Is The Low Carb Diet Good or Bad for Your Weight Loss Success?
In this article I will offer some outside the box thinking towards the question; Are Low Carb Diets Good or Bad for your Weight Loss Success? I will also explain the difference between good carbs and bad carbs. And in closing share with you a new diet that is changing the way we think.
Everybody has heard of a "low carb" diet especially since they are emerging as the newest trend in dieting.
But do they really work? And if so, are they the solution to weight loss that everybody is looking for?
I don't think so, because most low carb diets have several problems which make losing weight very difficult for the "average" dieter.
For example, if you follow the Atkins diet (a popular low carb program) then the restriction on carbs for the first couple weeks is very severe (by almost any standards).
The Atkins program allows just 20 grams of "net carbs" per day during the first phase of the diet (which usually lasts for 2 weeks).
Just to give you an idea of how few carbs that really is - even a large apple has more than 20 grams of "net carbs".
This low level of carbs is often too severe for the "average" dieter to tolerate for 2 weeks straight, and in fact eating such a low level of carbs can make a person feel "weak" and "miserable" all day long (because your body needs more carbs than that for energy).
Other low carb diets (such as the South Beach Diet) are not quite as severe as the Atkins Plan, but in my opinion even the South Beach Diet is not as easy to follow as it could be.
Good carbs VS bad carbs
First of all, the technical term for good carbs is complex carbs, and the technical term for bad carbs is simple carbs. Bad carbs (simple) are high glycemic. Good carbs (complex) are low glycemic. The term "glycemic" refers to the amount and speed a food will raise your blood sugar and insulin levels (which leads to fat gain).
"Bad carbs" (simple) are foods like white bread, white rice, pasta and all typical junk food high in sugar.
"Good carbs" (complex) on the other hand are foods such as oatmeal, whole wheat bread, brown rice, and other whole grains.
Does it actually work?
Yes, people have lost weight on a low carb diet. That is the truth. However, bare in mind that people tend to lose a lot of weight early with this method of weight loss because of all of the water they are losing. Due to eating only low carb foods, glycogen is used for energy, and this causes a decrease in water weight. Also bare in mind that limiting carbs is also limiting calories. A decrease in calories often leads to a decrease in weight.
My personal opinion...
As I mentioned before, the low carb diet can lead to weight loss. People have indeed lost weight using it. If the whole low carb foods craze appeals to you, then by all means, give it shot. If the whole theory behind it all seems like something that is right for you, go for it. I want to make that point clear. Some diets fit certain people better, and maybe this one fits you. However, to me the low carb diet is like hopping on 1 leg to get somewhere when you could have just walked. You may still get there, but your method of travel was unnecessary. My personal opinion? I prefer to walk instead of hop. However you get there is completely up to you.
I believe that a successful diet needs to be easy to follow - because that's the only way that people will stick to the diet and lose weight.
I believe that diets should not make you feel "miserable" and "weak" all day long, because if a diet makes you feel miserable and weak then it's going to be very difficult for average dieters to adhere to such programs.
I am not saying that all low carb diets are as restrictive as the Atkins Diet is, but I am saying that most low carb diets are so hard to follow that "average dieters" will probably wind up feeling hungry and weak all day long (which is not a good thing for dieting success in my opinion).
I believe that "low carbs" is not the answer to losing weight; since your body needs a reasonable amount of all 3 types of calories to lose weight consistently (protein, carbs, and fat).
The truth is that your body needs a reasonable amount of protein, carbs and fat calories daily to maintain its consistency and balance.
To lose weight quickly you must eat all 3 types of calories in the right proportions, and that's why most dieters fail. They fail because nobody knows what the right proportions of calories should be.
To begin losing weight fast I recommend using a brand new type of diet never seen before, focusing on "calorie shifting" -- since there are no specific "portion limits" at any meal and dieters can eat as much as they need to at each meal. Also, unlimited amounts of certain condiments can be eaten with every meal.
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History & Background Of The Low Carb Diet
The term low carb wasn't really coined until around 1992 when the USDA announced America's model food pyramid included six to eleven servings daily of grains and starches. However, low carb dieting dates back more than 100 years before the trendy Atkins diet to 1864 with a pamphlet titled "Letter on Corpulence" written by William Banting, as close to the first commercial low carb diet as you could get.
