I always recommend a healthy diet that is filled with natural whole foods. It’s just easier to cut out processed foods and sugar laden food and drink without the need to count carbs or calories. However, I do provide information on a low carb diet for beginners, for those that want to investigate whether they get better results. You’ll find that it isn’t that much different from eating a whole food diet without processed and sugary foods.
There are a lot of health benefits from a low carb diet.
If you have problems with bad cholesterol, a low carb diet can help. It not only lowers the LDL levels, it boosts the HDL levels, the good cholesterol. It improves triglycerides and also aids in stabilizing blood sugar. Diets that are lower in carbs are higher than traditional diets in proteins and healthy fat. That can mean improved protein and fat intake. Both make you feel fuller longer and increased protein can even boost your metabolism.
Let’s talk more about boosting your protein and healthy fat.
The percentages will vary based on your body, but traditionally a low carb diet contains 30 percent protein, 40 percent carbohydrates and 30 percent fats. Most Americans eat a diet where the calories come from 50 percent carbohydrates, 15 percent protein, and 35 percent fat. The fat in the American diet isn’t normally healthy fat, either. Low carb diets force your body to get calories for food from body fat. It also helps reduce the risk for insulin resistance—the precursor of type 2 diabetes—by lowering insulin levels.
There’s a lot of hub bub about special KETO foods, but eating healthier is the key.
Strict low carb diets put you in a state of ketosis. When you’re in ketosis, your body burns fat as its source of food. You don’t have to get that severe. In fact, there are drawbacks to this type of diet, since a low carb ketogenic diet can cause heart palpitations, lethargy, headache, constipation and irritability. Just cutting out some of the foods you normally eat, like anything with sugar added, even artificial sweeteners, processed food, vegetable oils and soft drinks not only is an effective way to lose weight, it’s far easier on your body and can be maintained for a lifetime.
- One of the big difference between healthy eating consuming a low carb diet is the elimination of pasta and bread on a low carb diet.
- When you increase protein in your diet, get animal protein from free range animals and grass fed beef. The meat and animal products contain far more omega fatty acids and two times more CLA—conjugated linoleic acid. Those help lower body fat and boost heart health.
- Even if vegetables and fruit are filled with carbs, they’re a healthy type of carb called complex carbohydrates. These take longer to get into your bloodstream, so your blood sugar level doesn’t spike.
- When you eat a low carbohydrate diet, make sure your plate is a rainbow of colors from a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. It makes certain that you get all the nutrients that you need.