The Pros and Cons of Low Carb Diets

The low carb diet program is one of the few that actually survived the fad and still maintained its reputation for effectiveness in producing weight loss in people that adhere to the program. In fact, millions of people worldwide adhere to this kind of diet whether they are officially registered under a program or not.

Cutting down on carbohydrate intake is actually not new anymore. For decades people have been avoiding bread and rice consumption in order to keep fit and maintain their weight. This program, however, is the first of its kind to actually use this principle to lose so many pounds. The focus on the low-carbohydrate diet is actually based on the principle that cutting down on carbohydrate will force the body to turn to fats as alternative source of energy. Fats like carbohydrates can actually be transformed to energy. But because of its complex make-up, fats are often ignored by the body as sources of energy if there are carbohydrates available which is easier to digest and transform into fuels for the body.

One of the advantages of low carb diet has been found to lie in its ability to increase the levels of HDL or good cholesterol, which in turn can help prevent heart disease particularly a heart attack. Good cholesterol is made up of lipids, cholesterol and protein that can help remove excess cholesterol from the walls of the blood vessels.

Low carbohydrate diet can also reduce the amount of triglycerides in the body, which when combined with a high LDL or bad cholesterol can increase the risk of heart attack and other heart problems.

The diet program has also been found to reduce the incidence of mood swings and energy swings. According to researches, intake of carbohydrates can actually cause ups and downs in the energy levels of the body. This can lead to periods of listlessness and then hyperactivity. Cutting down on carbohydrates can actually minimize the incidence of these kinds of energy swings.

Although it poses much advantages, low carb diets also have several disadvantages that scientists point out to ever since the diet fads have begun.

They argued that low carb diets can actually cause 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. 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. The lack of energy us perhaps the reason why some low carb diet programs such as the Atkins Diet offer vitamin supplements and energy boosters that can help supplant the loss of energy brought on by the diet.
 
Cognitive function, believe or not, may also be affected by the low carb diet program. In a study conducted, researchers found a significant lowering of cognitive performance in people who are undergoing low carbohydrate diet programs. After another week in the diet program, the cognitive performance of participants became worse especially in the area of higher order mental processes and mental flexibility.