One form of dieting that has been around for a long time is that
related to the concept of massively reducing your carbohydrate intake.
It is though, in some quarters, a highly controversial approach to losing weight.
The historical perspective
If you look to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, even though obesity in our society was much less of a problem than it is today, there were still considerable numbers of people who needed to lose weight.
In those days, one of the commonest homespun approaches was simply to remove potatoes, bread and sugar entirely (or largely) from the diet. Of course, this lacked to a certain degree of scientific foundation but it is surprisingly similar, in principle, to the low carbohydrate diets that became popular from the 1980s onwards.
The basic principles
There are various themes of low carbohydrate diet but many of them entail some variation of radically reducing your carbohydrate intake (including sugars of course) whilst allowing an almost unlimited consumption of protein.
The idea is that on such a diet you can eat almost as much as you wish of certain types of food such as lean meat, fish, eggs and most types of salad. Zero fat dairy produce is also sometimes included in the equation.
The basic mechanism involved relates to the fact that your body will seek to convert sugars, fats and other carbohydrates into the energy it needs, so if you deny your body carbohydrates, then it will burn those that are stored as fat around your body.
You don't feel hungry though because you are eating larger quantities of protein.
Like all diet regimes, low carbohydrate diets may prove to be very successful for some people though not necessarily all.
Some concerns
Certain types of this diet commence with what is called an 'intensive phase', usually trying to deny the body any form of carbohydrate intake over a period of several days. Then, a very limited amount of carbohydrate is added back into the diet through something like some types of fruit but only up to a limited maximum.
Some experts have suggested though that depriving your body of carbohydrates entirely or at least radically reducing their intake may have some undesirable side-effects that could be detrimental to your health.
For example, fruit contains sugars and many diets of this nature radically restrict the amount of fruit you can eat as well as many types of vegetables. The elimination of bread is also usually a key component and some health professionals believe that removing dietary fibre from your food intake is not a sensible idea.
Some regimes of this nature deal with that problem by allowing certain specific times of fibre intake through things such as oat bran. Even so, the subject has been hugely controversial with some people saying these diets can be potentially detrimental to things such as your digestion and perhaps blood sugar levels and by definition, they are not recommended healthy weight loss programs.
Other critics point out that these diets encourage an increased consumption of meat whilst reducing fruit and some vegetables - which is something that runs contrary to much present-day healthy eating advice.
What should you do?
It's never a good idea to simply launch into any form of diet based on hunches or magazine articles.
A far more sensible approach, both in terms of your health and the probability of successful outcomes, is to consult an established dieting professional before doing anything else.
Read More:
♦ 7 Homemade Detox Drinks for... ♦ 16 Simple Tweaks To Help You Lose Weight
The historical perspective
If you look to the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, even though obesity in our society was much less of a problem than it is today, there were still considerable numbers of people who needed to lose weight.
In those days, one of the commonest homespun approaches was simply to remove potatoes, bread and sugar entirely (or largely) from the diet. Of course, this lacked to a certain degree of scientific foundation but it is surprisingly similar, in principle, to the low carbohydrate diets that became popular from the 1980s onwards.
The basic principles
There are various themes of low carbohydrate diet but many of them entail some variation of radically reducing your carbohydrate intake (including sugars of course) whilst allowing an almost unlimited consumption of protein.
The idea is that on such a diet you can eat almost as much as you wish of certain types of food such as lean meat, fish, eggs and most types of salad. Zero fat dairy produce is also sometimes included in the equation.
The basic mechanism involved relates to the fact that your body will seek to convert sugars, fats and other carbohydrates into the energy it needs, so if you deny your body carbohydrates, then it will burn those that are stored as fat around your body.
You don't feel hungry though because you are eating larger quantities of protein.
Like all diet regimes, low carbohydrate diets may prove to be very successful for some people though not necessarily all.
Some concerns
Certain types of this diet commence with what is called an 'intensive phase', usually trying to deny the body any form of carbohydrate intake over a period of several days. Then, a very limited amount of carbohydrate is added back into the diet through something like some types of fruit but only up to a limited maximum.
Some experts have suggested though that depriving your body of carbohydrates entirely or at least radically reducing their intake may have some undesirable side-effects that could be detrimental to your health.
For example, fruit contains sugars and many diets of this nature radically restrict the amount of fruit you can eat as well as many types of vegetables. The elimination of bread is also usually a key component and some health professionals believe that removing dietary fibre from your food intake is not a sensible idea.
Some regimes of this nature deal with that problem by allowing certain specific times of fibre intake through things such as oat bran. Even so, the subject has been hugely controversial with some people saying these diets can be potentially detrimental to things such as your digestion and perhaps blood sugar levels and by definition, they are not recommended healthy weight loss programs.
Other critics point out that these diets encourage an increased consumption of meat whilst reducing fruit and some vegetables - which is something that runs contrary to much present-day healthy eating advice.
What should you do?
It's never a good idea to simply launch into any form of diet based on hunches or magazine articles.
A far more sensible approach, both in terms of your health and the probability of successful outcomes, is to consult an established dieting professional before doing anything else.
Read More:
♦ 7 Homemade Detox Drinks for... ♦ 16 Simple Tweaks To Help You Lose Weight