The rate of obesity in humans is increasing each year and it looks like the situation will not improve anytime soon. Even though there are so many different diets out there; none of them will work for every person.

There is a highly effective diet available that has seen successful results over a large amount of people. It’s called the low carb diet and is one of the more simple diets to take part in.

The word “carb” in low carb diet refers to carbohydrates. When losing weight it’s important to keep the amount of carbohydrates you’re eating to a minimum. It’s important to understand why exactly an excessive amount of carbohydrates will increase your weight, before we further discuss the rationale of this diet.

Carbohydrates, whether they come from pasta, bread or a couple of donuts turn into glucose. Glucose is primarily used for energy and some is also stored in our muscles. Your body can only store about 2,000 calories of glucose and the rest as you might have guessed is turned into fat.

Essentially how the diet works is by restricting the amount of carbohydrates you consume. By doing this, your body has no choice but to use your fat as energy, thus you lose weight.

You may be discouraged in trying another diet however you should give the low carb diet a try, as it’s very simple and the results can be great. Most of the diet requires you to just count carbs and read food labels, so it’s something even you will be able to do.

The diet can be so effective that a lot of people will find themselves losing 3 to 4 pounds in the first week.

This all sounds great doesn’t it? However we need to determine whether the this particular diet is right for you. Before making the commitment you should consult with your doctor first. However the following is a general outline to whether or not you have a carbohydrate problem that needs rectifying:

You’re overweight but you don’t eat that much food
You experience sweet cravings
You eat when you’re bored or emotional
You lose some weight but put it back on shortly after
You feel hungry after shortly after eating a normal sized meal

If any of the above applies to you and you’re overweight, you may have a carbohydrate addiction problem. The low carb diet would be ideal in your case and is something you should consider.

There are a few things to consider though when going on this regimin. There are potential short term side effects that you may experience, they’re

Bad breath
Constipation
Dehydration
Dizziness

Unfortunately not everybody will be able to go on the low carb diet due to potential health hazards, they’re:

Pregnant Women
If you have kidney problems
Alcoholics and Caffeine Addicts

If you consume alcohol and caffeine you can go on the low carb diet, however they may halt the dieting process.

If you’re looking for another diet to try and one that will give you results which is easy to take part in, definitely give the low carb diet a go. Even children can take part in the diet, but as always first consult with your doctor.

At last estimate as many as 30 million Americans are following a low carb diet. Advocates contend that the high amount of carbs in our diets has led to the increase in such health problems as obesity and diabetes.

Some diets restrict carbohydrates to a point where the body becomes ketogenic. Ketosis is a physiological condition in response to chronic starvation and causes most of the body to utilize fatty acids as an alternative source of energy.

Most of us don’t need to reach such an extreme. Most of us just need to follow a few simple rules.

And most often these rules won’t mean total abstinence from the foods you love. Just a small deviation from your normal dietary routine. Better choices when it comes to which breads you choose and which snacks you choose too.

It’s not totally off limits to snack, just know that what most people consider snack food’s definitely out of the question.

With that in mind here’s a few ideas as to what should and shouldn’t be included in your low carb diet plan.

Cut out the processed fats including hydrogenated fats, polyunsaturated oils that have been heated, and fats that are combined with junk carbs. Processed fats are the culprits that put on flab and clog your arteries.

Cut the simple carbs like sugar, fructose, bleached flour, cornstarch and fruit juice. Stick with the whole fruit instead, with its fiber intact.

What you want to include are natural proteins, vegetables and whole fruits along with complex carbs such as whole grain breads.

Simple carbs are converted into fat which is stored by the body. This is exactly the problem that causes weight gain. Your body stores the fat for use later, when it thinks you are starving.

Complex carbs, on the other hand, are used for energy. These are good carbs. Yes, there are good carbs too.

This gives you a well balanced low carb diet that doesn’t completely rob you of energy producing carbs. Also by eating high fiber whole grains you’ll keep your insides clean and healthy and you’ll be more regular.

Personally, I like to snack on cheese and pepperoni slices. You get a good amount of protein and fat and virtually no carbs.

Drink plenty of water, excercise regularly and make a low carb diet a part of an overall lifestyle and you’ll surely lose weight, look better and improve your overall health.

Nearly everyone has heard of the Atkins Diet by now, even if not necessarily clear on what it is. Some may even know it as the source of “low-carb” diet craze in the country, but don’t know much about it beyond that. Considered as controversial as it is revolutionary, the Atkins Diet has worked successfully for a tremendous number of people, and not so successfully for a good amount of others. This article aims to place a neutral and objective eye on this popular weight loss program.

Re-introduced in the 1990’s (after an initial period of popularity in the 1970’s), the Atkins Diet is the brainchild of Dr. Robert Atkins.

The diet works in several phases, the first – or the “induction period” – lasting only 2 weeks. In this phase, dieters are not to eat any more than 20 grams of carbohydrates of any form each day. The bulk of a person’s diet during this period, then, is fats and proteins. Usually, a dieter will reach their 20 gram limit on carbohydrates simply from the small amounts in foods like salad dressing, cheese, sauces, condiments, and vegetables.