Banting had suffered a series of debilitating health problems due mainly to being overweight or 'corpulent'. He searched in vain for cures to his weight problem, which many doctors at that time believed to be a necessary side effect of old age. He also tried eating less but he continued to gain weight and have various health problems. He could not understand how the small amounts of food he was eating led to his weight problem:
"Few men have led a more active life - bodily or mentally - from a constitutional anxiety for regularity, precision, and order, during fifty years' business career, from which I had retired, so that my corpulence and subsequent obesity were not through neglect of necessary bodily activity, nor from excessive eating, drinking, or self indulgence of any kind, except that I partook of the simple aliments of bread, milk, butter, beer, sugar, and potatoes more freely than my age required?"
Many contemporary Americans on the go may recognize Banting?s previous unhealthy daily diet:
"My former dietary table was bread and milk for breakfast, or a pint of tea with plenty of milk, sugar, and buttered toast; meat, beer, much bread (of which I was always very fond) and pastry for dinner, the meal of tea similar to that of breakfast, and generally a fruit tart or bread and milk for supper. I had little comfort and far less sound sleep."
Just substitute a Pop tart, doughnut or muffin with coffee and plenty of cream and sugar for breakfast, a fast food burger and fries with a supersized soft drink for lunch and a frozen pot pie or pizza for dinner followed by dessert and you can see how Banting's diet was so much like the typical fast-paced modern day Americans.
When his physician placed these items on a "forbidden foods list," Banting lost 50 pounds and 13 inches in one year! Let me repeat that, fifty pounds and thirteen inches! He kept it off, living a long and much healthier life.
His new diet plan consisted of a number of meat dishes and he listed it as follows:
"For breakfast, at 9.00 A.M., I take five to six ounces of either beef mutton, kidneys, broiled fish, bacon, or cold meat of any kind except pork or veal; a large cup of tea or coffee (without milk or sugar), a little biscuit, or one ounce of dry toast; making together six ounces solid, nine liquid.
For dinner, at 2.00 P.M., Five or six ounces of any fish except salmon, herrings, or eels, any meat except pork or veal, any vegetable except potato, parsnip, beetroot, turnip, or carrot, one ounce of dry toast, fruit out of a pudding not sweetened, any kind of poultry or game, and two or three glasses of good claret, sherry, or Madeira- Champagne, port, and beer forbidden; making together ten to twelve ounces solid, and ten liquid.
For tea, at 6.00 P.M., Two or three ounces of cooked fruit, a rusk or two, and a cup of tea without milk or sugar; making two to four ounces solid, nine liquid.
For supper, at 9.00 P.M. Three or four ounces of meat or fish, similar to dinner, with a glass or two of claret or sherry and water; making four ounces solid and seven liquid.
For nightcap, if required, a tumbler of grog (gin, whisky, or brandy, without sugar) or a glass or two of claret or sherry."
So great were the changes in his appearance and health that his friends and acquaintances began to notice and just like today wanted to know what diet he was on. Most important of all Banting could feel and see a difference himself.
"I am told by all who know me that my personal appearance greatly improved, and that I seem to bear the stamp of good health; this may be a matter of opinion or friendly remark, but I can honestly assert that I feel restored in health, 'bodily and mentally,' appear to have more muscular power and vigour, eat and drink with a good appetite, and sleep well. All symptoms of acidity, indigestion, and heartburn (with which I was frequently tormented) have vanished. I have left off using boot-hooks, and other such aids, which were indispensable, but being now able to stoop with ease and freedom, are unnecessary. I have lost the feeling of occasional faintness, and what I think a remarkable blessing and comfort is, that I have been able safely to leave off knee-bandages, which I had worn necessarily for many years, and given up the umbilical truss."
Wow! Talk about improved health. Notice too that he ate more than just three meals a day. Four to five small meals should be the rule.
His how-to dieting book became very popular and was translated into multiple languages. However, over time it was abandoned.
