Is a low-carb diet really healthy for us?

Question

I want to go on a diet and trying to decide which is best for me...
Is a low-carb diet actually healthy or does it do more harm than good?

Answer 1

Heather starts with the false claim: "Atkins is one the worst possible 'fad diets' out there...This will put your body into a state called ketosis or ketoacidosis, which is a serious condition that occurs when dangerous levels of acidic substances called ketones build up in the blood. This is where your body goes into emergency mode due to not getting enough carbohydrates, and then begins to burn muscle and other proteins for energy."

This is a bold faced lie. Ketosis and ketoacidosis are two very different things. On Akins the former occurs which is perfectly safe. Ketoacidosis is essentially exclusive to diabetics and alcoholics. Regarding mean muscle loss, again Heather is incorrect. A University of Illinois study published in August 2005 issue of the Journal of Nutrition showed that the women who ate a low-carb, high-protein diet had more productive workouts by burning more fat and building more muscle mass than those who ate a low-protein, high-carb diet.

Bad breath is possilble on under 50 carbs a day. (Not really typical bad breath, more a chemically smell as your body is literally burning to fuel the body. But that should only be for two weeks at most and if you don't like it just up the carbs.

Atkins a fad diet? Hardly, low carb is what humans basically ate for millions of years before they learned to farm rice, wheat and other grains. Don't listen to the Atkins bashers. They are so wrong its really sad. But then again, they have invested a great deal in college educations that have taught them incorrectly. Its hard to give up 40 years of brainwashing.

Study after study shows that low carb diets such as Atkins, when properly done, show lower triglycerides which are much stronger markers for heart disease. I wouldn't worry about cholesterol if I were you, a blood glucose fasting test is more important.

"Nutrition experts generally agree that 55 percent to 60 percent of your total daily calories should come from carbohydrates": And this old chestnut is the reason for so much obesity, diabetes, and coronary heart disease running out of control in this country. The above recommendations are based on junk science. Get your hand on the book "The Great Cholesterol Con". It will blow you away about how we have been fooled by the medical establishment.

Some things Atkins left out. (I have the old book). Avoid polyunsaturated oils, like soy or canola to cook with. They are the real heart killers. Fry/cook your own food in refined organic coconut oil. Don't eat fried food from any restaurant since they certainly use the soy bean or canola oil.

Remember: Atkins is not a diet, it is a change in eating habits forever. When you do it right you will be eating more vegetables and more fruits than the Standard Amerca Diet, or SAD.

Low carb is the way humans evolved to eat over millions of years..... Chew on this... we have only learned to farm wheat, rice and othe grains only about 10,000 years ago. Do you really think the human digistive system evolved to consume all these grain in 10,000 years? Your cat and dog sure didn't, and yet they are getting sick just like us with cancer and other human diseases.. Just take a look at the ingredients in common pet foods. You will see things in there like soy and corn syrup in the first few ingredients. It is looking at us in the face. Humans were meant to eat meat, with all the fat, edible greens and shoots, nuts, and fruits in limited quantities.. That is what we grew up on for millions of years. Let us all get a clue.

REMEMBER: Fresh whole foods are best, stay away from frankenfoods even if low in carbs. And do excercise!

P.S. Don't worry about Heather's references; many, but not, all are based on junk science.

Answer 2

Butter? Full of fat obviously so better to replace that with a thin scraping of soya spread or olive oil. Peanut butter is also fattening so I would cut that out. When I am trying to lose weight I have a mixture of scrambled smoked tofu (very high protein and low carb) mixed with a bit of soya milk and spinach and onions. I also add a dollop of fresh tomato sauce - the ones you get for pasta in the fridge section at the supermarket. I have this on a slice of wholegrain bread. For lunch or mid afternoon snack/meal I would eat something like a half plate of veggies/salad and a quarter plate of some kind of wholegrain such as millet, barley, quinoa or rice and the other quarter would be a high protein food like some kind of bean. For dinner I would have more tofu. No carbs after 6.00pm. You have to make your own mind up about the health benefits/health worries of tifu but I am ok with it.....

Answer 3

You can drop you carb intake to 400 cal/day without problems. Below that you could develop ketosis (once advocated by Atkins) but that is considered dangerous. You still have to maintain a low calorie count, but you will lose weight faster for the first few months. After a year, there is no difference between low carb and low fat diets as to total weight loss; eventually it's only calories that count.

Answer 4

i think you should definately do the low carb diet until u reach ur goal weight.. it may not be 100% healthy but neither is being fat so..yeah and also i did the no carb diet for 1 month last summer eating one chicken caesar salad for lunch and lost about 1 1/2 lbs a day..by the end of the summer i lost 45 lbs. so its definately worth it

Answer 5

Many ones carb supply need to originated from leafy green veggies

Answer 6

Walk to your co-worker's desk to chat rather than instant messaging.

Answer 7

Cary a new motivational photography along

Answer 8

Any physical exercise can burn calorie consumption

Answer 9

In the mood for the hot meal? Make a enormous pot of veggie bean soups, divide into two-cup containers, and store from the freezer. Before bed, place a container within the fridge, then grab it before heading out the door the next day.

Answer 10

Adhere to a more trim protein/green plant diet regime