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Diets Dont Work

Diets Don`t Work is a free 8 week weight management and nutrition programme.As a team we encourage weight loss at a steady pace and include different aspects of nutrition to enable you to choose a healthy lifestyle.

Our sessions include topics on behaviour change, goal setting, portion size, food labels and physical activity plus other areas to promote a healthier choice. The sessions are delivered in a friendly professional manner within a group setting that offers support throughout the course and afterwards (beyond).

Come along and join our course. This is the session where we provide an overview of the course. Complete a small amount of paperwork and inform everyone on the course and of the leaders contact names and telephone numbers. We also take measurements of weight and waist circumference though this is not compulsory. BMI may also be calculated at this stage. All sensitive data is recorded and stored in a confidential manner.

Here we encourage the Eatwell Guide approach to a healthy balanced eating pattern. Answer any queries and hopefully debunk any myths regarding certain food groups.

In this session we offer realistic advice on how to understand portion sizes. Including tips on how to reduce portion sizes of various foods without losing taste or flavour and increasing other food groups to achieve a healthy balanced diet.

This is our halfway stage and where we deliver knowledge, understanding and practical advice on Fats, Sugars and Salt. We discuss the practicalities with regards to fat in the diet, too much hidden sugar and salt. Visual aids are used to portray the various amounts of hidden fats, sugars and salt in a wide range of foods and offer information on the labelling of certain food items including Diet, Reduced Fat/Sugar, No Added Sugar plus others.

Physical activity is an essential part of weight management Energy In vs Energy Out. We discuss the health benefits of physical activity and offer a practical taster session free of charge on how to incorporate movement into a busy daily routine. We use visual aids to discover how much physical activity is required to burn off the calories in every day foods.

Ever stood trying to work out what all those figures and colours mean on a food label? Let us help you work them out. We will show you how to make sense of all the information displayed on a food label and help you understand how to read the traffic light system to make a healthier choice.

In this session we discuss the practicalities of eating out and alcoholic calories. We encourage you to make a healthier choice whilst dining out, visiting a coffee shop or the up and coming Baltic Triangle by showing the various healthier choices available.

We do not tell you what you can or not drink in the way of alcohol but we do advise on just how calorific some drinks may be.

The catch up and final session here we see how far the group has come over the 8 weeks. It is also an opportunity to cover any of the topics that anybody wishes to go back through. We also retake your measurements and compare them to the initial measurements in a sensitive manner. We discuss how to further and maintain your weight loss and give the opportunity for ongoing and further support.

Diets Dont Work is run across Sefton in a number of venues at varying times during the day. If your would like to book a place or need further advise on Diets dont work please call Active Lifestyles on 0151 934 2352 or email us on active.lifestyles@sefton.gov.uk

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Diets Dont Work - Active Lifestyles Sefton

Its news to literally no one that diets dont work.

We know that food restriction is correlated with a panoply of negative outcomes: anxiety, body dissatisfaction, inability to focus, and, yes, chronic hunger. I would argue that anyone who has been on a diet could tell you that they dont work, but weve long willfully ignored the results (both as individuals and as a culture) because why exactly? There are a few answers to this question, but Id like to focus on the fact that diets serve other purposes less tangible than a radically different body, and more emotional and social. Id like to share four roles that dieting serves for people who are dieting, with a focus on how it interacts with feminine gender socialization:

Dieting is very good at getting our every waking thought/breath/impulse to focus completely on it. When youre restricting you are deep in the mindset that every bite, every step, every decision you make is either making or breaking you. A cookie or carrot is what stands between you and having a terrible day. When your fate is tied up in every single bite of food, how can you not become utterly consumed? You are being utterly consumed, girl!

Disassociation is something women have learned how to do really well as weve spent hundreds of years navigating our systematic dehumanization. I grew up watching the women in my family disassociate like pros from their dissatisfying marriages, from disrespectful children, from the fact that they had maybe never had an orgasm. Dieting is a socially sanctioned method of mentally high-tailing out of whatever is going on and keeping you entirely in your head, laser-focused on your next bite, your scale, your plate.

Women have been taught that we can talk about how much we hate our body as a way of bonding with other women. Think of that scene in Mean Girls where the popular girls come home from school, stand in front of a mirror and begin a chorus of criticism. Not to be that feminist, but its pretty clearly an example of patriarchal sabotage.

