Low carb diets are becoming more and more popular. Many studies are showing that they result in more weight loss in comparison to the typically-recommended low-fat diet plan.
Sticking to a low carb diet offers lots of great health benefits, such as the fact that it’s very effective at eliminating visceral fat, including belly fat, which is a harmful type of body fat.
We’ve all read so many guesses and theories on why ketogenic diets are effective for weight loss. This article shall hopefully offer a bit of clarity.
What Exactly Is A Low Carb Diet?
A low carb diet is a lifestyle or way of eating in which carbohydrates are drastically eliminated from the diet. The ketogenic or keto diet is the strictest of low carb plans. In it, a person’s carbohydrate intake is reduced to a maximum of 20 grams per day of non-starchy vegetables and some dairy.
This works because when a person’s diet contains less carbs, the body doesn’t get its energy from the glucose production anymore. The body starts to burn fat for energy instead.
Starch and sugar carbohydrates are replaced with a lot of healthy fats and a moderate amount of protein. Bread, sugar, cereal, beans, pastries, pasta and all other types of starches aren’t allowed anymore. Instead, you’ll enjoy plenty of non-starchy veggies, foods high in healthy fats like butter, coconut oil, MCT oil, fatty fish, low-sugar dairy, eggs, grassfed beef, pastured chicken, wild-caught seafood and other healthy protein choices.
How Does a Low Carb Keto Diet Support Weight Loss?
- Triggers Ketosis: Eating a low carb diet triggers a process called ketosis. When in ketosis, the body burns fat for energy instead of dietary carbs. This is a very efficient way to burn the body’s fat deposits and in turn lose weight.
- Cuts water weight: People that go on a low carb diet usually lose a good amount of weight in the first 2 weeks. It’s likely that this happens when water that’s tied to glycogen comes off the body. It is one thing that keeps people motivated to keep moving forward in a healthy lifestyle.
- Eliminates insulin trigger foods: Sugar and starch-based carbohydrates are insulin triggers that cause blood sugar spikes. These blood sugar spikes can lead to gaining weight. While eating a low carb diet, these insulin triggers are eliminated so the body can burn fat instead of storing it.
- Keeps you full with protein: Protein helps to ensure you feel full and satisfied so you eat less without thinking about it. Protein can also help increase lean muscle mass, which promotes more efficient fat burning. This is one of the factors that make low carb and ketogenic diets effective.
- Regulates appetite to naturally reduce caloric intake: A low carb diet naturally regulates the appetite because the insulin trigger foods that wreak havoc in the body and cause erratic hunger and out of control cravings are eliminated.
Additionally, researches from St. Louis and Japan (Banks WA1, Coon AB, Robinson SM, Moinuddin A, Shultz JM, Nakaoke R, Morley JE, et all) found that the hunger regulating hormone leptin is positively affected by the low carb diet’s ability to reduce triglyceride levels in the body, which allows that hormone to work more effectively in regulating the appetite.
When people embark on a low carb diet, their appetite significantly drops naturally, and they naturally feel satisfied with less food, resulting in weight loss as they naturally eat less calories and without suffering and starvation.
Are Low Carb Diets Safe?
You’re not alone in asking that question. This is a frequently asked question, and one that should be asked when starting any new diet or lifestyle. While it is followed by thousands of people around the world without any problems, the low carb or keto lifestyle isn’t for everyone.
Starting a keto diet may result in side effects for some people, and other people may experience no side effects at all. Usually, if people any side effects, they tend to not last for too long.
In general, statics and research shows keto and low carb diets to be highly effective for weight loss. They’ve also been shown to reduce the risk for cardiovascular disease better than a low-fat eating style.
Make sure you research and understand what a particular low carb diet such as the ketogenic diet has to offer before embarking on it.
In conclusion, low carb diets aid weight loss by triggering ketosis, a metabolic state where the body uses stored fat as its source of energy.
Low carb diets also do a great job of regulating appetite and naturally allow those following them to eat less while feeling satisfied. This is another one of the main reasons that the weight loss is so strong and visible.
Low carb diets are not fads, but rather a lifestyle that has helped thousands of people reverse the problems of obesity while improving their health. It just may be able to do the same for you.
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