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Low-Carb Meal Plans

Jun 14, 2011 | By Karen Frazier
Low-Carb Meal Plans
Photo Credit Carin Krasner/Pixland/Getty Images

With increasing obesity rates in North America, many people are turning to low-carbohydrate diets for weight loss. Low-carbohydrate diets offer an effective alternative to more traditional diets, and the food choices may be more suitable to your palate than the foods allowed on a low fat diet. A 2002 Ben Gurion University study published in the New England Journal of Medicine compared weight loss on low-carbohydrate, low-fat and Mediterranean-style diets and found that low-carbohydrate diets were an effective alternative to low-fat diets for weight loss.

Diet Plans

When you are on a low-carbohydrate diet, you limit the amount of carbohydrate foods you eat according to the specific diet's instructions. For instance, the Atkins diet recommends limiting carbohydrates to fewer than 20 g per day in early stages and only eating leafy green vegetables as your source of carbohydrates. The Zone diet recommends eating 30 percent of your calories from carbohydrates at each meal or snack and selecting favorable carbohydrates such as whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Protein Power recommends eating 7 to 10 g of carbohydrates at each meal, but it doesn't restrict the type of carbohydrates you can select other than suggesting you avoid sugar.

Carbohydrates

Carbohydrates contain sugars. Complex carbohydrates, simple carbohydrates and fiber are all types of carbohydrates. The different types of carbohydrates affect your blood glucose to varying degrees. Your intestines are unable to absorb fiber, so it has little to no affect on blood sugar. Complex carbohydrates contain three or more sugars and produce a slow and sustained rise in blood glucose. Simple carbohydrates have one or two sugars and cause a sharp rise in blood glucose. As blood sugar rises, your pancreas releases insulin. Insulin is a fat storage hormone, and when it is in your bloodstream, your fat is trapped in your fat cells. In insulin's absence, your body burns stored fat as its primary fuel. Pasta, rice, whole grains, cereals and vegetables are all complex carbohydrates. Sugar, dairy products, candy, baked goods and fruits are simple carbohydrates.

Breakfast

The type of breakfast you eat on a low-carbohydrate diet will depend on the diet you have chosen. An Atkins breakfast may consist of eggs, bacon or other meat. You can also make a sausage and cheese omelet with green vegetables or something similar. In the Zone diet, your breakfast might consist of yogurt and berries, scrambled egg whites and whole-wheat toast or a protein smoothie made with protein powder, coconut milk and a few berries. A Protein Power breakfast would be similar to Atkins, although you could have a few berries or half of a peach instead of vegetables.

Lunch and Dinner

Atkins lunches and dinners consist of meat and leafy green vegetables, with 1 to 2 oz. of cheese or other full-fat dairy if you wish. You can have a steak and sautéed spinach, a chef's salad with 2 tbsp. of full-fat, sugar-free salad dressing, or lobster and butter with green beans. A Zone lunch or dinner might consist of an open-faced cheeseburger on whole-grain bread using low-fat cheese and lean ground round and a side salad with low-fat dressing. Protein Power lunches and dinners consist mainly of animal protein with a fruit or vegetable side, such as a roasted skin-on chicken breast and artichokes.

Considerations

Dr. Atkins warns that if you are on a low-carbohydrate diet, you must follow the prescribed diet closely or your body won't enter the fat-burning state he refers to as ketosis. He also suggests that if you revert to high-carbohydrate eating, you most likely will regain the weight you lost on the diet. MayoClinic.com cautions that low-carbohydrate diets are often low in fiber and high in saturated fat and cholesterol. This may lead to increased risk of heart disease, cancer and intestinal problems.

References

Article reviewed by Holland Hammond Last updated on: Jun 14, 2011

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