Women are socialized into communicating in a very limited way with other women. Were allowed to talk about a few safe topics that keep us stuck in a sense that we are alone (not the real topics that women face and that unite us like: sexual assault, sadness, sexual frustration, trauma, abortion). In recollecting what women-strangers talk to me about, I would say it boils down to the following: the weather, children (if she has some), maybe housework or our favorite new coffee beverage, maybe where we got our outfit, and dieting. Of all that is available, talking about dieting is actually quite intimate in comparison to, say, discussing the weather. I do honestly believe that when women start talking to me about how food is evil or how bad they look, theyre trying to communicate to me that they want to be friends. Of course, undercutting yourself is not the best basis for intimacy building, but we work with what were socialized to work with unless were introduced to different methods!

Dieting is pretty much universally socially acceptable in our culture. Dieting is considered part of self-improvement and discipline, two of the most important things in our culture. Our culture loves it when we take complete ownership of our fate and pretend that all problems are individual problems that can be solved by individual efforts (not collective change). Dieting is an individual behavior that is supposed to solve a cultural problem - fatphobia. It is hard to stand out - some people dont get to choose whether they stand out or not (like Im a fat brown lady who lives in an affluent white coastal city. I dont get to choose if I stand out.), but some people undertake dieting as a way to fit in.

There are plenty of social rewards to be had by just jumping on the restriction bandwagon. Others verbally encourage people on diets, offering compliments for skipped meals or salad consumption. If youre a fat person, you get accolades for trying to fix your body. These rewards are also internal and psychological. There can be both the negative emotions that come with dieting as well as the positive emotions that come with being able to separate oneself from non-compliant fat people (e.g. Well, yes, Im fat but at least Im trying!). This is a manifestation of internalized self-loathing that is then projected outward.

Its important to understand the multiple dimensions of why people adopt dieting behavior. Its also important to keep talking about and enacting fat activist and fat positive methods as an intervention. Keep feministing!

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Take The Cake: Diets Don't Work (But They Do Give People ...

Mark Twain once said a little starvation can really do more for the average sick man than can the best medicines and the best doctors.

There may be something to Twains belief, as we increasingly hear that skipping meals or even fasting is good for us.

Celebrities like Hugh Jackman, Beyonc and Benedict Cumberbatch swear by fasting diets, while BBC science presenter Dr Michael Mosley created a sensation in 2012 when he devised his 5:2 diet.

Fasting diets come in various forms.

The 5:2 diet allows you to eat normally five days a week and restrict calorie intake to a quarter (500 to 600 calories) on two days.

Alternate-day fasting is one day of fasting, one day normal eating.

Theres also time-restricted fasting, or eating only during certain hours of the day, like the so-called Warrior Diet, which involves minimal calorie intake for 20 hours a day, and eating normally only between 6pm and 10pm.

Weight loss seems to be the main one.

A 2018 study by the UKs University of Surrey found that one group doing time-restricted fasting lost on average more than twice as much body fat as those in a control group that ate meals as normal.

The American Heart Association also stated in 2017 that there was evidence that both alternate-day fasting and periodic fasting may be effective for weight loss, although there are no data that indicate whether the weight loss can be sustained long term.

Dr Mosley argues that not only does fasting lead to weight loss, but also cellular repair and improved brain function.

Accredited practising dietitian Kate Gudorf says fasting appears to produce weight loss as does any form of calorie restriction.

Some studies have found that fasting can reduce fasting glucose levels, HDL (bad) cholesterol, body-mass index, triglycerides (fats in blood) and some inflammatory markers, she says.

The question is, are these outcomes a testament to fasting diets, or because weight loss is produced, which feeds into these other benefits? At the moment we lack good data on fasting diets, says Ms Gudorf, of the Dietitians Association of Australia.

She recommends instead simply eating a healthier diet, with more vegetables and fruit, meaning both fewer calories and meeting nutritional needs.

Weight loss is not always a good indication of diet quality its much easier to eat fewer calories if you simply eat a healthy diet, and nutritionally you would be meeting all your needs.

Basically Australians are not eating very well and getting about a third of their energy from junk food.

