Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Low Carb Diet Help - Important Things You Need To Know About Low Carb Diets

You are overweight. Or, suffering from diabetes. Or perhaps you have heard a lot about the negative effects of high carb foods. Whatever maybe your reason for switching to low carb diet, I am sure that if you are new to low carb diets, you have a lot of questions like how it works, what is a perfect low carb diet like, which foods are allowed and which are not, etc. In this article, I will cover all the basics regarding low carb diet. Hopefully, after reading this article, you will be able to decide whether low carb diet is for you or not.

First of all, let me tell you one thing: if you are in search of a quick-fix solution that will burn your fat like magic and will help you lose weight in a couple of weeks, then low carb diets are certainly not for you. It is not a fad, not is it based on some age-old formula like: eat XX foods at breakfast, eat YY foods for dinner, lose a few pounds of fat, and then go back to your old eating habits. No, it is not something like that. On the contrary, a low carb diet is like a rigorous training you need to undergo for the betterment of your health. You will do yourself a favor if you read at least ONE book on low carb diets.

Low carb diet is not merely about cutting down on sugar and starch. It means revamping your entire lifestyle by rejecting all those high carb foods that you are so used to eating all day and night. Under a low carb diet regimen, you will be required to choose foods which contain a high amount of protein and fat and a low amount of carbohydrates.

You may ask: Why cannot I eat carbs? Good question. First of all, when we eat high carb foods, those carbs are converted into glucose. Insulin converts this glucose into energy which we use in order to run our bodies. So far so good, but if you want to lose weight, your body will have to derive energy by burning fat and not glucose. However, as long as there is a continuous supply of glucose, your body won't bother to burn the fat. So in essence, carbohydrates help in storing fat inside your body. When you lower your carb intake, your body will be forced to burn its own fat in order to produce energy and in this way you will start losing weight or body fat.

Do not confuse "low fat" with "low carbohydrates". There is a big difference between the two. With a low fat diet, your body burns its own fat as well as muscles for energy. While on a low fat diet, you lose a lot of weight for sure, but you also lose a lot of lean muscles in the process, which slows down your metabolism. On the contrary, with a low carb diet, your body will burn fat for its energy production but will keep your lean muscle intact. So you should go for a "low carb" diet and NOT a "low fat" diet. If you need more information about low carb diets, simply click on the link in my resource box below!

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