new weight loss program, or making dramatic changes to their diet or health routine, should consult their physician first.
A growing body of clinical evidence supports what you should consider a core principle of body fat loss: If you’re in relatively good shape and you’re looking to get lean, the #1 dietary change you should make is Which should reduce your carbohydrate intake. And increase your protein in an instant.
For some reason, people still don’t want to understand and accept that dietary fat is not the problem for most people who are active. It is the intake of excess carbohydrates that is largely responsible for adding fat tissue to your body. Cut carbs drastically and you’ll lose fat.
Here’s proof. In a recent study, two groups were monitored. Both groups consumed 30% of their daily caloric intake in fat. The only significant dietary difference was that one group consumed only 12% of its calories from protein (58% carbohydrate), while the other group consumed 25% protein (45% carbohydrate). Even with constant fat intake and a relatively modest reduction in carbs (from 58% to 45%), the results were clear. After six months, the high protein, low carb group lost 50% more fat than the high carb group.
I would expect the results to be even more dramatic if carbohydrate intake were dropped closer to 40% in the popular 40-30-30 fat loss programs.
It is important to realize that we are not suggesting cutting out carbohydrates completely – this is ultimately counter-productive – but rather a gradual reduction in carbs to balance the diet. There’s no doubt that most people, and Americans in particular, consume too much carbohydrate.
Source by Lakeisha Clayton