Source: The 5:2 Diet Book, by Kate Harrison

Written by Mike Bruce

Read more here:
Do fasting diets work?

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Our goal is that you achieve a rapid and safe weight loss. Doing so by using our weight loss system and real diets that work. Also with the support, education, and knowledge from our Health Counselors, your weight will come off in no time. Most of all, your body will transform in a fast manner which is a huge motivator when it comes to losing weight. All of our medical weight loss programs have been designed around this very factor. Therefore, make sure to research for the best and easy diets.

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Diets That Work - Easy Diets - How to Lose weight Quickly

Click here for Calories Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV, Part V, and Part VI.

We have explored the bodys adaptation to reducing calories and weight and seen how the body acts more like a thermostat than a scale. The body acts as though it has a Body Set Weight (BSW) and strives vigorously to defend that weight against increase or decrease alike.

But how long do these adaptations last? If we maintain a certain body weight, will our body eventually recognize this as a new BSW? Certainly at first glance, this seems like a reasonable assumption. But is it true?

Reduce Energy Expenditure

Lets look at some recent studies to answer this important question.

Long-term persistence of adaptive thermogenesis in subjects who have maintained a reduced body weight by Dr. Rosenbaum et al.

In this study, 21 subjects were recruited and fed a liquid diet consisting of 45% carbohydrates over one year and the Total Energy Expenditure (TEE) were measured. As expected, during the initial weight loss phase (10% of body weight) TEE was reduced. As weight went down, the body tries to regain the weight by reducing TEE. In essence, the body is defending the BSW and trying to return to the original weight. But how long does this last?

What is interesting is that TEE is reduced over the course of the full year. Even after one year at the new, lower body weight, the TEE was still reduced by an average of almost 500 calories/day. (see figure on right)

In other words, this reduction in TEE starts almost immediately after caloric reduction and persists for a long time at least 1 year and going strong. It does not appear that this BSW has been changed at all. There is no sign that BSW has changed.

The body is still trying to get back to the original BSW. Remember that this weight loss is achieved with no change in the composition of the diet only the amount (a portion control strategy).

Lets put this into dietary terms. We start by eating 2,000 cal/day and burning 2,000 cal/day. We decide to lose some weight and reduce our calories to 1,500 cal/day. Our body almost immediately reduces TEE to 1,500 cal/day.

We lose some weight but then the weight loss stops even though we are still eating less than before. Because TEE has been reduced, we feel cold, tired, hungry and a bit miserable but we decide to stick it out thinking that things must improve. However, even after 1 year, things are exactly the same. We feel lousy and the weight is not coming off despite our best efforts to eat only 1,500 cal/day.

Finally, we think that we should go back to a normal diet 2,000 cal/day. The weight comes rushing back because now we are eating 2,000 calories/day and expending only 1,500. Sound familiar? Thought so Thats because everything Im describing here has been well described over the last 100 years!This actually starts to make a bit of sense. Suppose we are the manager of a power plant. Every day, we receive 2,000 tonnes of coal and we burn 2,000 tonnes of coal. We also maintain a supply of coal just in case we dont have enough (storage shed). Now, all of a sudden, we start getting only 1,500 tonnes of coal.

What do you imagine that we should do? If we keep on burning 2,000 tonnes of coal, we would quickly burn through our stores of coal and then our power plant would be shut down. Massive blackout over the entire city. Anarchy and looting commence.

Our boss would tell us how utterly stupid we are and say something like Your ass is FIRED! The problem, of course, is that he is entirely correct in his assessment.

Because we, as the manager of this power plant, are not that stupid would not do that. As soon as we figured out that we were only getting 1,500 tonnes of coal, we would reduce our power output to 1,500 of coal. In fact, we might use only 1,400 tonnes just in case. A few lights go out, but there is no blackout. Anarchy and looting avoided. Boss says Great job. Youre not as stupid as you look. Raises all around

Now, lets think about our body. We eat 2,000 calories/day and use 2,000 calories/day. We start a diet so now we are eating only 1,500 calories/day. What happens? Well, the body is not that stupid. It does not want to die. Why do we assume the Mother Nature is a complete moron? The very first thing we do is reduce our TEE to 1,500 calories/day and maintain that for as long as it takes.

