Millions of Americans are currently overweight or obese and trying to lose weight. Yet it can be hard to understand which foods are healthy to eat and which are not. There are numerous different types of diets, and many of them have contradicting food restrictions. Fruits, for example, are considered healthy on some diets but are restricted on the low-carbohydrate diet.
Low-Carbohydrate Diet Premise
Low-carbohydrate diets restrict the intake of foods like fruits, vegetables and grains in favor of meats and dairy products. The Mayo Clinic explains that the premise behind low-carbohydrate diets is that eating carbohydrates causes the body to produce the hormone insulin, which makes it harder to burn fat. Severely restricting carbohydrates forces the body to burn fat instead of carbohydrates for fuel in a process called ketosis.
Phrases
Most low-carb diets involve different phases with varying carbohydrate intakes. The Atkins diet website explains that on the first phase, carbohydrates are restricted to around 15g per day. Yet the Mayo Clinic states that in the final phases of other low-carbohydrate diets, dieters can eat as many as 150g of carbohydrates a day.
Fresh Over Dried
People on low-carbohydrate diets can typically eat some fruit---but only in limited amounts. Fresh fruits such as apples, pears and berries are encouraged instead of dried fruits because dried fruits contain a significantly higher amount of carbohydrates. The Atkins diet website says that one fresh apple has 21g of carbohydrates, but 10 small dried figs have 122g of carbohydrates.
Low-Carbohydrate Fruits
Even certain fresh fruits are discouraged on low-carbohydrate diets because they are higher in carbohydrates than others; berries make a much better choice for low-carbohydrate dieters than apples or bananas, for example. The Atkins diet website says that one-forth of a cup of blackberries has 4.6g of carbohydrates, but a medium-size banana has 26.7. Berries and peaches tend to be much lower in carbohydrates than tropical fruits such as pineapples and mangoes.
Glycemic Index
The glycemic index is another way low-carbohydrate dieters can determine if a food is acceptable. The University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics states that the glycemic index rates how quickly a carbohydrate-containing food spikes blood sugars. Foods are rated from 1 to 100, with 100 being the score of table sugar. Grapefruits and peaches only contain glycemic indices of 25 and 28, respectively, but watermelons contain a glycemic index of 72. Choosing fruits with a lower glycemic index will help reduce blood sugar spikes that trigger insulin production.
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