Should You Consider Going On A Low Carbohydrate Diet?
Low carbohydrate diets have been around for many years now and they are relatively simple to understand. They basically require you to avoid foods that contain a lot of carbohydrates, and eliminate your carbohydrate intake as much as possible. Things like pasta, bread and potatoes are replaced with fats and proteins.
The objective of low carbohydrate diets is to compel the body to produce it's energy from fat and protein. This is achieved by reducing insulin production in the body due to your low carbohydrate intake.
There are several variations of this diet. There is of course the Atkins diet, which is easily the most famous and most widely publicised low carbohydrate diet. However there are several others as well such as the Stillman diet, Scarsdale diet, Ketogenic diet and Hollywood diet. All of these can help you lose weight.
These diets can be really effective and will often lead to rapid weight loss. However the results are not permanent because the initial weight loss is due to muscle loss and loss of water. Furthermore it can cause some harmful side effects, although the people that use this diet, such as movie stars who need to get in shape for a new role, for example, are not usually worried about these side effects.
You really should be aware of these side effects, however. For a start you may find that this type of diet results in bad breath due to a condition called ketosis, and may subsequently result in nausea and weakness.
Furthermore it should be pointed out that important vitamins and minerals that are supplied to the body by fruits, vegetables and grains are not part of these diets. So followers of these diets will often be deficient in nutrients, and their bodies will contain too much protein, which is strenuous and harmful for the kidneys.
These diets can cause bone and liver disorders too, and can have an adverse impact on your health in the long run. Plus the presence of lots of saturated fat in these diets can cause heart-related conditions in the long term.
The truth is that a balanced diet combined with lots of exercise will always be the best (and safest) way to lose weight. This method does not of course give you the rapid weight loss that low carbohydrate diets often do, and it requires a lot more perseverance. However it is definitely safer than sticking to a low carbohydrate diet, which go against all the advice we are given with regards to healthy eating.
The objective of low carbohydrate diets is to compel the body to produce it's energy from fat and protein. This is achieved by reducing insulin production in the body due to your low carbohydrate intake.
There are several variations of this diet. There is of course the Atkins diet, which is easily the most famous and most widely publicised low carbohydrate diet. However there are several others as well such as the Stillman diet, Scarsdale diet, Ketogenic diet and Hollywood diet. All of these can help you lose weight.
These diets can be really effective and will often lead to rapid weight loss. However the results are not permanent because the initial weight loss is due to muscle loss and loss of water. Furthermore it can cause some harmful side effects, although the people that use this diet, such as movie stars who need to get in shape for a new role, for example, are not usually worried about these side effects.
You really should be aware of these side effects, however. For a start you may find that this type of diet results in bad breath due to a condition called ketosis, and may subsequently result in nausea and weakness.
Furthermore it should be pointed out that important vitamins and minerals that are supplied to the body by fruits, vegetables and grains are not part of these diets. So followers of these diets will often be deficient in nutrients, and their bodies will contain too much protein, which is strenuous and harmful for the kidneys.
These diets can cause bone and liver disorders too, and can have an adverse impact on your health in the long run. Plus the presence of lots of saturated fat in these diets can cause heart-related conditions in the long term.
The truth is that a balanced diet combined with lots of exercise will always be the best (and safest) way to lose weight. This method does not of course give you the rapid weight loss that low carbohydrate diets often do, and it requires a lot more perseverance. However it is definitely safer than sticking to a low carbohydrate diet, which go against all the advice we are given with regards to healthy eating.
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