The name says: “low carb” diets are dietary programs that restrict the consumption of carbohydrates. But how does it work and what to eat? This type of diet, used most often to lose weight, has several currents, which have different restrictions on the amount and types of carbohydrates allowed during the program. In menus, like the one suggested at the end of this text, the main nutrient in the diet must be protein, obtained from sources such as meat, eggs and dairy products, followed by “good” fats for health, such as olive oil. In some cases, the fat even passes the proteins. The nutritionist Ethel Souza explains that, in the low carb diet, the daily intake of carbohydrates must remain below 20% of the total calories ingested (on average, 20 g of carbohydrates / day).
– There are diet options with lower carbohydrate restrictions, which can be 50 g, 70 g or 100 g per day, which are moderate restrictions. But the most common is the restriction with 20 g of carbohydrates a day – teaches.
The nutritionist highlights the most famous of the low carb diets: the Atkins diet, launched in the 70s by the American doctor Robert Atkins, who currently has millions of followers worldwide. More recently, the Dukan diet appeared, launched by the French doctor Pierre Dukan, after an adaptation of the Atkins method. There are others that go in and out of fashion, such as Stillman, Whole30, Hiperproteica, Paleolítica and Keto or Keto, one of the most radical, which reduces the consumption of carbohydrates to 5% and increases the fat to more than 60 % . The main objective of all of them is to force the body to use fat as its main source of energy in the form of ketone bodies that will replace the glucose obtained through carbohydrates.
Benefits
Ethel Souza lists a number of benefits of the low carb diet, but the most significant has to do with blood glucose control. That’s because carbohydrate is the nutrient that most quickly turns into glucose, which ends up leading to hunger shortly after a meal.
– Our cells need insulin to be able to absorb glucose. When this happens, our brain receives a signal that it needs more glucose, and you immediately start feeling hungry – he says, explaining why a reduction in the amount of carbohydrates causes this control in glucose.
This also has a direct impact on the main objective of many people looking for this method: weight loss. It happens because the low carb diet controls the oscillations of glycemia, stimulating greater burning of body fat to supply energy to the body. In addition, there is hunger control associated with reduced caloric intake. What’s more, low carbohydrate consumption leads to a drastic reduction in insulin release, which means greater mobilization of fat stores to be used as an energy source.
The nutritionist recalls that with less insulin in the circulation, another positive effect is greater control of appetite, especially for sweets, since the glucose levels in the circulation tend to vary with less intensity. This benefit extends to lower blood triglycerides and improves HDL levels.
The effects don’t stop there. The low carb diet also reduces fluid retention in the body. Each gram of glycogen – our glucose store in the body – holds approximately three grams of water, which helps to explain why it is common to gain weight after eating bread and pasta. With low carb diets, as there is no carbohydrate to replenish glycogen stores in the liver, excess fluid is eliminated in the early days of the diet via urine. In addition, protein digestion requires much more energy from the body than breaking down carbohydrates. As a result of this action, there is an acceleration of metabolism in response to increased protein consumption.
– And once again, proteins help control appetite, as they do not cause insulin spikes and on top of that they delay gastric emptying – adds the nutritionist.