Banting noted in "Letter on Corpulence" that a common health paradox of our time did not exist in his. This was the paradox of obesity, widely believed to be a problem of excess, among the poor. The poor of the 19th century could not afford the refined sugary foods that cause weight gain. But poor people of the 21st century sure can today.
In a recent Associated Press article titled, "Health Paradox: Obesity Attacks Poor", the reporter noted that many poor families are stretching their food dollars by purchasing unhealthy processed and refined foods.
Of one family the author wrote, "During winter, jobs are scarce, so Caballero feeds her husband and three children the cheapest food she can get: potatoes, bread, tortillas. As processed foods rich in sugar and fat have become cheaper than fruits and vegetables, the poor in particular are paying a high price with obesity rates shooting up, followed by diabetes."
Unfortunately for the Caballero family, these cheap staples are bad for their health. Fresh meat, low starch fruits and vegetables may be more expensive and have a shorter shelf life, but they are definitely worth the price in saved medical expenses and better health.
Throughout the years, as "calories" became known, variations of counting them were included in dietary solutions. And a variety of other issues were explored like how many of which foods should be eaten and how frequently.
While Bantings diet eventually fell out of favor, low carb diets did begin appearing again in the 20th century. The most famous of these are the Atkins and Scarsdale diets that came to popularity in the 1970s. While Scarsdale has a set 14 day meal plan that must be followed and greatly restricts calories, the Atkins diet allowed for unlimited calorie consumption as long as those calories were from protein, fat and vegetables and carbs intake was kept low.
Atkins and Scarsdale fell out of favor in the 1980s as the U. S. Department of Agriculture encouraged the consumption of grains and grain products with the USDA food pyramid.
It was only in the 1990s that we began to see a return to low carb dieting that seems to be more than a fad. It is a lifestyle! As more and more people realize the weight loss and other health benefits that are available to people who eat this type of diet, the number of diets and stores that sell specialty low carb products continue to rise.
In a nutshell, most low carb diets carry the same basic premise: that too much of simple, refined carbohydrates leads to over overproduction of insulin, which leads to the storage of too much fat in the body. This fat storage is especially prominent around the middle.
While there are degrees of difference among the many diets, they all agree on the negative effects that excess insulin production have on our systems.
History & Background Of The Low Carb Diet
The term low carb wasn't really coined until around 1992 when the USDA announced America's model food pyramid included six to eleven servings daily of grains and starches. However, low carb dieting dates back more than 100 years before the trendy Atkins diet to 1864 with a pamphlet titled "Letter on Corpulence" written by William Banting, as close to the first commercial low carb diet as you could get.
Banting had suffered a series of debilitating health problems due mainly to being overweight or 'corpulent'. He searched in vain for cures to his weight problem, which many doctors at that time believed to be a necessary side effect of old age. He also tried eating less but he continued to gain weight and have various health problems. He could not understand how the small amounts of food he was eating led to his weight problem:
"Few men have led a more active life - bodily or mentally - from a constitutional anxiety for regularity, precision, and order, during fifty years' business career, from which I had retired, so that my corpulence and subsequent obesity were not through neglect of necessary bodily activity, nor from excessive eating, drinking, or self indulgence of any kind, except that I partook of the simple aliments of bread, milk, butter, beer, sugar, and potatoes more freely than my age required?"
Many contemporary Americans on the go may recognize Banting?s previous unhealthy daily diet:
"My former dietary table was bread and milk for breakfast, or a pint of tea with plenty of milk, sugar, and buttered toast; meat, beer, much bread (of which I was always very fond) and pastry for dinner, the meal of tea similar to that of breakfast, and generally a fruit tart or bread and milk for supper. I had little comfort and far less sound sleep."
Just substitute a Pop tart, doughnut or muffin with coffee and plenty of cream and sugar for breakfast, a fast food burger and fries with a supersized soft drink for lunch and a frozen pot pie or pizza for dinner followed by dessert and you can see how Banting's diet was so much like the typical fast-paced modern day Americans.
When his physician placed these items on a "forbidden foods list," Banting lost 50 pounds and 13 inches in one year! Let me repeat that, fifty pounds and thirteen inches! He kept it off, living a long and much healthier life.
