If you need to lose weight and you cannot face a day without meat or eggs, you might be interested in a diet that counts carbohydrates. On a counting-carbs diet, you limit your food intake by restricting the gram of carbohydrates that you eat. Lowering your carbohydrate intake by too much can lead to nutritional deficiencies and health problems, so work with a nutritionist to develop the healthiest eating plan for your situation.
Claims
A diet that counts carbs may claim that you can lose weight without counting your calories or grams of fat. Compared to fat or protein, most kinds of carbohydrates from your diet lead to bigger increases in your blood sugar levels, and a diet that counts carbohydrates may claim to prevent unhealthy spikes in your blood sugar levels that can lead to diabetes. These diets may also claim to decrease hunger by maintaining more constant blood sugar levels.
Foods to Eat
Most calories on a carbohydrate-counting diet most likely come from fat and protein. Pure fats, such as butter and canola, olive and other oils, do not have carbohydrates, so you can probably have more of them than on a low-fat or low-calorie diet. Your diet will also include substantial amounts of protein foods, such as meat, poultry, eggs, fish and shellfish, since these are also free from carbohydrates. Your diet will probably include some non-starchy vegetables, which provide a small amount of carbohydrates but are high in dietary fiber, which does not raise your blood sugar levels.
Foods to Limit
Your diet will probably allow specified amounts of foods that contain carbohydrates, but it will also be high in protein or fat. If your diet has multiple phases, the first phase may prohibit healthy, high-carbohydrate foods, such as fruit, starchy vegetables and whole grains, while the later phases may allow small amounts of these foods. Most carbohydrate-counting diets prohibit added sugars, such as those in soft drinks, pastries and candies. This is a benefit because these foods provide calories without many beneficial nutrients.
Weight Loss
You can only lose weight from body fat when your total calorie intake is less than your expenditure, and a carbohydrate-counting diet can be successful if it helps you eat fewer calories. A high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet may decrease your hunger because protein is a filling nutrient. A risk of losing weight on a low-carbohydrate diet is that you may become bored with the diet because of its limited food choices, and give up your efforts before you reach your goal.
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