Low Carb Diets and Low Carb Recipes
Low carb diet plans are vast and varied and involve low carb recipes. The mild low carb diets and recipes, such as the Zone, don't even restrict carb intake emphasizing proper ratios of carbs:fat:protein, which, by the way, is pretty close to the new diet guide pyramid.
All low carb diets prohibit the intake of refined carbohydrates coming from processed sugar, white flour, high-fructose corn syrup, etc. Some low carb diets assume that the dangers of saturated fats are overrated, and make note of that in their low carb recipe suggestions.
Most of the low carb diets are especially beneficial for people with the "apple" body shape, with body fat concentrated mostly around the middle. This is because even a mild low carb diet results in improved insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance is the reason of abdominal fat accumulation.
One of the more attractive features in the low carb diet is a decreased appetite and increased sense of well being, which are attributed to the ketone bodies released by body fat tissues when carbohydrate intake is limited.
Carbohydrate Information
Total carbohydrate is calculated "by difference" - the protein, fat, ash and water grams of a food are measured, subtracted from the total weight of the food and the remainder, or "difference", is agreed upon to be carbohydrates.
Net carbs are total carb grams minus fiber grams.
The more complex carbohydrates the better they are for your health. Simple carbohydrates such as sugar and refined white flour can cause such problems as obesity and diabetes. Recently is became known complex carbohydrates are to blame for high blood pressure and even some kinds of cancer.
Carbohydrates come in three different forms - sugars, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides.
Sugars are glucose, galactose, fructose, table sugar sucrose, milk sugar lactose, and sugar alcohols (Sorbitol, mannitol)
Oligosaccharides you can see an some nutrition labels of food packages. They are: are maltodextrins, raffinose, stachyose, fructo-oligosaccharides
Polysaccharides are starches (including modified starches) as well as cellulose of food fibers, pectins in fruits and berries, etc.
Low carb diet: how it works
By limiting carbohydrates, low carb dieting seeks to shift the body from burning sugars to burning fat for energy. When the body has no more carbs to burn, it enters a state called ketosis.
During ketosis, the body burns fat instead of carbs for fuel producing the by product ketone bodies. Ketone bodies are thought to be the reason of decreased appetite and cravings for sweets as well as for the general sense of well being.
Vegetarians on Atkins Diet?
Dr. Atkins didn't specify fat to protein ratio, and fat sources on a vegetarian diet is no problem with oils, nuts, avocados, etc.
What can be a problem is protein sources. It's less of a problem if you eat diary and eggs, but if you are a vegan, you need to hunt every protein gram.
Here are acceptable protein sources:
Soy (Tofu, fake meat and the like)
Peanuts
Nuts
Seeds
Legumes
(Eggs, Dairy)
There are findings that people consuming at least 1 cup of nuts and seeds a day, have friendly bacteria in their intestines that produce essential amino acids, which in their turn are building blocks for protein.
Precautions for Following Low Carb Diets
In order to maintain a safe low carb diet, it is important to take a certain amount of vitamins, minerals, and other essential nutrients to avoid malnutrition. Low carb dieters should increase their fiber intake with the recommended raw vegetables, soy beans, or in the form of fiber supplements, e.g., sugar-free Psyllium husk powder.
Low carb foods in Low Carb Diets
Some diets rely on low carb foods with a low glycemic load. The term "glycemic load" is used to describe the amount of carbohydrates appearing in the blood after eating a certain serving of a food. Meats and dairy products are low carbohydrate foods because of their low carbohydrate content leading to low glycemic load.
Raw vegetables and fruits, while containing the same amounts of carbohydrates as cooked ones, are considered acceptable under low carb diets because ounce for once, they only elevate blood glucose levels to a lesser degree.
Ketosis without weight loss?
It is a common situation on Atkins diet that people are in ketosis but the scales just refuse moving. The first thing to do is measure your waist, hips, and neck. If any of these circumferences shrink, you are losing fat while gaining muscle: muscles are heavier, inch for inch.
