Diets that limit carbohydrate intake have become popular due to mounting evidence regarding the effects of carbohydrates on weight and cardiovascular health. Not only can low-carb diets be part of a plan to lose weight, these diets may also help you reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Theory
When you consume carbohydrates, your body breaks them down to form glucose. The rise in blood glucose causes your pancreas to secrete insulin, a hormone which helps muscle, fat and liver cells pull the sugar out of your blood. Eating too many carbohydrates can cause chronically high insulin levels, which can make your body resistant to insulin. Insulin resistance can lead to a condition known as metabolic syndrome, which can cause low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, central obesity and high blood pressure. By limiting carbohydrate intake, you can keep insulin levels low which will can lower your risk of developing these health problems.
Effectiveness
Low carbohydrate diets are able to help you lose weight, but it has not been proven that they are better than other methods of dieting. For example, in 2010 the "Annals of Internal Medicine" published a paper titled "Weight and Metabolic Outcomes After 2 Years on a Low-Carbohydrate Versus Low-Fat Diet" which found that following a low carbohydrate diet did help patients lose weight. Patients following a low fat diet, however, lost a similar amount of weight, suggesting that low carb diets are not better than other diet plans for promoting weight loss.
Low-Carb Diets and Ketones
One effect that a low-carb diet has on the body is the production of ketones. Ketones are chemicals which are formed by converting fatty acids from fat tissue, according to a 2004 article published in the "Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition," entitled "Metabolic Effects of the Very-Low-Carbohydrate Diets: Misunderstood "Villains" of Human Metabolism". Ketones are produced to reduce the amount of glucose that the body uses for fuel; the ketones provide an alternate fuel source for the human body and are a part of the fat-burning process that occurs with low-carb diets.
Cardiovascular Health
In addition to helping you lose weight, low-carb diets may be beneficial for the health of your cardiovascular system. Diets that are high in carbohydrates can increase your cholesterol levels, "Scientific American" explains, and they may also promote type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease because the elevated blood glucose levels can damage the walls of the arteries, which speeds the deposition of cholesterol in the arterial wall.
References
- LA Times: Carbohydrates and Diet
- Journal of the International Society of Sports Medicine; "Metabolic Effects of the Very-Low-Carbohydrate Diets: Misunderstood "Villains" of Human Metabolism"; Manninen, Anssi. December, 2004.
- Annals of Internal Medicine; "Weight and Metabolic Outcomes After 2 Years on a Low-Carbohydrate Versus Low-Fat Diet"; Foster et. al.; August, 2010
- Scientific American: Carbohydrates and Cardiovascular Health
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