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Low Carb Diets - Do They Really Work?
With so many conflicting
studies and vague interpretation of information, it's not
surprising that there is a lot of confusion when it comes
to the value, safety and efficacy of low-carb diets. It
seems like heated debates are everywhere!
Whether it's the South Beach or Atkins, or some other
low-carb plan, as many as 30 million Americans are
following a low-carb diet.
Advocates contend that the high amount of carbohydrates
in our diet has led to increasing problems with obesity,
diabetes, and other health problems. Critics, on the
other hand, attribute obesity and related health problems
to over-consumption of calories from any source, and lack
of physical activity. Critics also express concern that
the lack of grains, fruits, and vegetables in
low-carbohydrate diets may lead to deficiencies of some
key nutrients, including fiber, vitamin C, folic acid,
and several minerals.
Any diet, weather low or high in carbohydrate, can
produce significant weight loss during the initial stages
of the diet. But remember, the key to successful dieting
is in being able to lose the weight permanently. Put
another way, what does the scale show a year after going
off the diet?
Let's see if we can debunk some of the mystery about
low-carb diets. Below, is a listing of some relevant
points taken from recent studies and scientific
literature. Please note there may be insufficient
information available to answer all questions.
- Differences Between Low-Carb Diets
There are many popular diets designed to lower
carbohydrate consumption. Reducing total carbohydrate in
the diet means that protein and fat will represent a
proportionately greater amount of the total caloric
intake.
Atkins and Protein Power diets restrict carbohydrate to a
point where the body becomes ketogenic. Other low-carb
diets like the Zone and Life Without Bread are less
restrictive. Some, like Sugar Busters claim to eliminate
only sugars and foods that elevate blood sugar levels
excessively.
- What We Know about Low-Carb Diets
Almost all of the studies to date have been small with a
wide variety of research objectives. Carbohydrate,
caloric intake, diet duration and participant
characteristics varied greatly.
Most of the studies to date have two things in common:
None of the studies had participants with a mean age over
53 and none of the controlled studies lasted longer than
90 days.
Information on older adults and long-term results are
scarce.
Many diet studies fail to monitor the amount of exercise,
and therefore caloric expenditure, while participants are
dieting. This helps to explain discrepancies between
studies.
The weight loss on low-carb diets is a function of
caloric restriction and diet duration, and not with
reduced carbohydrate intake. This finding suggests that
if you want to lose weight, you should eat fewer calories
and do so over a long time period.
Little evidence exists on the long-range safety of
low-carb diets. Despite the medical community concerns,
no short-term adverse effects have been found on
cholesterol, glucose, insulin and blood-pressure levels
among participants on the diets. But, adverse effects may
not show up because of the short period of the studies.
Researchers note that losing weight typically leads to an
improvement in these levels anyway, and this may offset
an increase caused by a high fat diet. The long range
weight change for low-carb and other types of diets is
similar.
Most low-carb diets cause ketosis. Some of the potential
consequences are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and
confusion. During the initial phase of low-carb dieting
some fatigue and constipation may be encountered.
Generally, these symptoms dissipate quickly. Ketosis may
also give the breath a fruity odor, somewhat like
nail-polish remover (acetone).
Low-carb diets do not enable the consumption of more
calories than other kinds of diets, as has been often
reported. A calorie is a calorie and it doesn't matter
weather they come from carbohydrates or fat. Study
discrepancies are likely the result of uncontrolled
circumstances; i.e. diet participants that cheat on
calorie consumption, calories burned during exercise, or
any number of other factors. The drop-out rate for strict
(i.e. less than 40 grams of CHO/day) low-carb diets is
relatively high.
What Should You Do? - There are 3 important points I
would like to re-emphasize:
- The long-range success rate for low-carb and other
types of diets is similar.
- Despite their popularity, little information exists on
the long-term efficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate
diets.
- Strict low-carb diets are usually not sustainable as a
normal way of eating. Boredom usually overcomes
willpower.
It is obvious after reviewing the topic, that more,
well-designed and controlled studies are needed. There
just isn't a lot of good information available,
especially concerning long-range effects. Strict low-carb
diets produce ketosis which is an abnormal and
potentially stressful metabolic state. Under some
circumstances this might cause health related
complications.
The diet you choose should be a blueprint for a lifetime
of better eating, not just a quick weight loss plan to
reach your weight goal. If you can't see yourself eating
the prescribed foods longer than a few days or a week,
then chances are it's not the right diet. To this end,
following a moderately low fat diet with a healthy
balance of fat, protein, carbohydrate and other nutrients
is beneficial.
If you do decide to follow a low-carb plan, remember that
certain dietary fats are associated with reduction of
disease. Foods high in unsaturated fats that are free of
trans-fatty acids such as olive oil, fish, flaxseeds, and
nuts are preferred to fats from animal origins.
Even promoters of the Atkins diet now say people on their
plan should limit the amount of red meat and saturated
fat they eat. Atkins representatives are telling health
professionals that only 20 percent of a dieter's calories
should come from saturated fat (i.e. meat, cheese,
butter). This change comes as Atkins faces competition
from other popular low-carb diets that call for less
saturated fat, such as the South Beach diet plan.
Low-carb dieting should not be considered as a license to
gorge on red meat!
Another alternative to "strict" low-carb
dieting would be to give up some of the bad carbohydrate
foods but not "throw out the baby with the bath
water". In other words, foods high in processed
sugar, snacks, and white bread would be avoided, but
foods high in complex carbohydrates such as fruit,
potatoes and whole grains, retained.
By: Cliff Baker
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The authors site www.TheFatBurner.net offers you unbiased
information on how to lose weight and keep it off
permanently by burning body fat and without wrecking your
metabolism, without drugs and without expensive
supplements.
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