Lots of todays trendy diets think Atkins, keto and sometimes paleo are centered around low-carb foods. But cutting carbs to lose weight fast isnt a new idea. Its been around for more than 150 years. So whats driving the popularity of this eating plan?
With a low-carbohydrate diet, you keep your carbohydrates lower than whats typically found in Western diets, Jen Bruning, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition & Dietetics, told TODAY.
Processed foods and fast foods common in Western diets are often high in carbs. They can contain a lot of refined carbs that dont offer a lot of nutritional value. Low-carb diets limit these high-carb foods, as well as grains, starchy vegetables (like potatoes and peas) and fruit. They emphasize foods low in carbs and high in protein and fat instead, like meat, cheese and nuts, as well as leafy vegetables.
To start, theres no one low-carb diet. Different plans cut carbs down to different levels. The strictest diets aim to cut carbs down to zero. Others target 150 grams or less per day. As a comparison, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend 225 to 325 grams per day as part of a healthy eating plan that doesnt focus on limiting carbs.
Related: Whether you're on the keto diet, intermittent fasting, low carb or no diet at all, these healthy foods improve your summer menu.
Bonnie Taub-Dix, a registered dietitian and author of "Read It Before You Eat It: Taking You from Label to Table," points out that carbs arent all nutritionally the same. A slice of whole-grain bread, a small piece of fruit and four packets of sugar could all have about 15 carbs. Those food all have completely different health profiles, she said. The bread has fiber, vitamins and minerals, and can help you feel full. The fruit might have fiber and antioxidants. The sugar has no nutritional value except for energy.
People want to know the best ways to lose weight and how to lose weight fast. But theres more to understand. If you want to eat more healthfully and lose weight, you have to think about what your body needs and your health needs, not just your weight-loss needs, Taub-Dix said.
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What are low-carb diet benefits? Bruning said with low-carb dieting you might see improvements in blood sugar levels and weight loss. But the weight loss might not last. Research also suggests a tendency to regain any lost weight when eating patterns return to normal, she said.
Sticking with a low-carb eating plan may help you maintain weight loss, though.
According to the Mayo Clinic, low-carb diets might help prevent or improve metabolic syndrome, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease.
A study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition found that for people with type 2 diabetes, diets that were low in carbs helped them lose weight and reduce the medication they needed to take to control of their diabetes.
Related: What if you took out the bacon, burgers and butter? Could you still reach that coveted ketogenic state? The answer is yes.
You might want to try a low-carb diet if youre looking to lose weight in the short term or to prevent or improve metabolic syndrome, diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease.
A low-carb diet includes a lot of other food options, so if you dont like diets with severe food restrictions you might like the variety it offers.
You may also want to look at the kinds of carbs youre eating to see where you can make changes. If you examine your diet and feel you are lacking in non-starchy vegetables but eat lots of added sugar, you may choose to lower your refined carbohydrate intake in favor of more veggies, Bruning said.
And remember that low-carb diets are low in certain nutritious foods. Plenty of higher-carbohydrate foods are very healthful. Think legumes, fruit and whole grains, Bruning said. Low-carb diets also tend to be low in fiber, and fiber is known to be protective against heart disease and some cancers.
Taub-Dix is wary of any diet that eliminates an entire food group. No one food or food group is going to be magical for you or horrible for you unless you have a food allergy or intolerance, she said. We shouldnt demonize any one particular food or food group. That should be a red flag when choosing a diet if a food group is eliminated, steer clear of that diet.
Generally, low-carb menus will include foods that are higher in protein and fat.
On a low-carb diet, you're likely to eat foods like:
Youll cut out or limit:
Grains
Legumes like lentils, beans and peas
Fruits
Breads
Sweets
Pasta
Rice
Starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn and butternut squash
Milk
Sometimes nuts and seeds
Following a low-carb diet, in a typical day you might eat low-carb meals like:
Breakfast: Omelet with cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes and spinach
Lunch: Cobb salad
Dinner: Chicken drumsticks with coleslaw
Snack: Roasted pecans
Keto diet, which typically limits carbs to 50 grams a day or less
Keto/FLEX 12/3, which blends a low-carb diet and fasting
Low-carb, high-fat diet, which pairs a reduction in carbs with an increase in high-fat foods
Paleo diet, which tends to be low-carb in practice because it emphasizes a lot of low-carb foods
Atkins diet, which has a four phases of carb intake levels
Zero-carb diet, which aims to reduce carbs to (you guessed it) zero
Compared with low-fat dieters, low-carb dieters may see a short-term weight-loss boost. But the gain tends to disappear after a year or two, according to the Mayo Clinic. Its possible that eating more protein and fat instead of carbs can help keep you feeling full, so you eat less.
Most studies of low-carb diets have lasted less than a year. So its not clear yet if a low-carb diet has long-term health risks.
Talk with your doctor before starting a low-carb diet or any other diet your doctor can recommend the best healthy diet for you, based on your needs.
Original post:
Low-carb diets: Why they're so popular and what to know before trying one - Yahoo News
