Should You Start A Low Carb Diet

If you’ve considered a low carb diet, I’ll tell you what I tell my clients in Chino Hills. There are some valid reasons for using this type of diet for weight loss, but if you use one of the stricter types of the diet, such as the keto diet, it’s not changing your lifestyle. Keto diets are super restrictive and extremely low in carbs. It cuts out many grain products and all but eliminates potatoes. Eating in restaurants becomes almost impossible. So just like other fad diets, I prefer to healthy eating, which can also be lower carb.

Low carbohydrate diets don’t mean no carbs.

There are healthy complex carbs you need to be at your best. These are vegetables and fruit and even some grain products. Learning to eat healthier, while cutting out junk food, sugary food and processed food is good, whether you adjust the intake of carbs, protein and fat or not. In a healthy low carb diet, the average percentage of calories from carbohydrates is about 40 percent, compared to approximately 50 percent in the average American diet. Protein is increased dramatically to approximately 15 percent in the average American diet to approximately 30 percent. The amount of fat diminishes from 35 percent down to 30 percent and changes to a healthier version of fat.

There’s a lot more room for versatility in a healthy low carb diet.

Just like healthy eating, it helps build lifestyle changes you can maintain. You need carbohydrates for energy, especially if you’re trying to build muscle tissue. Healthy fat helps burn body fat and aids in recovery after a workout. Protein is the building block for muscles, too. Eating a healthier balance of these foods can provide a life where weight loss isn’t a problem. There is evidence that a lower carbohydrate diet forces your body to get energy from body fat. That’s a boost to weight loss.

There are health benefits to a diet lower in carbohydrates.

Paleo diets and keto diets all but eliminate grains. That’s not true of milder forms of low carb diets. No matter what type you choose, they offer many of the same health benefits. It helps to balance your cholesterol by reducing the LDL—the bad cholesterol— and increasing the HDL—the good cholesterol. You’ll stabilize your blood sugar levels, which helps prevent insulin resistance and fat storage.

• Choose the best types of carbs, proteins and fats for your health. Grass fed and free-range organic animal products, healthy fat from avocados and whole eggs, plus healthy carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables provide a healthier, well balanced diet.
• If you eat too few calories from carbs, it can cause headaches, weakness, muscle cramping, constipation or diarrhea, skin rash and even bad breath. Sustainable moderation is always the key.
• The difference between healthy complex carbs and carbs to avoid, simple carbohydrates, is that complex carbs don’t cause spikes in your blood sugar, since they take longer to digest.
• You can start a lower carbohydrate diet without all the fuss. Begin by cutting out sugar and processed products, slowly eliminating other unhealthy foods or higher carb foods as you go.