Are Low Carb Diets The Best Way To Lose Body Fat

Are Low Carb Diets The Best Way To Lose Body Fat

These days, the issue of carbohydrate appears to be the burning question on the mind of almost everyone who is interested in getting leaner.
Low, moderate or high carbohydrate diets
In the short term, diets very low in carbohydrates may result in greater weight loss diets higher in high-carbohydrate, but in the long term, weight loss differences appear to be minimal. Very diets low in carbohydrates can be unhealthy if too much animal fat is consumed and where plant foods are too limited. The long-term safety of these diets is unknown.

What are the benefits of a Low Carb Diet?
A Healthy Way to Lose Weight
In general, on a low-carb diet it is not necessary to count calories. Eat all you want, as often as you want, in order to prevent hunger. Don’t stuff yourself, just eat until you’re no longer hungry. Remember, there is a difference between being hungry and having an appetite. Hungar means your body needs more food, so you need to eat. Having an appetite means you have the feeling that you want to eat, whether your body needs more food or not.

In some cases, for those who are metabolically resistant, reducing total food intake may help to stimulate or maintain weight loss. But it’s the carbs, not the total calories that must be kept low. See the Diet Plan for more details.

Because you are consuming fats and oils, your appetite stays under control, because fatty foods are very satisfying. Eating a high level of fat actually causes you to lose weight faster than if you were fasting! That is because, during a fast, your body thinks it is starving, so it kicks into a very high efficiency state of metabolism. This slows down weight loss. But with a high fat diet, combined with very low amounts of carbohydrates, your body knows it is not starving, and metabolism is maintained at a normal level. Although consuming fats is necessary for a healthy diet, try to limit consumption of trans-fats (margarine and shortening). Good fats include olive oil, flax seed oil, canola oil, oils found in nuts, and also real butter. Most fats should be the monounsaturated and saturated fats. Avoid the polyunsaturated fats when possible, except for those containing the essential omega-3 fatty acids contained in fish. (Why?)

But isn’t a low-carb diet high in protein and doesn’t eating a lot of protein damage the kidneys? First of all, a low-carb diet is not necessarily a high protein diet. It’s an adequate protein diet. It’s primarily a high fat diet. But the answer to the second part of the question is no, there is no evidence that eating lots of protein.

Low-carbohydrate diets are the current “in” method used to shed pounds and reveal those muscles you’ve worked hard to gain. But how much stock is there in all these low-carb diets that you see everywhere? And will they be any more beneficial to helping you shed that layer of fat?

Understanding the principles behind low-carb dieting will help you determine whether this diet approach is right for you. To help you make that decision, we’ll take a look at why low-carb dieting works, the drawbacks of low-carb dieting and how you should adapt your training while on a low-carb diet.
why low-carb diets work
Water weight loss
When most people begin low-carb dieting, they’ll initially see a significant change on the scale. This really sparks some excitement in them since they think that they’ve finally found that “miracle cure” to shedding excess body fat. While this is a good thing for motivation and for program adherence, it’s important to realize that much of the initial weight loss of a low-carb diet is due to water being flushed out of the system.

As the muscle glycogen is depleted (since you’re taking in fewer carbs than you were previously), water will also be depleted. By understanding this process, you will then not get as discouraged when the rate of weight loss slows the following week. Recognize that while this new weight loss may be slower, it is more representative of true weight loss — weight loss that is much more likely to stay off.

Likewise, with this same principle, realize that after you have obtained your goal with the diet, and should you decide to abandon it for a more moderate carbohydrate approach, you could see some temporary water weight come back as your body adjusts. Once again, give this a few days and things should normalize.

Hunger control
The next reason that makes people find success with low-carb dieting is that many will find that hunger becomes almost nonexistent. Because carbohydrates typically promote the greatest response to insulin, which then causes you to be hungry once it falls, removing them from your diet will help you control insulin levels and really keep hunger at bay.

Furthermore, if you drop your intake of carbohydrates to really low levels (5% of total calories or less), you could move into a state called ketosis (a state in which your body moves from using carbohydrates as a fuel source to using fat instead), which is an incredibly powerful mechanism for avoiding hunger. Do note that some individuals find that they don’t feel well when they reach ketosis and as such, carbohydrates should not reach levels that are that low.

