Knowing What a Low Carb Diet Is

Whenever diet is mentioned, one will surely come across the low carb diet program. This is perhaps one of the most popular diet programs in the country today. This is actually one of the few diet programs that survived the diet fad and has firmly established itself in the market for its effectiveness.

Low carb diet, as the name suggests, is based on the theory that cutting down on the intake of carbohydrate can actually result in rapid weight loss. This is because without the presence of carbohydrates in the body, the body will be forced to turn to the fats in the body as source of energy. Fats are actually sources of energy also but because it is more complex in structure, it is harder to digest and transform to energy.

What is good about the low carb diet is that it allows dieters under the program to actually eat the foods that they love unlike other diets, which prescribes certain kinds of foods to be eaten. There is also less cut-down in meat products. The only carbohydrates that are allowed can be found in whole grains, fruits and vegetables. 
 
Low carb diets and also low-fat diets are also recommended to people who have diabetes. This, according to some dieticians, is the only diet which can prevent obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, hypoglycemia and type 2 diabetes.

With low carb diets, people can actually at until they are full. One can eat meats, fish, poultry, eggs and even cheese plus of course green vegetables.

One of the advantages of low carb diet is the fact that it is found to be able to increase the levels of HDL or good cholesterol, which in turn can help prevent heart disease particularly a heart attack. Good cholesterol, which is made up of lipids, cholesterol and proteins, can help remove excess cholesterol from the walls of the blood vessels. Low carbohydrate diet is also found by researchers to be able to reduce the amount of triglycerides in the body. When these triglycerides are combined with a high LDL or bad cholesterol can increase the risk of heart attack and other heart problems.
The diet program can also reduce the incidence of mood swings and energy swings.

Intake of carbohydrates can actually cause ups and downs in the energy levels of the body, which can lead to periods of listlessness and then hyperactivity. Cutting down on carbohydrates can actually minimize the incidence of these kinds of energy swings.
Despite its numerous advantages, low carb diets also have several disadvantages.

One of its major disadvantage is the fact that low carb diets promote ketosis, a state where in the liver is depleted with glycogen. The body will actually shift to fasting mode that often only occurs during sleep as a response to starvation. Because of this, ketones in the liver are produces and are burned in the body. Possible effects of ketosis in the body are dehydration, constipation and even impaired cognitive function.

Another disadvantage of low carb diet is the lack of energy, which may be the result of the cutting down in carbohydrate intake. A lot of people who are under the program have actually complained of low energy levels. Unlike carbohydrates, fats are more difficult to transform into energy, therefore the transformation process is much slower. This is not good for people who lead an active lifestyle or those who have work and family to attend to.