With the sudden boom of dieting in the country, different diet programs have been introduced in the country. Although many experts believe that proper exercise and not only diet can lose those pounds in a healthy way, many people still believe in the power of diet programs and diet plans. One of the most controversial kinds of diet plans is the low-carbohydrate diet program, which focuses on the reduction of carbohydrate consumption in the body.

According to the theory, when carbohydrates are no longer being taken in, the body will be forced to use fats and water as alternative sources of energy; thereby helping to shed off those unwanted pounds.

Fats, unbeknownst to many, can actually be converted to energy. The body just doesn’t use it as the first priority because it is more complex in structure and therefore, harder to break down and convert into energy. Among the popular low carbohydrate diets in the country is the Atkins diet.

Despite arguments from its critics, low carbohydrate diet has proven its effectiveness in terms of losing that extra weight. To date, it counts millions of followers not only in the country but also outside America.

Actually, cutting down on carbohydrates in the diet is a practice that people have been doing for years. When people cut down on their rice or bread or do not eat rice at all, they are reducing their carbohydrate intake. Of course, because it is not an official diet plan they are not really restricting themselves completely. When you are under a diet plan, you are not allowed to eat any kind of carbohydrates.

One of the advantages of low carbohydrate diet is the fact that it can actually increase the levels of good cholesterol in the body. This is really good news to people who have a heart problem. This is perhaps the reason why Atkins diet was used for cardio patients. This diet plan can also reduce the amount of triglycerides in the body. Triglycerides can be dangerous when combined with a high level of LDL or bad cholesterol. Both can increase the risk for heart attack and heart disease.

Low carb diet plans are also found to be good in balancing mood swings. They will not be prone to extreme lows such as depression or extreme high. People who are under the program are found to have fairly stable energy levels unlike those with high carbo levels.

LOW CARB DIET 101

Indeed, a lot has been said about various diets and how these work for some people. There’ s the Atkins Diet, the South Beach, the After-Six Diet plan and so on goes on the list of diet crazes that swept the western world and even Asian regions. Among all these, one type of diet has become popular than the others it’s called the Low Carb Diet.

Basically, low carb diet actually emphasizes cutting down on from a person’s daily food intake. This diet allows the dieter to take in all foods except those that have carbohydrates. Although there are many testimonies that prove that low carb diet really works, you must be very knowledgeable first about its pros and cons before deciding to go with the hype.

People who have tried low carb diets say that its advantages include:

1. Faster and quicker weight loss compared to fasting.

2. The diet may result to higher protein intake and absorption.

3. It stabilizes blood sugar levels and is extremely beneficial to those who suffer from diabetics.

Experts say that the disadvantages of low carb diets may include:

– High cholesterol levels due to the lack of protein-rich and fatty foods that has saturated fats.
– Increased blood pressure due to elimination of whole grains products that help lower blood pressure.
– It can lead to osteoporosis because there will be no enough supply of calcium.
– In some cases, this diet can lead to diarrhea, constipation, and severe headaches.
– Low carb diets increase the possibility of lower mental acuity.
– Instead of losing weight, this diet can lead to weight gain.
If you are planning on taking low carb diet, here are some helpful tips to keep you in track:

1. Make sure to drink lots of water to avoid dehydration and constipation.

2. Consider taking in more fiber and vitamin supplements.

3. Cease from consuming products that has sugar.

4. Cut down on taking in products that contain caffeine.

5. Monitor your daily carbohydrate intake.

6. Don’t mind calories, they are allowed in this diet.

7. Acquire a carbohydrate counter to keep you updated.

8. Do regular physical activities and exercise to reach ketosis easily.

9. Brace yourself for diarrhea that may last for a couple of days.

10. If possible, avoid eating foods that have saturated fats.

Unless you are a hermit and living without the news, you must have heard of low carb diets like Atkins diet or South Beach dieting plans. The underlying principle is that it is the excess carbohydrates and not the fats that cause weight gain.

Low carbohydrate diets advocates that we restrict the carbohydrate intake to as little as 20 grams a day or less if better depending on the program. However the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine of the academies of Science recommended that the daily allowance of carbohydrates for young adults should not fall below the minimum of 100 grams.

As early as 2004, both the Atkins Nutritionals and Dr. Barry Sears, creator of “The Zone”, stated that they do not recommended their products for these people and only market their dieting programs to older adults only. Dr. Arthur Agatston, the author of the South Beach Diet does recommend his plan for young adults, but they have to omit the first phase of his two weeks introductory program.

Drs. Michael and Mary Dan Eades, creator of Protein Power, says that their programs can be used on these young people so long as they start in phase two. SugarBusters, which is less restrictive in terms of carbohydrate allowances, has a separate plan for these young people.

The carbohydrates that you consume in food are the main source for cellular energy and central nervous systems functioning. Carbohydrates convert to glucose and the pranceas pumps out insulin that unlocks cells and allows the glucose energy inside. Low carb advocates says that consuming too much carbohydrate overload this finely balanced system and triggers the release of too much insulin which eventually will be stored as fats. Too much circulating insulin is also associated with insulin resistance and raises heart diseases risk.

Many low carbohydrate diets replace sugar and starches with protein rich food such as red meat and eggs. Critics of carbohydrate reduction say that the high levels of artery clogging fats and cholesterols from such foods are a one way ticket to heart diseases.

However some studies have found that after six to twelve months, many people on a reduced carbohydrate diet have actually improved their blood cholesterol level. But there are no studies longer than a year that measure the impact of these low carbohydrate and high protein diets on the cardiovascular system. Until now, we still do not have enough evidence and the jury is still out.