Fewer food choices
Last, but not least, low-carb dieting works really well because people are forced to remove many of the typical foods that people tend to binge on. Things like pasta, bread, rice, potatoes, and bagels will all be removed from the diet, and as a result you’ll take in fewer calories.

Obviously, this can be offset if you dig into a huge 12-ounce steak every night, but as long as you are smart about your meat and fat selection, the diet is quite simple.

So let’s take a closer look at low-carb diets for arthritis patients interested in sustaining long-term healthy bodyweight. Low-carb dieters eliminate or reduce their carbohydrate intake, increasing their ratio of protein and saturated fat. When a person consumes low levels of carbohydrates, the body burns stored carbohydrates (glycogen) and eventually begins to burn body fat in place of the missing carbs. Low-carbohydrate diets also produce a condition known as ketosis.

As a low-carb diet begins, large amounts of water will be shed, leading to a resulting weight reduction. However, detractors say that much of the loss is fluid rather than fat; the lost water is regained quickly when balanced nutrition is resumed. Appetite, often reduced during ketosis, also returns when a balanced diet is resumed.

One idea behind low-carb diets is that eating lots of protein and low levels of carbohydrates can make a person feel full and satisfied on fewer calories. However, there’s not much long-term data to go on, some dietitians say.

“Low-carb diets are difficult to stay on for the long term,” said Beverly Moellering, Outpatient Dietician at Lutheran Hospital, Fort Wayne, Indiana, in a March 2004 interview. “It is a short-term diet, not a lifestyle change. To follow it long-term is not practical because it cuts out a lot of variety in the choice of fruits, vegetables and whole grains that are essential in a balanced diet.”

The lack of variety in food choices may prevent dieters from maintaining the diet long-term, Moellering said. “I haven’t seen many long-term studies on these diets because people are not losing weight after the first six months,” Moellering said. She said it has been difficult to establish long-term studies on low-carb diets because once dieters’ weight loss plateaus for an extended period of time, they no longer are motivated to deprive themselves of essential food groups and remain on the diet.

“This is why the overwhelming majority of low-carb dieters that I see revert to their old unhealthy eating habits,” which results in immediate weight rebound, Moellering said.

There are potential health concerns associated with low carb diets, Moellering added. Some of the most serious concerns relate to nutritional deficiencies. Many of the high-protein foods that people eat on this type of diet — meat, cheese and dairy products — are high in saturated fat and low in vitamins and minerals.

“The popularity of low-carb dieting is based on the perception it helps with short-term weight loss,” said Jenny Laird, M.S., RN, Clinical Dietician, in a March 2004 interview. But the effect may be short-lived. “People with arthritis need to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. This diet reduces fruits and vegetables, which is not good,” said Laird, who works at Parkview Hospital, part of a large regional hospital system in Indiana.

The easy, expedient initial weight loss becomes the selling point of these diets. A quick fix may seem appealing to arthritis sufferers seeking to relieve the amount of pressure bearing down on their joints. Laird and others urge a more balanced approach.

Despite the cautionary comments from dietitians and others, low-carb diets are now being promoted everywhere.

A Healthy, Practical Approach

Laird said, “My suggestion is to pick out the beneficial parts of the low-carb diet; for instance, cut back on the processed foods, which don’t add nutritional value anyway. But don’t cut out the healthy carbs, fruits or vegetables,” Laird said.

So a person with arthritis could reduce carb intake and launch a healthy nutrition program by reducing some of the carbohydrates that don’t add to overall health: potato chips, excessive serving sizes of bread and pasta, baked goods, candies and so on. Reduce “wasteful” carbs that contribute to weight-gain but that add no nutritional benefit. For many people, this step alone, coupled with exercise, may yield the results they desire.

It’s not necessary to abstain from sweets and processed food all of the time, but everyone should try to work on their individual weak spots. Eating smaller-but-balanced portions at mealtime, reducing snacks, and exercising will improve your odds of achieving weight-loss in a way that is sustainable for life.

A crucial first step in controlling your weight is to talk with your physician. Certainly have this conversation before experimenting with any diet that does not offer nutritional balance. Your local hospital probably has a dietitian on staff who can answer questions and offer objective information, too.

Successful weight loss comes from maintaining a healthy lifestyle, exercise, and a nutrition program that you can thrive on forever.

