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Home » How to lose weight quickly » Giving up on carbs is just the wrong way to lose weight – India Today

Carbohydrates are the only source of energy (fuel) for many vital organs, including the brain, central nervous system and kidneys. The digestive system breaks down carbohydrates into glucose and the pancreas secretes a hormone called insulin to help the glucose move from the blood into the cells.

Low carbohydrate diets

These days, many people tend to follow the 'low carbohydrate' diet regime to fast track their goal of losing unwanted fat. These diets contain less than 100g of carbohydrates per day. Such drastic measures can actually backfire because these diets have a high-fat content (particularly saturated fat) and restrict fruit, vegetables and high fiber breads and cereals. Vital organs of the body including the brain (which uses carbohydrate as fuel) can lose healthy cells at double the normal rate.

Very low carbohydrate diets do not meet your daily nutritional needs. To be healthy, your daily diet should include at least:

The long-term safety of a diet very low on carbohydrates but high in saturated fat is still uncertain. Some experts believe it's the perfect recipe for a heart attack. Follow-up studies are needed over years to determine the safety of very low-carbohydrate diets.

You gain weight by eating too many calories, not carbs

The basic principle of any low-carbohydrate diet is to restrict the calories coming from carbohydrate foods so that the weight gain is minimised. This is misleading. You gain weight if you consume too many calories--it doesn't matter whether they are from carbohydrates, proteins or fats.

There's nothing special about a low-carb diet

Low carbohydrate diets cause you to lose weight because they restrict calories or energy. This approach to eating starves the body of important nutrients it needs on a daily basis and can cause major metabolic disturbances in the body.There are just fewer calories consumed in these diets, which causes the weight loss and not by eating less carbs.

Yoyo dieting

Our body stores excess carbohydrates (glucose) as glycogen and converts glycogen back into glucose to use as fuel if there is not enough carbohydrate in the diet. Around 3gm of water is needed to release one gram of glycogen, so the rapid initial weight loss on a low carbohydrate diet is mostly water, not the body fat.When a normal diet is resumed, some muscle tissue is rebuilt, water is restored and weight quickly returns, mostly as fat.

Women often fall prey to this vicious circle of dieting. The feel-good factor is short-lived when their lost body weight comes back. Such kind of dieting is called 'yoyo' dieting.

Healthy approach is the key

Vegetarians and people who consume predominantly plant-based diets are generally slimmer and have much lower rates of obesity, heart disease and cancer than people who eat meat-based diets. This supports current thinking that diets high in unrefined carbohydrates help prevent weight gain and obesity.

Short-term side effects of low-carb diets

Within a short period of time, the effects of a very low carbohydrate diet include nausea, dizziness, constipation, lethargy, dehydration, bad breath, loss of appetite, loss of libido, excessive fatigue, depression, memory loss (forgetfulness), irritated personality and under-nourished look (pale).

Ketones

If the body doesn't receive enough carbohydrate, it breaks down muscle and other tissue to produce glucose. This causes a build-up of waste product called Ketones. This state, known as 'ketosis', is commonly seen in people who are starving, suffering from anorexia nervosa or with untreated insulin-dependent diabetes.

Ketones make the blood highly acidic. Ketosis can be fatal in severe conditions, particularly for pregnant women, their unborn babies and for people with diabetes. There is also evidence that the heart may not be able to function to its full capacity when ketone bodies are its main source of fuel.

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Giving up on carbs is just the wrong way to lose weight - India Today

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Home » How to lose weight quickly » Giving up on carbs is just the wrong way to lose weight – India Today