Carb-Cutting Diets

Although people adopt diets for a variety of reasons, the majority do so to lose weight. Cutting carbohydrates is a popular weight loss method mainly because it encourages rapid results. As with all restrictive eating, there exist both pros and cons to a low-carb diet. By understanding how carb-cutting promotes weight loss and supplementing ingredients and meals sensibly, you can lose weight and avoid diet dangers while keeping the body nourished.

The Facts

• When ingested, carbohydrates raise blood sugar and generate insulin to create sugar for storage. When the heart rate increases and cardio activity takes place, the body burns the sugars stored in the cells first for energy.

  The foundation of a low-carb diet is the theory that the body will use stored fat and protein for fuel if there is no sugar present from the ingestion of carbohydrates. This, in turn, should result in the body burning off fat and losing weight.

Types

• There are several types, or brands rather, of low-carbohydrate diets. Most people recognize the Atkins Diet, but some others include the Zone Diet, Stillman Diet, Scarsdale Diet and Hollywood Diet.

  You don't have to subscribe to one, formulaic type in order to adhere to a carb-cutting regimen. You can follow a similar diet through personal food choices and meal planning.

Substitutes

• Some of the basic restricted foods in a low carbohydrate diet are listed below.

  White flour
  Sugar
  Pasta
  Bread
  Grains
  Sweets
  Starchy fruits and vegetables (such as potatoes, dates and parsnips)

  To achieve a balanced diet, your body requires the nutrients that some of these items contain. Substitute items with fewer carbohydrates when preparing meals. Instead of spaghetti noodles, use zucchini ribbons. Instead of sugar, use a low-carb sugar substitute. When a recipe calls for bread or rice, choose the whole wheat options over the white, refined ones to reduce the carbohydrates. Carb counters can be purchased or accessed online for free to assist in your monitoring of foods' carb contents.

Benefits

• Satiation is a benefit of a low-carb diet. Fats and proteins make the stomach feel fuller, longer, because they take more time for the body to digest. Loss of water weight is another benefit, and it's one reason low-carb dieters often see rapid results. The consumption of fewer calories logically follows the cutting of carbs because approximately 50% of the average daily diet's caloric value comes from foods that are restricted on low-carb plans.

Warnings

• To acquire all the recommended nutrients and vitamins from your food, a balanced diet is necessary. Completely removing simple carbohydrates threatens a diet's stability. Although weight loss is the desired, positive side effect, prolonged carb-cutting has been linked to yo-yo dieting, muscle loss, overall lowered metabolism and fiber deprivation.

  As opposed to eliminating carbs from your meals completely, monitor and control them as a long-term, safer means of weight loss.