Low carbohydrate diets have been made popular by weight loss schemes such as the Atkins diet and South Beach diet. They are appealing due to the fact that the foods you can eat are essentially the opposite of most other diets. That is, you eat a lot of protein and fats and very restricted carbohydrates.

The basis of this diet is that you require carbohydrates to produce insulin, and it’s this that makes you metabolise the fats in your food. Without the carbohydrates, you put yourself in the position that the food you eat goes essentially undigested. Your body reacts by using up it’s stored carbohydrates (in the form of glycogen) very quickly and you then go into a state of ketosis. This results in a very rapid initial weight loss since a lot of water is also stored with the glycogen.

Depending on the particular diet, the carbohydrate restriction can be very severe – for example on the Atkins diet, in the initial phases you may eat no more than 15-20 grams of carbohydrate a day. Also, the type of carbohydrate becomes important too. It becomes permissible to eat restricted amounts of fruit, but the real issue is refined carbohydrates, as these cause spikes in insulin production.

So, the foods which are a no-no are things which contain milled white flour and white sugar (and other sources of refined carbohydrates). These include

* Sugar
* Bread
* Cakes
* Sweets (candy to our American friends)
* Alcoholic drinks
* Rice
* Pasta
* any non-diet drinks
* almost all ready-meals

and also, in the initial strict part of the regime,

* Potatoes
* Rice
* Fruit
* Vegetables (apart from a small quantity of leafy green vegetables)

The things which you may eat are

* Any unprocessed fresh meat
* Unprocessed fish
* Eggs
* Cream
* Oils
* Cheese
* Nuts

A typical day on this kind of weight loss regime might consist of a cheese omellete for breakfast, perhaps some chicken and salad for lunch followed by steak and salad for dinner. So this type of diet is good if you are a meat eater, but near impossible if you are a vegetarian. It also seems to be more popular than some other regimes with men.

Some variations on this type of weight loss scheme allow you to eat fruit, but at least 30 minutes before any meal and at least 4 hours after any meal. This is so that the natural sugars in the fruit do not mix with the protein and fats in your main meal.

Still other variations also restrict your calorific intake to further hasten your weight loss.

However, do bear in mind that like all diet programmes, it relies on denial. In this case, denial of items like bread, sugar, alcohol, coffee, most desserts, many sauces, and almost all pre-packaged foods. It’s also relatively expensive since it’s all meat, fish and cheese.

This article discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of both specialist diets and basic healthy eating. I must emphasise that these are my own views and opinions, and I accept that not everyone shares or supports them! I have tried to offer evidence for the statements I have made throughout this article.

When I refer to specialist diets I am generally referring to diets such as the Atkins, Cabbage Soup, Drop a Jean Size, Slim-fast, low carbohydrate diets and low fat diets, to name but a few. But what do all of these diets have in common?

The majority of specialist diets aim to give people a simple to follow approach for restricting calorific intake, hence leading to weight loss. This is often dressed-up as something more than just calorie restriction, but the outcome is still the same. Usually this is achieved by limiting, or removing, one or more of the macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins or fats) from some, or all meals throughout the day. So how does this impact on the nutritional requirements of the human body?

One example is the Atkins diet, which aims to alter the way the body produces energy by virtually removing carbohydrates from every meal. In Dr Atkins’ book he refer to a state called Ketosis, where fats are converted directly to energy when carbohydrates are not present. This diet has been seen to be very successful at achieving weight loss in a number of studies. But how can a diet be good for you if it alters your body’s natural energy production mechanisms? Ketosis only takes place when the body is starved of carbohydrates, but the central nervous system relies solely on carbohydrates for energy. How can this promote good health?

Another example of these types of diets is low fat diets, which acknowledge that fat accounts for a greater number of calories per gram than protein or carbohydrates. Hence they aim to minimise fat intake to reduce calorie intake. Although saturated fat can be harmful to the human body in large quantities, essential fatty acids play many important roles such as temperature regulation, hormone synthesis and most importantly, the absorption of many vitamins and antioxidants. Restricting fat in your diet can therefore lead to vitamin deficiencies, which can have a dramatic effect on a person’s overall health.

I am sure by now you are feeling confused about what diet you should follow in order to manage your weight and to maintain your health. My advice would be to aim to follow a general healthy eating plan, whilst trying to evaluate and approximate your calorie intake. For many of you this will not be information that you haven’t heard before, but you may have found it difficult to develop a healthy eating plan for yourself. On my website I have tried to provide the information that you will need to construct this plan. Take a look at the section on ‘Balancing Calories’ and the ‘Healthy Eating Guide’ (both in the Nutritional Information section of my site) and use the information to modify or overhaul your existing diet or eating habits.

So what are the disadvantages of following a healthy eating plan? The only thing that can be construed as a disadvantage (and wrongly so!) is that you will not see the miracle weight losses you see when you start a specialist diet. To address this point, (and to promote healthy eating) more often than not the vast quantity of weight lost in the first week of a specialist diet is due to water losses. When you hear of people losing 3 or 4 kilos in one week of dieting you may be amazed, but let me try to quantify this for you. To lose 1 kg of fat you must burn 7000 calories more than you consume and to lose 4 kg of fat would require a calorie deficit of 28,000 calories, but on average most people’s bodies burn around 2500 calories per day (17,500 per week). So as you can see it is almost physically impossible to lose 4kg of fat in 1 week. If you follow a healthy eating plan, taking in 500 calories less than you burn each day, you will lose 0.5 kg per week, every single week and your body will still receive the nutrients it requires maintaining a good level of health. You will also be developing an understanding of healthy eating, which you can employ for the rest of your somewhat longer life!!!