I was struck with a sudden realization as I was running towards the bus stop this morning. I was breathing heavily and I knew I gained some extra weight during holidays and at that instance, a low carb diet was the first resolution that crossed my mind. Giving up food is always not always the best solution for the taste-bud caretakers but after a whole lot of research, it drove me to a conclusion that less carbohydrates in your food drive you to less calories and can certainly play an important role in keeping you in fit and shrinking you back to your desired shape. Although low carbs for good health is a highly controversial topic, the answer varies according to perspective of an individual as further research and the flow of opinions continues.
So, is low carb really healthy for me? Well! it’s a Yes, if I go through all the science researchers, their blogs and findings regarding our eating habit which suggest that among all the nutrients, carbohydrates and saturated fats may be the ones which are necessary in a small amount for the proper functioning of an average human body that have minimal physical stress while working. Carbohydrates are basically the energy giving nutrients and if they are taken in larger amount than necessary then they might just stick around in your body putting up some extra weight. In the low carb diet actually leads to the reduction in water weight and consequently your body weight. In addition to this low carb diet minimizes your risk of heart diseases. Moreover, low carb diet is considered to be really fruitful for your body if you are willing to throw away some excess weight as low carbs diet
- Lowers the glycogen level as well as insulin level which leads the kidney to shed excess sodium as well as water in order to cut-off the water weight subsequently.
- Boosts the metabolism as low carb diet contain a lot of protein.
On contrary to this, sometimes the answer can simply be a No, low carb diet is not really healthy for me if I go through the opinions of the doctors and the researches which they have conducted in a fair amount. It has been found that
- Cardiovascular diseases and some type of diabetes can be prevented by the intake of a plant-based high carbs diet.
- Low carbs diet basically means high fat, high protein diet but supports the consumption of animal-based products and thus is ineffective.
In addition to all these facts, studies suggest that low carb diet varies on the basis of your food intake i.e. whether you are consuming more animal-based products or plant-based products. In spite of the existence of all the controversies, there are several methods which you can work into in order to make your diet plan more effective, some of which we are going to discuss here eventually.
Switching onto The Low Carb Diet
The transition from your usual eating habits to an intake of a considerably low carb containing food is somewhat of challenge. The ongoing debate makes it more difficult for the people as they are confused whether or not to follow the low carbs diet. Well, one of the solutions can involve you being wise and opt to choose to modify your meal plan so that the food you consume consists of all the positive benefits in the low carb diet. You do not need to go through a strict diet plan that’s written on the internet because functioning of a human body and its state can vary from person to person. Hence, if you are thinking of going on a diet, be it a Keto or Atkins, get all your facts straightened out. Your choice of diet can vary depending on your focus on various parameters such as
- Your present health condition i.e. your weight, physical and mental status.
If you are a perfectly healthy person who is just looking to lose a few pounds, you might want to prepare yourself and can choose a stricter diet. On the other hand, if you are suffering from some kind of illness beforehand, you need to be more cautious on your food intake depending on what food you can consume.
- The functioning of your digestive system.
Your choice of food should always depend on how well can your system digest the food and the nutrients it contains. If you have
- Your metabolism which helps you determine the amount of your minimum carb intake.
You have various choices regarding what percentage of Carbs you want to intake on the basis of your daily physical activities. Basically, you can switch to a Standard Ketogenic Diet (SKD) i.e. 75% fat, 20% protein and only 5% carbs but if your work requires a lot of physical labor you might want to switch to Targeted Ketogenic diet in which you add carbs according to your metabolism.
- Whether you are a vegetarian, non-vegetarian or a vegan.
Your eating habits and choice of food also determine the amount of your nutrient intake in your daily life. If you are a vegetarian you might want to lean upon a lot of low carb plant-based products and few animal-based products i.e. cheese, milk, yogurt etc. On the other hand, if you are a non-veg you might consider eating fiber and protein rich animal-based products more and if you are vegan you should focus on eating just the low carb plant-based products.
After you have gone all through all these basic parameters, you can properly direct yourself in what food should be included in your diet rather than eating whatever the diet food list on the internet says. After all that being said and done, you can still create your own pathway and modify the proposed low carb diet to a low carb diet that is more suitable for you.
Shift the Focus from Controversy to Healthy Eating Habits
Let’s face the fact that there are diverse opinions regarding the diet plans and strict listings of the food that you should or should not have. The food listed under the low carb diet changes from a website to another and it varies according to an individual’s research and opinion. So, we cannot say for sure which one to follow and which one to not as the body of every individual works in a unique way when compared to another. Hence, instead of focusing on all the controversies and staying in a dilemma, you may want to focus on your current state and food that contains the nutrients that are best suited for your body. The thing is, if you focus on eating healthy, your diet itself will be somewhat refined as per the diet demands and you might end up letting go of all the unhealthy carbs and unsaturated fat resulting into body weight loss.
Be a wise, open-minded person when it comes to choosing whatever is served in your plate i.e. if you end up going to a party where they serve lentil soup with brown rice as well as the al-mighty drooling burger with pop, always know your choice.
