Some people count carbohydrates for weight loss, while others do so to manage their diabetes. For either reason, carb counting can help increase your dietary awareness, which may result in weight loss and better overall health. Before beginning a carb-counting regimen, talk to your doctor about the significance of carbs in your diet.
Carbohydrates and Your Body
Despite some suppositions about carbohydrates, they are important nutrients for the body. Once consumed, your body converts carbohydrates into blood sugar, which supplies the cells, organs and tissues with energy. But just as there are good and bad fats, good and bad carbohydrates exist as well. Complex carbohydrates, which are often rich in fiber, digest more slowly and thereby offer a steady stream of energy. Simple carbohydrates, those found in candy and processed foods, cause blood sugar spikes as energy is quickly released, which eventually leads to plummeting and recurring hunger. Choosing the right carbohydrates can significantly impact the success of your diet, whether you count carbs, calories or both.
Weight Loss
Many weight loss plans focus on carb counting as a means to reduce hunger and promote fat-burning for weight loss. These plans, known as low-carbohydrate diets, are purported to promote weight loss by forcing the body to burn fat for energy rather than using carbohydrates as a primary energy source.
Counting Carbs
Carbohydrate counting is simplest with prepackaged foods that list the carbohydrate values on the labels. By subtracting the fiber content from the number of carbohydrates in your food, you are left with the total net carbs, the number of total carbohydrates that impact your blood sugar levels. For example, a food that has 5 g of fiber and 10 g of carbohydrates would have a total net carbohydrate value of 5. Carbohydrate counters found online and in books are helpful for calculating the number of carbohydrates in fresh foods.
Considerations
Following a low-carb diet may help you lose weight initially, partially resulting from the diuretic effects and the reduced calorie intake, but eating too much saturated fat and cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease and cancer. In addition, limiting high-fiber foods, those that may be high in carbohydrates, can cause constipation and other gastrointestinal side effects. Talk to your doctor about the safety of low-carbohydrate diets, particularly if you experience dizziness, nausea or symptoms of dehydration while carb counting.
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