How would you like to go on a diet that promised you the promise of permanent, healthy weight loss without sacrificing your favorite breads and pastas? If so, you’re not alone. Many people are asking, “do low-carb diets really work?” This article aims to provide some useful answers for those interested in trying this type of dieting method.
The first thing to understand about low-carb diets is that they are designed to decrease the amount of carbohydrates you eat. The common logic behind this approach is that if you cut out carbs, you’ll lose weight. So what’s the logic behind reducing the amount of calories you consume by using bread, pasta, potatoes, and other processed, white carbohydrates?
The answer lies in how low-carb diets work. Unlike many popular weight loss plans, such as Atkins or South Beach, low-carb diets don’t focus on cutting out carbs altogether. Instead, these diets reduce the amount of carbs you take in, replacing them with proteins, fats, fruits, and vegetables. By doing this, you can still enjoy many of your favorite foods while losing weight. In fact, some low-carb diets actually increase your protein intake!
The most common type of food consumed by people on these types of diets is white bread, which is high in refined sugars and low in healthy carbohydrates. Replacing white bread with whole wheat bread may help you lose weight, because whole wheat bread contains higher amounts of healthy carbs. Similarly, switching your pasta dishes between the likes of spaghetti and lasagna may help you shed some pounds as well. Both of these healthier choices contain lower amounts of processed carbs and will allow you to enjoy a wide variety of healthy meals.
If you eat too much rice, pasta, or bread, then these types of carbs are digested too quickly by your body, causing you to feel hungry more often and eat less healthy meals overall. Carbohydrates like rice, potatoes, and bread take longer to break down in your body than say, for example, vegetables. In addition, these carbs are digested slowly by your body, so if you cut your carb intake by eating fewer carbs, you will find that you stay fuller longer and eat less frequently, resulting in weight loss.
The reason why many low-carb diet plans eliminate carbs from their menus all together is to burn off calories faster. By eliminating carbs, these diets typically have a higher metabolism rate and enable you to lose weight more rapidly. The problem with eliminating carbs from your diet is that while you may lose weight, you may also put your health in danger by slowing down your body’s metabolic rate, which means that you will not be burning as many calories as normal. In addition, cutting out carbs also means that you will need to take more healthy foods. This means that you will have to learn to substitute healthy carbs for the healthier refined and processed forms, which can be more expensive.
Replacing unneeded carbs with healthy carbs can help you lose weight. Eat plenty of whole grain foods, such as whole wheat bread and brown rice. Eat plenty of healthy carbohydrates, such as fresh fruit and veggies, and lean meats. Eat plenty of brown rice, preferably organic. You can also replace white bread with whole-wheat or whole grain bread.
Many people who go on low-carb diets like to eat only steak or fish on special occasions. In order to make this work, plan on preparing these food items ahead of time. Cook them on low-fat or low-carb diets to keep the extra fat to a minimum. Also, remember to plan on eating a lot of vegetables at this new way of eating.