The day you start cutting off the refined sugar products and the processed food that contains heavy saturated fat, you are already on phase two of the low carb diet. Moreover, switching onto healthy eating habits and keeping a certain amount of gap between your meals is another way of remaining healthy and content. Rather than surfing the browsers all-day, all-night long for a list of food you should or shouldn’t have and reading the debates and staying bewildered looking at all the argument and starving for time being, take a break from the research and take a few light steps which might actually be your initiation to weight control and healthy living. Some of the initiatives you can take for a healthy diet can be listed out as
- Cut off fast-food and processed food.
Fast or Processed food contain a lot of saturated fat and ingredients that actually accumulate in your body and contribute in increase of body weight. Eating such food can seem alluring but actually it is a waste if you are trying to keep an account of your body weight.
- Cut off refined sugar containing products, such as flavored candies, pops etc.
Refined sugar is itself considered as a slow poison and its intake not only adds unnecessary carbs to your diet but also drives you towards various illness that await you in near future. Cutting off such sugary and carbonated drinks can make a remarkable contribution in weight loss.
- Keep a certain gap between your meals.
When you start to prepare your meal, the time of last meal consumption should always be there in my mind which helps you to keep track of the gap between your meals. You should prepare your meal in such a quantity that you should be full for at least 4-5 hours after you have a meal in order to avoid unnecessary eating between the meals which can contribute in higher carbs intake.
- Try to Cook more, keep the track of the consumed calories in your hand.
It is a common issue nowadays that people barely have time to prepare their own food so the intake of carbs can increase conveniently as people tend to dine outside due to which sometimes, they have no track of ingredients used in the food they are being served. Although it is difficult but if one wants to lose some weight, you should not let someone else decide the ingredients used in the food that you consume. For this, you should make a habit of cooking for yourself every now and then in order to cut the carbs and maintain the balance of nutrients in your food as per your desire.
- Add more fruits and vegetables to your meal.
Organic fruits and vegetables can never contain too much calories and refined sugar so it is always safe and healthy to consume a lot of fruits and vegetables to reduce your carbs and to stay full and healthy simultaneously. Due to high fiber and protein content, it is never a bad idea to add a variety of fruits and green leafy vegetables to your diet. It certainly contributes in cutting carbs out of your diet.
- Try to boil rather than fry in most of the cases.
One of the most common problem we all face when we want to switch to a healthy low carb diet is the taste that the fried food gives which we cannot resist. So, if you really want to be healthy, we might want to boil most of our food rather than deep frying it because if you stick too much to the taste, it will be difficult for you to eat healthy and lose weight.
- Be Cautious of your choice of food.
When given a choice, always choose the food that is healthy and low in carbs. This is one of the most difficult things to do, saying No to a pizza or a burger, you might feel like it’s not worth it but again if you can say No to such food you can by all means follow your own low carb diet and lose the desired body weight. Not only this, it can improve your eating habits concurrently.
After all these considerations, you are automatically working on the low carb diet to some extent without your acknowledgement. The thing is if you can follow all these tiny steps, you are somewhat already working on your healthy low carb diet.
Logical Explanation Regarding some views on Low Carb Intake
Low Carb basically means low intake of the energy giving nutrients i.e. carbohydrates in order to maintain your body weight. There are various types of low carb diets amongst which Ketogenic Diet is the most referred and talked about. Alongside the controversy regarding a low carb diet there are various myths about the diet which are themselves highly debated upon. Some such common views are
- Low Carb diet destroys the physical performance of the body
The intake of carbohydrate determines the pace of your physical activities due to which very low consumption of carbohydrate can slow you down on the basis of your physical performance. That is why above in the article, it is already mentioned that if you are a worker that need to perform straining physical activities, you might want to increase your carbs intake in your diet. One should always be aware of one’s physical condition and background before stepping into any kind of diet as mentioned in the article.
- Low Carb Diet Reduces Your Intake of Healthy Plant Food
A low carb diet reduces your intake of plant-products only if you blindly follow some such recommendation and food listings without any further research and realization. If you realize the beneficial factors present in the plants and understand their nutritional value one can easily create and modify their own low carb diet.
Related Questions
Which low carb diet is the most efficient one? Well! There is no such thing as a best low carb diet for every separate individual is unique as everyone’s body and its working mechanism differ from one another. Even if you decide to take on a Keto diet seriously and work on it, there is no guarantee that it will work on you as efficiently as it did on your friend. If you want to know which diet might work out the best for you, firstly you should examine your health status and the surrounding where you are living upon, your food choices and sacrifices you can make regarding to your eating habits and then after constant research and tips regarding various diet methods, you can mix and match, modify any diet plan as per your desire. Stick to cutting up carbs according to your physical activities and add on other nutrients, it might just work out fine for you.
Is it true that the low carb diet does not work and will make you sick? In general, the answer to all the queries is almost the same. There is only one thing you need to check before you believe in following a diet and that is your own body status and it’s working. Cutting carbs from your food if all you do is sit in front of your computer is never a bad idea but if you are out there in the scorching sun, ploughing the field with only 50gm of carbs then obviously it will make you sick. Hence, before following any diet just make sure it matches the needs of your body and can fulfill your body’s metabolism demands. Always be open to modification and eat healthy no matter what every next article on the internet says.
References
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-myths-about-low-carb-diets#section3
https://www.forksoverknives.com/recommend-a-high-carb-diet-for-patients-with-diabetes/#gs.6L2KTLpF
https://nutritionstudies.org/low-carb-hot-air/
