Low Carb Diets

What's all this Hype about Low Carb Diets?
Everywhere that you turn these days you are bombarded with information about how you should be reducing your carb intake. Popular restaurants such as Subway are jumping on this bandwagon, as well as even beer companies who are coming out with low carb beers. Here is what you need to know about these low carb diets that seem to be working for tones of people.

How Many Carbs are You Supposed to Eat with these Diets?
With the various low carb diets, carb intake varies. Some low carb diets restrict you to less than 20 percent of your calories in the form of carbs, others permit up to 40 percent. To complicate matters further, many low carb diets are divided into 'phases.' Phase 1 typically permits only a minimum number of carbs, Phases 2 and 3 are usually more generous. This compares with US government nutrition recommendations of eating about 50-55 percent carbs.

Can you Eat Fat on these Diets?
Fat intake varies from diet to diet too. Some low carb diets contain 55-65 percent fat, others include 30 percent. This compares with US government recommendations to eat about 30 percent fat, and American Heart Association advice to eat a maximum of 30 percent fat.

One controversial point of some of the diets is that some actually encourage the liberal eating of animal fats and vegetable oils. This diet advice contradicts the recommendations of most heart specialists.

Suggested protein intake in low carb diets ranges from 25 percent to 40 percent. This compares with US government guidelines of between 15-20 percent protein.

Why Follow a Low Carb Diet?
According to the promoters of low carb diet plans, insulin resistance and obesity are reduced because they say that eating fewer carbs means that fat is definitely burned, and that insulin production is decreased.

Do Low Carb Diets Work?
The results point to the answer yes. But this is only known in the short term. Initial weight loss on low carb diets is definitely faster than weight loss on more balanced diets. But dieters should be wary that some of this may be due to increased water loss.

Are Low Carb Diets Healthy and Good for Weight Loss in the Long Term?
As these low-carb diets are a fairly new phenomenon, very few clinical studies into the long term weight loss and health effects of low carb diets exist. Of those weight-loss studies that exist, many are either too small and/or inconclusive. Some show that after 12 months, weight loss is no better on low carb diets than on more balanced diets, while others show a small weight loss advantage for low carb diets. As well, longer term health results are equally inconclusive. Even so, it seems clear that low carb diets are NOT as harmful as critics initially suggested.

Popular Low Carb Diet Plans
Examples of popular low carb diet programs include Dr Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet, the South Beach Diet, Protein Power, the Scarsdale Diet, Sugar Busters and the Carbohydrate Addict's Diet.


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