What Diet Is Best: Low Carb Or Low Calorie?

Choosing the right diet to reach your health and weight-loss goals can be confusing. Low-calorie diets and low-carb diets are probably the most popular options proposed to dieters. These two options differ greatly and it is important to determine which type of diet is more suitable for your lifestyle and your objectives.

Counting Calories

Whether you choose to follow a low-carb or low-calorie diet, you will have to be counting, especially at first, while you get used to a new way of eating. Your decision to go for a low-calorie or low-carb diet may vary depending on how much work you are willing to put into the diet. Calorie counting can be a daunting task because you need to consider every ingredient in every dish, such as the oil used for cooking, the sugar and cream in your coffee, sauces, bread, spreads, juices, alcohol and every bite your put in your mouth. Calorie counting is more difficult when eating out because it is hard to guess the amount of each ingredient in a dish.

Counting Carbs

With carb counting, you only need to consider the carbohydrate-containing foods. This means you do not have to worry about meat, fish, seafood, poultry, cheese, eggs, butter and oils. Depending on how strict your low-carb diet is, you may only have to consider vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes, milk, yogurt and sweets when counting carbs. If you avoid most of the carb-rich food groups, your job will be made easier and you won't have much counting to do.

Weight Loss

A study published in the "Annals of Internal Medicine" in May 2004 showed that both low-carb and low-calorie diets can be effective for losing weight. In this study, 120 overweight participants were randomized to either a low-carb diet, with an initial allowance of 20 g of carbs a day, or a low-fat diet restricting calories by 500 to 1,000 a day. Participants in the low-carb group lost an average of 20.7 lbs. of fat in 24 weeks, while the calorie-restricted group lost an average of 10.6 lbs. of body fat.

Food Choices

Your personal food preferences can help you identify the best diet for you. For example, if you don't want to give up bread, breakfast cereals, pasta, rice, fruits and sweets, low-calorie diets may be the best option for you as long as you are able to exert strict portion control. However, if eating 1/2 cup of pasta, 10 small french fries or only one slice of bread does not seem to be a satisfying option, perhaps cutting these foods completely would be the best way to go by choosing a low-carb eating plan. Low-carb diets encourage a variety of tasty foods, such as nonstarchy vegetables, seafood, fish, poultry, meat, butter, mayonnaise, bacon, cheese, cream, coconut, nuts and nut butter.