With all of the conflicting studies and fuzzy interpretations of information, it’s no wonder that confusion reigns when it comes to the value and safety of low-carb diets. Heated debates are raging everywhere!
Whether it’s Atkins, the South Beach, 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. On the other hand, critics attribute obesity and related health problems to the 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 essential nutrients, including fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, and several minerals.
Any diet, whether low or high in carbohydrates, can produce significant weight loss during the initial stages of the diet. But remember, the key to successful dieting is losing 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 are some relevant points from recent studies and scientific literature. Please note that 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 carbohydrates in the diet means that protein and fat will represent a proportionately more significant amount of the total caloric intake.
Atkins and Protein Power diets restrict carbohydrates 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
Most of the studies have been small, with various research objectives. Carbohydrate, caloric intake, diet duration, and participant characteristics varied greatly. Most studies to date have two things in common:
None 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 is scarce.
Many diet studies fail to monitor the amount of exercise and caloric expenditure while participants are dieting. It 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 over a long period. Little evidence exists on the long-range safety of low-carb diets. Despite concerns from the medical community, individuals adhering to the diet did not experience any detrimental impacts on their cholesterol, glucose, insulin, or blood pressure levels in the short term.
However, adverse effects may not show up because of the short period of the studies. Researchers note that losing weight leads to improving these levels anyway, which 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 potential consequences are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and confusion. When commencing a low-carb diet, you might experience exhaustion and difficulties with bowel movements.
Ketosis may also give the breath a fruity odor, 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 whether it comes from carbohydrates or fat.
Study discrepancies are likely the result of uncontrolled circumstances, i.e., diet participants who cheat on calorie consumption, calories burned during exercise, or 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 three crucial 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 low-carbohydrate diets’ long-term efficacy and safety.
– Strict, low-carb diets are usually not as sustainable as a standard way of eating. Boredom usually overcomes willpower.
After reviewing the topic, it is evident that more well-designed and controlled studies are needed. There needs to be more good information available, especially concerning long-range effects.
Strict, low-carb diets produce ketosis, an abnormal and potentially stressful metabolic state. Under some circumstances, this might cause health-related complications. Your diet should be a blueprint for a lifetime of better eating, not just a quick weight loss plan to reach your weight goal. It must be the proper diet if you can’t see yourself eating the prescribed foods longer than a few days or a week.
To this end, following a moderately low-fat diet with a healthy balance of fat, protein, carbohydrate, and other nutrients is beneficial. If you follow a low-carb plan, remember that certain dietary fats are associated with reduced disease.
Foods high in unsaturated fats 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 tell 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 popular low-carb diets that call for less saturated fat, such as the South Beach diet plan. Low-carb dieting should not be considered 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.” Put differently, it indicates the need to steer clear of foods with high levels of added sugar, snacks, and white bread. Consuming food sources containing complex carbohydrates, such as fruits, potatoes, and whole grains, is more advisable.