Forbidden from a participant’s diet during this 2 week induction period are fruits, grains, breads, cereal, milk, and vegetables with a high-glycemic index (a measure of the effect a food has on the body’s blood sugar).

During this period, the body enters a state called “ketosis”, where it begins burning its own residual deposits of fat in order to produce the energy for which it previously had been relying on your regular consumption of carbohydrates.

Atkins also asserts that the source of most weight problems people experience is an “insulin-resistance” that causes overweight bodies to have difficulty converting carbohydrates into glucose (or sugar) which becomes energy. In this state of ketosis induced by the induction phase of the Atkins Diet, the insulin function of the body is affected in such a way that impedes the production of more fat.

After the two week induction period ends, dieters are then permitted to increase their carbohydrate allowance by 5 grams each week. In other words: they’re allowed 25 grams of carbs per day throughout week 3, 30 grams of carbs per day throughout week 4, 35 g in week 5, etc.

Depending on the person’s body type and weight objectives, this gradual increase in carbs should level off somewhere between 40 g and 90 g per day. At this point, the dieter is considered to have entered the “maintenance” phase of the diet, where they ought to remain for the rest of their lives. Although counting calories is not a part of the Atkins Diet, studies by the North American Association for the Study of Obesity found that adhering to the restrictions imposed by the Atkins Diet led to a decrease of 1,000 calories from participant’s daily caloric intake.

A quick perusal of the recommendations published by most traditional health experts and health organizations will reveal that 40-90 grams of carbs per day is still a miniscule amount compared to that of what they consider a “standard” healthy diet.

The Atkins Diet also contradicts authorities (US FDA and the American Cancer Society included) that extol the virtues of eating fruits, vegetables, and whole grain breads and cereals. According to Atkins, even “healthy” carbohydrates are harmful in large quantities.

Studies by the Annals of Internal Medicine and the New England Journal of Medicine have actually found that participants on the Atkins Diet experienced an improvement in heart disease indicators.

Like the 80’s and 90’s were to “low-fat” and “fat-free”, Dr. Atkins has helped make the early 21st century “low-carb”. Whether that’s for better or worse is up to you.

Up. Down. Up. Down. The world of a perpetual dieter is a never-ending rollercoaster. Gaining and losing weight is just another part of the daily struggle. There’s a reason the dieting industry is raking in billions of dollars a year and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. Fad diets have been a huge selling point. We’ve all tried our share of crazy ones! Anyone remember the hot chocolate diet? Not so good. How about the yam diet? Yeah, let’s forget that one ever happened! Some plans haven’t been so easily dismissed. The low carb diet has continually gained momentum and it seems everyone has tried it at some point. However, there are little known dangers when it comes to this eating plan – some that cannot be ignored.

The low carb diet can be very dangerous to your heart. This is true whether or not you’ve ever had issues with this area of your health before. The American Heart Association was so concerned they actually drafted a paper outlining the danger. They know a low carb diet often means a high protein diet. This can lead to an increase in bad cholesterol and cause a fertile breeding ground for cardiovascular disease. This is when a heart attack could sneak in. Scary stuff. Critics of diets like this say any weight loss is temporary, which makes the entire process an exercise in futility that only leaves you with a bad heart.

If you like to use your brain (and don’t most of us?), a low carb diet should be reconsidered. The brain needs carbohydrates, or more specifically glucose, to continue working. In fact, it needs twice as much energy than any other body part. Neurons (which are the cells that communicate with one another) are constantly working and need to be re-energized on an on-going basis. This can’t happen if there isn’t a supply of glucose coming in. If you are using your brain to figure out a problem, the demand is even higher. So, the next time you’re trying to figure out your taxes or maybe even just how much money your children are siphoning out of your life, eat a granola bar!

Eating fewer carbs to lose weight can backfire. A low carb diet has been shown to result in a loss of muscle. Just like glucose fuels the brain, it also fuels your muscles. This means you’ll lose muscle tone and start getting flabby. Less muscle also means your metabolism will slow down and you’ll lose weight even more slowly than to begin with. Doesn’t that seem awfully futile? Thought so.

There’s a reason experts suggest a balanced diet to lose weight. The truth is we need a little bit of everything to keep our bodies functioning at an optimum level. Cutting out certain foods won’t do the trick. Instead of driving yourself crazy by following the latest and greatest fad diet, take a step back and aim to be healthy. You didn’t gain the weight overnight, so don’t expect to lose it overnight! Take a deep breath, eat a piece of bread and go to sleep happy!

They do work, but from my experience and from the experience of every person I know who has gone on a low carb diet and successfully lost weight, that weight doesn’t stay off unless all but a tiny amount of carbs are always avoided.

A few years ago when low carb diets were incredibly popular, I went on one just like millions of other people. I lost 40 pounds in a little over four months. But as soon as I started eating a normal amount of carbs again I gained the weight back very quickly. Every person I know that did a low carb diet had the same experience; successful weight loss but weight gain as soon as they resumed normal consumption of carbohydrates.