However, if you are not losing inches, cut down on protein and add some good fats, for instance olive oil, to your meals. Research revealed that fatter meals result in more intensive fat burning at rest.
If this measure doesn't work, the last step is to try the fat fast. The fat fast is 90% fat and 10% protein, plus limiting calorie intake to 1000 Cal. a day.
Low Carb Diets: the Ketogenic Diet
The Ketogenic diet is a very low carb diet developed in the 1920s for treatment of intractable childhood epilepsy. The ketones accumulating in the brain on this diet have a generalized calming effect, thus reducing the symptoms or even leading to convalescence of epilepsy. The ketogenic diet has a higher fat intake than traditional low carb diets and a stricter ratio of carb:protein:fat, especially for patients in the hospitals.
Low Carb Diet Safety
Low carb diets, even it their extreme manifestation, the ketogenic diet, and the well researched Atkins diet, were reported as being safe and efficient.
Children on clinical ketogenic diet, which is highest in fat and lowest in carbohydrates out of all the diets, resulted in no serious health problems for decades after their diet.
The low carb diets that advise on high protein intake can cause kidney problems, but those instructing on limiting protein intake and having more "good" fats instead are beneficial even for this condition.
Low carb diets are not more nutritionally challenging than any restrictive diet though they can require a different set of supplements, for nutritional balancing.
The Stages of Atkins Diet
There are four main phases of Atkins diet:
? The induction
? The ongoing weight loss (OWL)
? The maintenance
The induction phase is used to force the body into ketosis. After the introductory stage, the ongoing weight loss begins ¨C carb intake is gradually increased - 5 carb grams per day weekly - as long as weight loss continues. The threshold in daily carb grams should be found, above which weight loss tops.
The final phase is lifetime maintenance, in which this threshold level of carbohydrate consumption is carried out for life.
Exercising And Low Carb Foods
By exercising, you maintain your muscle mass while encouraging the burning of fat for energy. On early stages of any low carb diet, people are often unable to exercise vigorously, because of the limited amount of low carb food in their system. But moderate-intensity exercises of longer durations are encouraged by most of the low carb diets, even while maintaining a low carb food recipe regime. When your body adapts to its new way of eating, more intensive exercises become possible. It is important to start or continue perfecting strength training for both preserving the muscles and "earning" the right to eat nutritious foods even if they contain some more carbs.
Low carb recipes for low carb diets
Low carb recipes are widely available in books, periodicals, and online. Numerous authors, most notably Atkins, have put out recipe books on low carb diets. Many websites offer low carb recipes. These recipes are usually easy to make on your own, and will help you keep a low carb diet.
Low carb dieting and clean teeth
The National Academy of Sciences' experts cited medical evidence indicating that diets high in sugar can promote dental concerns along with obesity, kidney stones, osteoporosis, and heart disease, while lower intake of carbohydrates can prevent these conditions.
According to the USDA, people should eat no more than 10 teaspoons of sugar. Meanwhile, the average American is consuming about 20 teaspoons of sugar per day.
Atkins induction phase and caffeine
Many low carb dieters reported that cheating on the Atkins diet by drinking coffee cased weight loss stalling. During the Atkins induction phase, carbohydrate limitation is strict in order to induce ketosis and to shift the metabolism from running on carbohydrates to running on ketone bodies.
Insulin is a potent anti-ketogenic hormone. It was shown in an experiment that insulin level can be elevated by caffeine. Daily consumption of coffee and caffeine-containing drinks caused decrease insulin sensitivity and compromises efficiency of any low carb diet.
Source: Diabetes Care 25:364-369, 2002
No carb diets and carb burning exercise
Some low carb food dieters may think that eliminating all carbs from their meals will help them to lose weight more quickly. However, there's no such thing as a no-carb diet.
The only way to further reduce carb amounts actually circulating in the body is to "burn" the carbs. How?
There's a biochemical formula showing that every set of strength training exercises burns a certain amounts of carbohydrates. Those doing weights can enjoy either going deeper into ketosis or indulging in higher-carb foods such as fruits. This can have a beneficial effect on their general nutritional status.