Low-carb diets limit foods high in carbohydrates, such as sugar-sweetened foods, bread, pizza, pasta, rice, starchy vegetables and fruit. Low-carb diets have been linked to a reduced appetite, which makes them effective weight-loss diets. They can also have a positive effect on insulin resistance and epileptic seizures. The American Heart Association warns against low-carb diets that allow unlimited consumption of all kinds of fat and protein. Low-carb diets limiting bad fats could, however, present less of a health risk.
Low-Carb Diets
The best-known low-carb diet, popularized by Dr. Robert Atkins in the 1970s, limits carbohydrates to 20 g a day during the first phase of the diet. This corresponds to about 2 cups of cooked vegetables. The diet does not require you to count calories or reduce the size of your meals. The original version of the diet allowed unlimited consumption of fat and protein with an eye to the health risks. Cardiologist Arthur Agatston developed an alternative to Atkins diet that focuses on restricting carbohydrates that break down quickly, such as sugar, white bread and white rice, but allows a higher intake of whole grain products than traditional low-carb diets.
Weight Loss
Low-carb diets can be effective weight-loss diets, as they reduce appetite. Carbohydrates, particularly processed carbohydrates and sugar, quickly break down into glucose that is released into the bloodstream. As a result, blood sugar levels peak. The body responds by secreting insulin that helps remove glucose from the bloodstream, thereby causing a sharp drop in blood sugar levels. This triggers hunger. Complex carbohydrates, such as whole grains, break down more slowly than sugar and processed carbohydrates and lead to fewer fluctuations in blood sugar. Fat and protein have an even slower conversion rate. The fatty acid component of fat does not convert into glucose at all. When your blood sugar fluctuates less, you will feel less hungry and you will eat less.
Insulin Resistance
Rapid fluctuations in blood sugar correlate with rapid fluctuations in insulin. The body produces insulin when blood sugar is high. When insulin has removed most of the sugar from the bloodstream, the insulin level drops. This makes you feel hungry. So, you eat, causing insulin levels to peak again. This insulin roller-coaster ride can eventually lead to insulin resistance, a condition in which the body's cells do not properly receive the message that insulin sends. So, sugar stays in the bloodstream, which eventually can lead to depression, nerve damage, kidney damage and blindness. Low-carb diets can sometimes improve insulin resistance by releasing glucose into the bloodstream at a slower rate, thereby reducing the fluctuations in blood sugar and insulin.
Epileptic Seizures
If carbohydrates are severely restricted and proteins are kept to the minimum amount required for cell maintenance, the body is forced into a fat-burning mode. Muscles have no problem using fat as an energy source, but the brain cannot use fat, because fat cannot cross over to the brain from the bloodstream. However, the liver produces ketone bodies during the process of metabolizing fat. The brain can use ketone bodies as fuel. Low-carb diets that force a shift in brain metabolism from glucose to ketone body metabolism have been used successfully in the treatment of epileptic seizures in pediatric patients since the 1920s. Ketone bodies apparently stabilize cells, thereby preventing the brain from getting overexcited and going into a seizure.
Minimizing Health Risks
According to the official statement of the American Heart Association, traditional low-carb, high-protein diets present a health risk. The large consumption of animal fat may lead to hardening of the arteries, blood clots, strokes and heart problems. It also deprives the body of essential vitamins and minerals. However, you can minimize the health risk of low-carb diets by adding a vitamin and mineral supplement and by keeping an eye on the kinds of fat you consume. Good fats are found in salmon, tuna, sardines, most vegetable oils and nuts. Other healthy low-carb food sources include lean meats, such as roasted skinless chicken breast, and soy products such as soy beans, tofu, soy milk and soy cheese. Recipes for how to make healthy soy-based bread and meat substitutes can be found on some of the most popular low-carb diet sites.
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