His new diet plan consisted of a number of meat dishes and he listed it as follows:
"For breakfast, at 9.00 A.M., I take five to six ounces of either beef mutton, kidneys, broiled fish, bacon, or cold meat of any kind except pork or veal; a large cup of tea or coffee (without milk or sugar), a little biscuit, or one ounce of dry toast; making together six ounces solid, nine liquid.
For dinner, at 2.00 P.M., Five or six ounces of any fish except salmon, herrings, or eels, any meat except pork or veal, any vegetable except potato, parsnip, beetroot, turnip, or carrot, one ounce of dry toast, fruit out of a pudding not sweetened, any kind of poultry or game, and two or three glasses of good claret, sherry, or Madeira- Champagne, port, and beer forbidden; making together ten to twelve ounces solid, and ten liquid.
For tea, at 6.00 P.M., Two or three ounces of cooked fruit, a rusk or two, and a cup of tea without milk or sugar; making two to four ounces solid, nine liquid.
For supper, at 9.00 P.M. Three or four ounces of meat or fish, similar to dinner, with a glass or two of claret or sherry and water; making four ounces solid and seven liquid.
For nightcap, if required, a tumbler of grog (gin, whisky, or brandy, without sugar) or a glass or two of claret or sherry."
So great were the changes in his appearance and health that his friends and acquaintances began to notice and just like today wanted to know what diet he was on. Most important of all Banting could feel and see a difference himself.
"I am told by all who know me that my personal appearance greatly improved, and that I seem to bear the stamp of good health; this may be a matter of opinion or friendly remark, but I can honestly assert that I feel restored in health, 'bodily and mentally,' appear to have more muscular power and vigour, eat and drink with a good appetite, and sleep well. All symptoms of acidity, indigestion, and heartburn (with which I was frequently tormented) have vanished. I have left off using boot-hooks, and other such aids, which were indispensable, but being now able to stoop with ease and freedom, are unnecessary. I have lost the feeling of occasional faintness, and what I think a remarkable blessing and comfort is, that I have been able safely to leave off knee-bandages, which I had worn necessarily for many years, and given up the umbilical truss."
Wow! Talk about improved health. Notice too that he ate more than just three meals a day. Four to five small meals should be the rule.
His how-to dieting book became very popular and was translated into multiple languages. However, over time it was abandoned.
Banting noted in "Letter on Corpulence" that a common health paradox of our time did not exist in his. This was the paradox of obesity, widely believed to be a problem of excess, among the poor. The poor of the 19th century could not afford the refined sugary foods that cause weight gain. But poor people of the 21st century sure can today.
In a recent Associated Press article titled, "Health Paradox: Obesity Attacks Poor", the reporter noted that many poor families are stretching their food dollars by purchasing unhealthy processed and refined foods.
Of one family the author wrote, "During winter, jobs are scarce, so Caballero feeds her husband and three children the cheapest food she can get: potatoes, bread, tortillas. As processed foods rich in sugar and fat have become cheaper than fruits and vegetables, the poor in particular are paying a high price with obesity rates shooting up, followed by diabetes."
Unfortunately for the Caballero family, these cheap staples are bad for their health. Fresh meat, low starch fruits and vegetables may be more expensive and have a shorter shelf life, but they are definitely worth the price in saved medical expenses and better health.
Throughout the years, as "calories" became known, variations of counting them were included in dietary solutions. And a variety of other issues were explored like how many of which foods should be eaten and how frequently.
While Bantings diet eventually fell out of favor, low carb diets did begin appearing again in the 20th century. The most famous of these are the Atkins and Scarsdale diets that came to popularity in the 1970s. While Scarsdale has a set 14 day meal plan that must be followed and greatly restricts calories, the Atkins diet allowed for unlimited calorie consumption as long as those calories were from protein, fat and vegetables and carbs intake was kept low.
Atkins and Scarsdale fell out of favor in the 1980s as the U. S. Department of Agriculture encouraged the consumption of grains and grain products with the USDA food pyramid.