We know for a fact that this is what happens. It has been proven over and over again. We just keep not believing it and hoping that our caloric reduction strategy somehow, this time, will work. It wont. Face it. We only believe it because the nutritional authorities keep tell us it works. It doesnt.

Mother Nature is not stupid. Thats why conventional calorie reduced diets dont work in the long term.

Continue to Calories part VIIIhere

Begin here with Calories I

Click here to watch the entire lecture: The Aetiology of Obesity 1/6 A New Hope

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Why Diets Don't Work in The Long Term Calories Part VII

Finding a diet plan that works can be a challenge. An Internet search for weight-loss methods can overwhelm you with meal ideas, quick fixes, and a variety of supplements and pills that guarantee losing a certain amount of inches or pounds within a short time. A reliable program should include reasonable goals, a balanced meal plan, regular exercise and a behavior component to keep you motivated. In a 2014 "U.S News and World" article, 32 different diets were ranked based on effectiveness, nutritional balance, safety and ease of following. Overall, the Weight Watchers, TLC, Volumetrics and Mediterranean diets were found to be both popular and successful.

Weight Watchers is a conventional diet approach that uses a food points system to encourage you to create a balanced diet without going over a certain number of points per day. Lower point values are assigned to foods that are more nutritionally dense. For example, fruits and vegetables are considered point free, encouraging you to eat more from these food groups. The major goal of this diet is weight loss. Along with monitoring food intake as a lifestyle change, exercise is also encouraged.

The Therapeutic Lifestyle Change Diet was created by the National Institutes of Health to lower heart disease risk and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Specific guidelines are outlined within the TLC plan. Fat should provide a total of 25 percent to 35 percent of daily calories. Restrict saturated fat intake to 7 percent or less of total calories. Limit cholesterol intake to 200 milligrams or less per day. Reduce sodium intake to 2,400 milligrams or less per day. Also essential to the TLC diet is eating the right level of calories to support a healthy weight and including a minimum of 30 minutes of daily exercise. Foods promoted on this healthy diet regimen are fruits, vegetables, whole-grain sources, reduced or fat-free dairy foods, fish and lean poultry.

Modifying your eating habits to incorporate nutrient-rich foods and cooking at home are two components of the Volumetrics Diet. The plan supports healthy lifestyle changes and weight loss. Food is divided into four different categories based upon the energy density. Weight loss is achieved by watching portions and eating lower-density meals and snacks. No specific foods are eliminated on the Volumetrics Diet, but fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, lean meat sources, legumes and grains are encouraged.

There are many different versions of the Mediterranean Diet, but according to the American Heart Association, the most common version promotes intake of fish, fruit, vegetables, bread, beans, nuts, olive oil, dairy products and limited portions of meat, poultry, eggs and wine. This diet helps reduce heart disease risk because it limits unhealthy saturated fat intake. Research varies in regard to weight loss with the Mediterranean Diet. Regular exercise and creating a calorie deficit are necessary to support weight change with this heart healthy diet.

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The Most Popular Diets That Actually Work | Healthfully

This 10-day reset plan is designed to work with any diet plan to make it more effective. While debunking a lot of weight loss myths, it also provides sound advice for those personalizing their own lifestyle plan. --Today show

"[Yoni Freedhoff] has invented an un-diet...a set of simple food and excericse guidelines that can help you safely lose a pound a week and keep it off--summer fun included." --Glamour magazine

"if any diet book works, its going to be this one." --Scientific American

"As should be obvious to anyone who's been paying attention, these and many other approaches to weight-loss can work. The real challenge is keeping weight off, and Freedhoff's advice focuses on how to win that battle by formulating a plan you can happily live with for the rest of your life, not just for a few weeks or months." --Runner's World

Praise for The Diet Fix"The Diet Fix delivers. This is a wonderful approach to tackling the Diet Demons. It allows people to keep what they like most about food -- the taste and indulgences -- and to get rid of what they don't like about food -- overeating and guilt. It's about balance. Regaining balance in our diet as well as in our lives." --Brian Wansink (Ph.D.), Author of Mindless Eating and Slim by Design

"Here finally is a book capturing the nuts and bolts of the dieting culture that has gripped North America. With Dr. Freedhoff's presentation of fact supported by years of first-hand experience, a crystal clear picture of what works, what doesn't and what is myth emerges. The Diet Fix is a service to all." --Tosca Reno, author of the New York Times bestselling The Eat Clean Diet