Burning Fat
Much research has proven that dietary fat is not necessarily converted into body fat. Carbohydrates, on the other hand, are readily converted into fat by the action of insulin. According to many experts, most overweight people became overweight due to a condition called hyperinsulinemia — elevated insulin levels in the blood. When you eat a high-carbohydrate meal, the increased blood sugar stimulates insulin production by the pancreas. Insulin is the hormone that allows blood sugar to be used by the cells. However, a side effect of insulin is that it also causes fat to be deposited, and it stimulates your brain to produce hunger signals. So what do you do? You eat more carbohydrates, and the cycle repeats. In time, your body cells become resistant to insulin, meaning that your pancreas has to work overtime, producing up to four or five times as much insulin just to keep up with the demand. It has been shown that high levels of insulin have a deleterious effect on the body, including premature aging.

Why does dropping your carbs help you lose more fat?

•Eating less carbohydrates forces your body to burn fat for fuel instead of sugar. Reducing carbs and increasing protein accelerates fat loss by controlling your insulin and blood sugar more effectively.
•The high protein intake speeds up your metabolism because of the “thermic effect” of protein food. It also helps eliminate water retention, giving you the “hard” and “dry” look you need onstage to win contests.
However, a moderate carb diet, with slight carb restriction (especially at night) is the most effective way for bodybuilders to get ripped. A diet comprising of 175 -200 grams of carbs is advisable with most of the carbs eaten early in the day.

Every 4th day, you can have a high carb day (350 grams) to replenish your depleted glycogen stores. With 175 - 200 grams of carbs, that is just enough fuel to provide the energy and to prevent muscle loss.

Problems with low carb diet

However it is not advisable to drop carbohydrate further to 30 or 50 grams a day (like many fad diets recommend) to get more ripped or to get ripped faster? Because, without carbs, you’ll have no energy to train hard. Sure, tuna fish and water will get you ripped all right, but if your workouts suffer because your diet is “killing you,” you aren’t going to look or feel your best.

Another big problem caused by very low carb diets is loss of lean body mass. The lower you drop your carbs, the more likely you are to lose muscle along with the fat.

A third problem with very low carb diets is the rebound effect. The lower you drop your carbs, the faster you will rebound and gain the fat back when you add the carbs back in.

Are you an endomorph or an ectomorph? Do you have a fast metabolism or a slow metabolism? Are you naturally lean or naturally heavy? Depending on your genetics, you might thrive on high carbs or you might need a high protein, low carb diet to get results.

But beware: even if you think you are the carb sensitive, slow-metabolism type, the middle path (moderate carb restriction) is the most sensible way to go.

The only way to determine how many grams of carbs is right for you is to experiment until you find your “critical level.” If you start dropping body fat rapidly at 200 grams a day, then why on earth would you subject yourself to the torture of going even lower and doing one of those 30-40 grams a day “ketogenic” diets?

Remember, there is no single diet that works for everyone.

type of low carb diet plan will, most likely than not, produce considerable results with concern to losing weight. However, I would like to stress that this weight loss will come as a sacrifice to other things in your life as well.

The first, most apparent, effect of low carb diet plans is that they greatly deplete your energy. This is simply because you are not taking in the proper amount of carbs needed to properly run on.

Carbs are your main source of energy. A low carb diet plan obviously reduces the amount of carbs your body needs to function properly. The result is drowsiness.

A way to combat this drowsiness may be to go to bed earlier and sleep longer. The challenge is that you are going to need to battle with the feelings of drowsiness for a while.

The only way to get lasting results with a low carb diet is to stay on it for a long time. If you go on one for the short term, you will put on the extra weight once you begin to ingest more carbs.

One thing you should watch out for is the binging. Once people finish their diet cycle they go on a heavy food binge as a way of making up for all the food they had deprived themselves of. It is not hard to see what effects this will have on your weight!

Something that may improve your success with this type of diet plan is to factor it in slowly with your current diet. This may help your transition to lower energy easier to deal with.

I understand how troubling it is to be overweight. Feeling winded after climbing a flight of stairs is beyond any doubt scary and embarrassing.

The other extreme; the high carb, very low fat diet, isn’t the best approach for bodybuilders either. These diets (60-70% carb, 20-30% protein and 10% or less fat) were trendy with bodybuilders for a while, especially back in the 80’s and early 90’s (Remember Nathan Pritkin, Dean Ornish and Robert Haas?), but their popularity quickly faded. Those who tried it discovered that it wasn’t nearly as effective as the low to moderate carb, high protein diet.

