Diets that reduce the intake of carbohydrates are popular diets for people who are want to lose weight rapidly. Carb-cutting diets limit carbohydrates such as bread, grains and rice, and focus your diet mostly on proteins, including meat, poultry, fish, eggs and low-starch vegetables. The Atkins Diet, the Zone Diet and the South Beach Diet are among the most well-known carb-cutting diets.
Atkins
The Atkins Diet is perhaps the first and most popular carb-cutting diet, developed by the Atkins company and legendary fitness guru, Charles Atkins. The Atkins company designed the diet in order to severely reduce glucose levels in your bloodstream so that insulin is not produced. The theory is that your body cannot burn its existing fat because it simply uses excess glucose for energy. Atkins also claims that without burning the glucose you bring into your body every day, it will just turn into fat and add pounds to your frame. Atkins provides a recipe database for its clients as well as advice for eating out that both encourages a low-carb lifestyle, without depriving people with variety in their diet.
The Zone Diet
The Zone Diet focuses on controlling what it called "silent inflammation," which is a genetic predisposition in some people to gain weight. The Zone Diet claims that certain foods induce inflammation to occur, which causes dietary calories to become trapped in fat cells. These calories are then no longer available for your metabolism to use for energy and you must eat more calories to get through the day. The Zone Diet claims that it allows people to lose weight by combining "zone foods" that work together to suppress appetite, and reduce total caloric consumption.
The South Beach Diet
The South Beach Diet promotes the lean and sexy look of the residents of South Beach, Miami, as its selling point and uses a three-phase plan for its clients to achieve successful weight loss. The first phase is a two-week program designed to eliminate cravings for sugar and refined starches, which are found in foods with high carbohydrate counts. The second phase emphasizes a steady period of weight loss where clients can eat "good carbs" such as whole grain bread, brown rice and whole wheat pasta. The second phase continues until you reach your weight goal. The third phase is called "Maintain for Life." This phase of the plan includes more foods that contain carbs but does not encourage a return to a diet of bad carbs that you might have been eating before starting the program.
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