"The Diet Fix is a breath of fresh air,revealingexactly whydiets are such exhausting, ineffective traps andproviding ado-able roadmap for a new, healthierway of approaching food and weight. It is an eye-openingand helpful diet antidote." --Ellie Krieger RDN, nutritionist, cookbookauthor, and TV personality

Few people know as much about weight loss as Dr. Yoni Freedhoff. It is no surprise that he has produced a book that is the perfect combination of evidence-based facts and good, solid, usable advice. There is so much misinformation in the media about dieting, and so many trendy and near useless diets. Yonis book is exactly what we need: a science-informedand fun to readroad map to long-term weight loss success. Timothy Caulfield, author ofThe Cure for Everything: Untangling the Twisted Messages about Health, Fitness and Happiness

Finally a diet plan that can work because it won't make you miserable! Like all honest approaches to a better life, The Diet Fix is rooted in a deep understanding of how people are wired, and inspired by optimism about their true potential. You'll never need to read another diet book. Melanie Warner, author of Pandoras Lunchbox

This isnt a detox diet, its a diet detoxa 10-day reprogramming that will free you forever from the damaging and defeating cycle of failed diets. Those suffering from Post Traumatic Dieting Stress (which is to say, most of us) may find it hard to believe that an approach this gentle, doable, and sane could ever work. Trust me: The Diet Fix offers an end to the madness and the keys to lasting weight control. Monica Reinagel, MS, LD/N, author of Nutrition Divas Secrets for a Healthy Diet

Millions of people are suffering through restriction, denial, sacrifice, hunger and a frustrating yo-yo cycle of weight loss and regain, yet they still struggle to manage their weight. This serial dieting breeds guilt, shame, depression, despair and binge eating. If youre one of these traumatic dieters, The Diet Fix, will not only provide a much needed sigh of relief, it will be a Godsend. It might even save your life. --Tom Venuto, author of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle

The Diet Fix is a no-nonsense approach to realistic weight management by a recognized expert in the field. This step-by-step guide to long-term weight management provides the evidence, debunks common myths and is chock full of practical tips - the ultimate diet book for anyone wanting to stop dieting and start living. -- Arya M. Sharma, MD/PhD, Scientific Director of the Canadian Obesity Network and Disc. (h.c.), FRCPC Professor of Medicine

"Freedhoff dispels pervading myths about dieting, warns against the seven deadly sins (hunger, sacrifice, willpower, blind restriction, sweat, perfectionism, and denial), and instructs readers to replace tenuous willpower with skillpower as they learn the key triad to healthy weight loss: organization, planning, and thoughtfulness...this book will help dieters win by losing." --Publisher's Weekly

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The Diet Fix: Why Diets Fail and How to Make Yours Work ...

Women over 50 often find it difficult to lose weight due in part to hormonal/metabolic changes, decreases lean muscle mass and other age-related factors. Its not just a hopeless downward-spiral, though. With a few dietary and lifestyle changes, you can recapture your youth, boost your energy and vitality keep your mind & body in tip-top shape for the rest of your life.

Better yet, you can get started right now. Its called the 7-day jumpstart. Its a proven 7-day program to give you outrageous results in the shortest time possible. Follow it and you will instantly melt fat, boost your metabolism and look and feel more youthful and energetic. Unlike many other programs which leave you grumpy and hungry or require you to resort to powdery shakes, pills and expensive equipment. This is radically different!

NO counting calories, carbs and fat grams. NO impossible exercises. NO crazy foods or starvation. Just results you can see and feel in a matter of days.

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Diets That Work for Women Over 50 - Leanrunnerbean.com

Debunking some common diets, and seeing which work!More Food and Health Science videos! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztiHR...Subscribe for more! http://bit.ly/asap

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Further Reading --

Weight Loss Overview Studieshttp://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/66/...http://www.jstor.org/stable/25457080?...Low Carbhttp://annals.org/aim/article/717452/...http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/...https://login.medscape.com/login/sso/...http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/83/...http://content.onlinejacc.org/article...High Proteinhttp://www.pnas.org/content/110/26/10...https://www.researchgate.net/profile/...Metabolic Slowinghttps://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...Biggest Loserhttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/02/hea...White Tonguehttp://www.mayoclinic.org/symptoms/wh...