I’m sure there are people who have gone on a low carb diet, lost the weight, and kept it off. I just don’t happen to know any of them so I can’t personally recommend a low carb diet as a way to lose weight and keep it off for good.

But, low carb dieting did have its pluses for me:
I didn’t have to count calories, just carbs, which was much easier.

I never had to be hungry. On my low carb diet, there was always something I could eat. It might not have been something I was particularly hungry for, but I never had to deal with it being 5 pm and not having any more calories left for the day and having to be hungry the rest of the evening. Even if I had eaten my allotment of carbs for the day, there were always no carb foods like some cheeses and some raw vegetables that I could have.

I lost weight fairly quickly and steadily.
I was able to break myself of my perpetual cravings for high carb junk foods like potato chips.

But, there were cons too:
The biggest con is that I was unable to keep the weight off.

Carbs, even healthy ones like fruit and whole grains, were very limited on my low carb diet so I didn’t feel like I was eating a healthy balance of foods every day.

My low carb diet didn’t limit the types of protein I could have so I was able to eat way too much high saturated fat foods like bacon, especially during the first two weeks of the diet. I know that wasn’t healthy.

If you want to try a low carb diet, do research to find one that doesn’t limit your carbs too severely. A lower carb diet that emphasizes healthy carbs and lean sources of protein is now recommended by many health professionals. And, when you have successfully lost the weight, be careful when you start introducing more carbs into your diet so that you don’t gain the weight back that you worked so hard to lose.

Although not as wildly popular as they were several years ago, the low carbohydrate diet still has a sizeable following. The simple reason for this is because it works! Clinical studies show that people on a reduced-carb regimen lost more weight than those on a traditional low fat diet within six months. But there’s a downside to this, not the least of which is health experts’ concern about the diet’s recommendation of fatty foods. Before you go on a low carbohydrate diet, weigh the positives against the negatives and decide whether it’s the right weight loss strategy for you.

Arguably the most popular low carb diet is the Atkins diet, founded by the late Dr. Robert Atkins several decades ago. Since its explosion onto the scene, similar diets have sprouted, including the South Beach Diet, the Zone Diet, Sugar Busters, and Protein Power. All these diets require you to vastly reduce the amount of carbohydrates you consume, but not eliminate them (as so many people assume). Your primary carbohydrate sources should be natural foods like vegetables and certain fruits. You will then find yourself eschewing many of the starchy and nutrient-deficient goodies that so many of us consume on a daily basis, like junk food and fast food (which, health experts agree, are bad for you anyway) and going for low carb foods.

Refined flour and sugar are perhaps the vilest villains that cause weight gain. Excessive intake of food products rich in these two ingredients can cause your blood glucose levels to increase, triggering the additional production of insulin, and causing the body to convert carbs to fat. Eating low carb foods would ensure that you get only the amount needed by your body. Deprived of surplus carbs, your body would then burn its fat stores instead of carbohydrates, and you start losing weight. What’s more, if you stick to the diet, you’ll find that you’ll tend to shed pounds at a faster pace.

Several studies show additional benefits of consuming low carb foods aside from weight loss. Lowered blood sugar levels will make you less vulnerable to diabetes. Also, clinical evidence shows that a low carb diet helps improve blood cholesterol, reducing your risk for heart disease and stroke. Another finding suggests a relationship between acne and carbohydrates. A diet high in carbohydrates increases insulin production, which would cause a series of hormonal changes that lead to clogged pores and oilier skin – fertile ground for the bacterium that causes pimples.

If the low carb diet has so many health benefits, why have many people abandoned it? One major reason is the diet’s advocacy of fat that is found in food like meat and dairy products. While it is true that low carb diets permit the consumption of fatty, low carb foods like butter, cheese, and pork chops, they do not in any way encourage the gluttony. You should eat only up to the point you don’t feel hungry anymore – there’s no “eat all you can” mentality involved.

Another reason may sound mundane, but is a serious challenge for many people: food boredom. A number of dieters find that they can’t do without the starchy, carb-rich they have become accustomed to; things like bread, pasta, candy, chips. However, if you do decide to go on a low carbohydrate diet, remember that there are many substitute products out in the marketplace that would still enable you to enjoy comfort food, but without the burden of carbs and sugar. For instance, instead of bread products made with refined flour, you can opt for whole grain breads or those made with soy flour and the like.

The abundance of naturally low carb foods cannot be underestimated. Fish, shellfish, and other seafood are rich in protein and low in carbs; so are poultry, meat, and many vegetables. Once you start incorporating all these natural and healthy foods back into your diet, you will find that you won’t miss the junk that you used to consume. And this practice of choosing nutrient-rich foodstuff will be something you will carry with you even after you reach your ideal body weight.

It’s not enough to go on a low carbohydrate diet, or any other diet for that matter, without getting the right amount of exercise. Even though the diet does not focus on calorie-counting, a calorie is still a calorie and if you eat more than what you burn, then you’ll become fat. So if you do decide to go on a low carbohydrate diet, make sure you do it right.