It was only in the 1990s that we began to see a return to low carb dieting that seems to be more than a fad. It is a lifestyle! As more and more people realize the weight loss and other health benefits that are available to people who eat this type of diet, the number of diets and stores that sell specialty low carb products continue to rise.
In a nutshell, most low carb diets carry the same basic premise: that too much of simple, refined carbohydrates leads to over overproduction of insulin, which leads to the storage of too much fat in the body. This fat storage is especially prominent around the middle.
While there are degrees of difference among the many diets, they all agree on the negative effects that excess insulin production have on our systems.
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Low Carb Dilemmas – How to Follow A Low Carb Diet And NOT Gain Weight
A low carb diet such as the Atkins diet or the South Beach Diet (although some say this one is not a low carb diet but the right carb diet) can be very helpful for those who want to lose large amounts of weight. However, this diet needs to be followed how it was meant to be followed for it to work. One way to be able to refrain from gaining weight on this diet is to understand the purpose of each stage of this diet.
The first phase of a low carb diet is usually the strictest time of the diet in regards to the level of carbs eaten. This part of the diet lasts approximately two weeks. All fruits and starchy vegetables, refined breads, and other high carb foods are not eaten during this time. Instead, the person eats lean meats, creams, butters, cheese, and other foods that were originally forbidden. This first stage has a purpose.
The purpose of the first stage of most low carb diets is to help with the following three aspects:
To induce Benign Dietary Ketosis: This is when fat metabolites show up in the urine stream and can be detected with Ketosix. This is the sign that Atkins diet users are using fat as energy. Sometimes ketones are discharged from the lungs as well. Diet users reactions vary during this stage. For example, some peoples appetites diminish during this stage.
To Stabilize Blood Sugar: This stage helps keep bring the blood sugar to the level that it is supposed to be at. Not only that but it helps diminish symptoms (i.e. mood swings, brain fog, or fatigue) that come from erratic blood sugar levels.
To ignite rapid weight loss: This stage sometimes helps those who have trouble losing weight to feel good about themselves as pounds drop at a quick rate. This stage is when the most weight is loss during the Atkins diet.
The induction period of the Atkins diet is probably considered to be the most crucial part of the Atkins diet. It is also the shortest phase of the diet, so the amount of time that one has to endure this first stage is not long. Those that can make it through the first two weeks of this diet are most likely to see the best results while enrolled in this particular weight loss program.
The next phase of the Atkins diet is also important. This is the period of time when most people will find out what level of carbs is appropriate for them to eat and still lose weight. Although the weight loss progress slows down during this phase, as well as the phase that follows, it still is encouraging to those who follow this diet when they do lose 1-2 pounds a week (in some cases a little more).
During the second and third phases of the Atkins diet, users are able to increase their carb intake. However, they still need to be careful not to eat the wrong carbs, otherwise they may go back to their old weight. Those who stick to the overall plan of this diet are the ones who have the most success on this diet. The purpose of the second phase of the Atkins diet is as follows:
To find the carb level that is appropriate for each Atkins diet user. This is usually referred to as the Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing (CCLL).
To allow for more food choices and to help users of this diet to make wise ones.
To continue weight loss at a safe rate, and to keep carbs low enough to help hamper excess food cravings.
The third phase is very similar to the second phase but has an allowance for a higher level of carbs. The purpose of this phase is as follows:
To figure out how much carbs that can be eaten without gaining weight.
To reach weight loss goal. This is done at a steady slow pace during this phase.
Learn how to remain at the same weight.
The fourth phase of the Atkins diet is the one when the most carbs are allowed, and also is a maintenance stage. This phase of the diet is the one that lasts the longest, because this is the pattern that is set to be the persons ideal diet to maintain the new weight loss level achieved.
Those who follow through every phase of a low carb diet, as intended, will benefit the most from it. Also, those who find their carb level during the second and third phases of the diet will most likely be able to keep the weight off during the fourth phase of the diet.
Not only will those who follow this diet closely as planned be able to lose weight, but they will be able to prevent from gaining it back later on. This article is not a guarantee that this diet will work for everyone. However, those who follow a low carb diet closely and those who do not give up will have the best chance of success at it.
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