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No Diet Is Suitable for Everyone - YouTube

Remember when the Atkins Diet was such a big deal in the 90s?

Even though Atkins was widely regarded as a fad, there are still numerous people around the world who swear by it.

The creator of Atkins alleges you can lose up to 15 pounds in the first two weeks alone - a startling claim considering that on average you cant lose more than one to two pounds per week safely on a diet.

Heres the thing, though. Even though the media may think Atkins was a fad, scientific studies show it really does work, as do similar low-carb diets.

Losing 15 pounds in two weeks isnt typical, but it is possible.

And even if you dont, odds are if you do a low-carb diet like Atkins properly, you will lose weight steadily and successfully.

In fact studies suggest low carb diets lose more weight and more fat mass than low fat diets (1)

But How Does It Work?

Since youve found your way to this page, its evident that you dont want to just hear that you can lose weight using a low carb diet. You want to know the science behind how it works.

That is a very smart attitude to take, because there are a lot of diets which are proven to help you lose weight, but not necessarily over the long term, and not necessarily in a healthy way.

You want to be sure that a low-carb diet is a safe, healthy approach before you dive in.

The truth is, there may not be just one mechanism that explains how low-carb diets work.

Scientists are still studying them, and they seem to offer a number of weight loss and overall health benefits (2).

These benefits all combine to help you achieve the weight loss success you are looking for.

Lets take a look at them now.

Test your knowledge now or come back after reading this article to check your learning:

Why Low Carb Works Infographic

Want to use this infographic on your blog? Just copy and paste the code below!

Please include attribution to AuthorityDiet.com with this graphic.

Low Dietary Carb Intake Reduces Insulin Levels

First, lets talk for a moment briefly about fat.

Fat is your bodys way of storing energy for long-term supply.

Your fat stores are a kind of emergency reserve fuel.

Your body does not store them for everyday use - you break into them when your food supplies are low (usually).

But you also break into them when you reduce your carbohydrate intake, even if you are otherwise eating plenty of food.

To explain why, we need to look at insulin (hormone) and blood sugar.

While insulin controls the serum nutrients circulating throughout our body, its principal action is on glucose (blood sugar).

Insulin has the job of telling your body to pull glucose out of your blood and burn it for energy.

The more carbohydrates you eat, the higher your blood glucose levels are going to be, and the more insulin is secreted to pull out this glucose.

Your blood glucose is your first source of energy to burn, before your fat.

That means when you are burning blood glucose for energy instead of fat, your fat stores remain untouched.

Your body always turns to those blood glucose stores first and falls back on your fat as a backup plan.

If you always provide your body with plenty of blood glucose in the form of dietary carbohydrates, you are simply never going to reach that point where you need to turn to your fat.

The backup plan remains simply that: a backup plan.

In this process, insulin inhibits fat burning (lipolysis) (3).

When you reduce your carbohydrate intake, two things happen:

Here is a graph of a comparison study on low carb diets for insulin levels over a 24 hour period (40):

But wait, it doesnt stop here.

Insulin also activates the production of fat (lipogenesis) of which a proportion will be stored (4)

So reducing insulin also reduces fat production and storage.

Multiple studies have demonstrated how low carb diets significantly reduce serum insulin levels (5, 6, 7, 8, 9).

KEY POINT: Reducing dietary carbohydrates directly reduces blood levels of insulin. Low insulin levels allow fat burning and high levels encourage fat production.

Most low-carb diets also tend to be high in protein.

This is something of a coincidence since there is nothing about carbohydrate intake which directly inhibits protein intake.

But when you eat less of one type of macronutrient (carbohydrate, protein, and fat), you have to replace it with another.

Most high-carb foods happen to be high in sugars and grains also happen to be low in protein.

It is common to replace carbohydrate-rich foods with protein-rich foods like eggs and meat. This boosts your overall protein intake.

As it turns out, in the majority of studies comparing the weight loss achieved from low carb vs low fat diets, the low carb diets have been protein rich.

Protein helps you lose weight through several mechanisms (10):

For one, satiety goes up and appetite goes down (11, 12).

Since you feel fuller and satisfied, you are less likely to overindulge. More on that shortly.

