Many low-carb diets totally exclude bread, rice, pasta, breakfast cereals, granola bars, crackers, baked goods, milk, yogurt, fruit and sugar. It can be difficult for some people to stick to such a diet when the majority of the foods we are used to eating are high in carbohydrates. However, it appears that low-carb diets do not have to be so restrictive, and ketosis is not necessary to benefit from a low-carb diet.
Principles
The principle underlying low-carb diets is that a high intake of carbohydrate stimulates the release of large quantities of insulin, a hormone that promotes fat storage. Therefore low-carb diets aim at reducing the daily carb intake in order to lower the circulating insulin levels and allow the body to start using its fat reserve for fuel.
Ketosis
Some low-carb diets, but not all, start with a phase that strictly excludes many carbohydrate-rich foods from the diet. The objective of eliminating almost all carbohydrates is to induce ketosis. Ketosis is a term that refers to the metabolic pathway that uses fat as opposed to carbohydrates. Burning fat for energy produces ketone bodies, so this process is called ketosis; it can be induced by a ketogenic diet. Ketosis is not dangerous and should not be confused with ketoacidosis, a serious medical condition observed in type 1 diabetics. Ketosis usually happens when the carb intake drops lower than 50 g a day and most low-carb diets proposing a ketogenic phase recommend that you follow it only for the first two weeks.
Research Findings
A trial compared low-carb ketogenic diet, with a carbohydrate intake corresponding to less than 5 percent of the calories, or an average of 33 g a day, to a low-carb nonketogenic diet, with 40 percent of its calories from carbohydrate, or an average of 157 g a day, in 20 obese individuals. At the end of the six-week trial, both groups lost the same amount of weight. Results were published in 2006 in the "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition."
Increased Carbs
A nonketogenic low-carb diet can include between 50 and 150 g of carbohydrate a day, giving you more variety in your food choices while allowing you to lose weight at a steady pace. Your specific carbohydrate target needs to be individualized within that range for maximum results. A nonketogenic low-carb diet could include between 15 and 20 or up to 50 g of carbohydrates at each meal, allowing you to enjoy small servings of fruits, grains, starchy vegetables and dairy products as well as limited amounts of sugar.
References
- Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids: Dietary Carbohydrates
- American Journal of Clinical Nutrition: Ketogenic low-carbohydrate diets have no metabolic advantage over nonketogenic low-carbohydrate diets
- Holistic Online: Ketones, Ketosis, and Ketogenic Diets
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