Why does dropping your carbs help you lose more fat? There are several reasons, but to avoid getting into a complicated discussion of nutritional biochemistry, let’s just say that eating less carbs forces your body to burn fat for fuel instead of sugar. Reducing carbs and increasing protein accelerates fat loss by controlling your insulin and blood sugar more effectively. The high protein in these diets also speeds up your metabolism because of the “thermic effect” of protein food. It also helps eliminate water retention, giving you the “hard” and “dry” look you need onstage to win contests.

In my opinion, a moderate carb diet, with slight carb restriction (especially at night) is the most effective (and most “sane”) way for bodybuilders to get ripped. For example, my contest diet is about 175 -200 grams of carbs with most of the carbs eaten early in the day. Every 4th day, I have a high carb day (350 grams) to replenish my depleted glycogen stores. By contrast, my off-season diet is 350 - 450 grams of carbs. With 175 - 200 grams of carbs, that is just enough fuel to provide the energy I needed to train hard and to prevent me from losing muscle.

Would dropping carbs even further to 30 or 50 grams a day (like many fad diets recommend) get you more ripped or get you ripped faster? Maybe. But the problem is, without carbs, you’ll have no energy to train hard. Sure, tuna fish and water will get you ripped all right, but if your workouts suffer because your diet is “killing you,” you aren’t going to look or feel your best.

Another big problem caused by very low carb diets is loss of lean body mass. The lower you drop your carbs, the more likely you are to lose muscle along with the fat.

A third problem with very low carb diets is the rebound effect. The lower you drop your carbs, the faster you will rebound and gain the fat back when you add the carbs back in. I swear I’ve seen guys blow up 30-40 lbs in a matter of DAYS after their contest because they went on a carbohydrate and fat binge after a four-month zero carb diet. It wasn’t a pretty sight!

When I experimented with a very low carb diet, (about 40-70 grams a day), I lost huge amounts of lean body mass and looked very “flat” and “stringy.” I was also one irritable, grouchy SOB. My friends nicknamed me “fog boy” because (sez them) I stumbled around in a fog-like daze. One friend who hadn’t seen me since the previous year when I was a “bulked up” and carbed up 208 lbs, saw me 48 lbs lighter after the low carb diet (yes, 160 scrawny pounds) and he said, “holy sh** Tom, what happened to you? You’re HALF the man you were last year!” That was the last time I ever tried an extremely low carb diet.

Nutrition is a highly individual issue. Some people can’t seem to lose weight unless they reduce their carbohydrate intake. Other people can eat bagels and pasta all day long and they have six pack abs. How many carbs you eat therefore, depends on your body type. Are you an endomorph or an ectomorph? Do you have a fast metabolism or a slow metabolism? Are you naturally lean or naturally heavy? Depending on your genetics, you might thrive on high carbs or you might need a high protein, low carb diet to get results. But beware: even if you think you are the carb sensitive, slow-metabolism type, the middle path (moderate carb restriction) is the most sensible way to go.

The only way to determine how many grams of carbs is right for YOU is to experiment until you find your “critical level.” If you start dropping body fat rapidly at 200 grams a day, then why on earth would you subject yourself to the torture of going even lower and doing one of those 30-40 grams a day “ketogenic” diets? Why kill yourself?

Remember, there is no single diet that works for everyone. There are some universal nutritional laws that apply to everyone, but be very careful of “gurus” who use the words “always” and “never” or radicals that make statements like “carbohydrates make you fat.”

If you want to get ripped, you should also choose the type of carbohydrates you eat carefully - not just the quantity, is the quality. In addition to moderating total daily carb intake, I recommend that you fall ANY processed carbohydrates including breads, crackers, pretzels, pasta, bagels and only natural for the transition, not carbs like vegetables, oatmeal, potatoes, rice, potatoes, etc. This single change to go a long way to help you get leaner (and healthier!)

The bottom line is that it is not correct to say, “carbs are fattening,” but there is some truth to the claim that a low-carb diet you lean against a high-carb diet - enough to approach a fair way and individualized. As in most areas of your life, going to extremes with the diet usually do more harm than good.