For another, your metabolism receives an overall boost, helping you burn more calories throughout the day (13, 14, 41)

Eating protein helps maintain muscle mass which supports our metabolism and calorie burning not only while we are working out, but also while we are resting.

Finally, if you work out with adequate protein intake, you can build muscle.

Increasing your muscle mass to fat ratio can increase your resting metabolism (15).

Keep in mind that this benefit is for those who incorporate resistance/strength training into their lives (16).

You cannot expect to build muscle mass without effort, simply by eating protein - you have to challenge your body physically .

If you do, you can look forward to burning more calories around the clock.

KEY POINT: Low carb diets tend to be high in protein. Protein has the benefit of increasing metabolism, increase satiety, reduce appetite and maintain muscle mass.

A Low Carb Diet Helps You Lose Water Weight

Coming back to that claim that you can burn 15 pounds in your first two weeks on phase 1 of the Atkins diet, how does that work?

Well, whether it works or not probably depends on how much water weight you have retained in your body.

If you have a good deal of water weight, you will probably notice a huge improvement in the first couple weeks, because a low-carb diet helps you shed that water weight rapidly

If you dont have much water weight, you will not notice such a huge change in the beginning, but that means you were just ahead of the curve to begin with.

There are two reasons that you lose water weight when you stop eating so many carbs.

When your insulin levels drop, your kidneys start excreting sodium (17).

This helps you shed your excess water weight, and also has the bonus of lowering your blood pressure (18).

The other reason is that glycogen binds water in your liver and muscles.

Carbohydrates are stored as glycogen (19).

Fewer carbohydrates in your body equate to less glycogen.

That means your body stops binding water in your muscles and liver and is free to release that water.

Even if you drop calories dramatically on a high-carb diet, this effect is not nearly as pronounced.

Dont worry; you dont need that water weight for anything. It literally is nothing more than excess weight.

A side benefit is that typically low carb dieters experience less bloating.

You may have heard people say, The low-carb diet does not actually work; it only drops your water weight, not your fat.

This is a misperception.

Low-carb does reduce your water weight, but it also helps you burn fat for reasons you are now starting to understand.

Read on to find out more.

KEY POINT: The rapid weight loss experienced in the first 2 weeks of low carb is explained by reduced insulin and glycogen which in turn causes the body to shed water.

One study (20) conducted on participants across a 4-week period on a series of different diets (low fat, low glycemic index, and low carbohydrate) found that a low-carb diet boosted energy expenditure at a rate of approximately 250 calories per day in comparison to other types of diets.

KEY POINT: If you have tried to lose weight by exercising, you know that burning an extra 250 carbs a day is quite a challenge, and can take up to an hour of moderate intensity exercise. Low carb can burn those calories without the exercise.

Low Carb Makes You Feel Full and Satisfied, so You Are Less Likely to Overeat

There are a lot of reasons why people overeat, but one of them is feeling hungry even though you have had plenty of food.

Some types of food are more satiating than others.

Protein is one such food (20, 21) and may have a direct effect on weight loss (22, 23).

Many people overeat because they are not getting enough protein in their diets.

Even though they are eating plenty of calories, they still feel a need to eat more.

This forces them to take in additional calories which they have no hope of burning.

The result? They put on weight.

If you have ever tried a low-fat diet, you have probably noticed the focus is on calorie restriction.

But you have to get energy from somewhere.

That is why a low-fat diet can become uncomfortable and even dangerous past a certain level.

With low-carb, you do not focus on restricting calories, and you get plenty of energy.

You get full at an appropriate time because you are eating protein-rich foods.

These foods help you feel satiated when you have eaten the right amount of calories.

Ketosis also has an impact (24). When you are on a ketogenic diet, you may only feel hungry for 1-2 meals per day.

Research also shows that low carb diets may regulate ghrelin and leptin (25, 26). These two hormones regulate your appetite.

This not only makes a low-carb diet a healthy, natural alternative to a low-fat diet but also helps you break bad habits and gauge correctly when you are really full.

It also makes a low-carb diet easier to stick with than a low-fat diet.

In fact, many research studies which compare low-carb and low fat dieters take this into account.

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Why do Low Carb Diets Work? Heres 6 Scientific Reasons!

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