Reducing the amount of carbohydrates in your diet is one of the best ways to lose weight.
It tends to reduce your appetite and cause “automatic” weight loss, without the need for calorie counting or portion control.
This means that you can eat until fullness, feel satisfied and still lose weight.
WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO DO LOW-CARB?
For the past few decades, the health authorities have recommended that we eat a calorie restricted, low-fat diet.
The problem is that this diet doesn’t really work. Even when people manage to stick to it, they don’t see very good results (1, 2, 3).
An alternative that has been available for a long time is the low-carb diet. This diet restricts your intake of carbohydrates like sugars and starches (breads, pasta, etc.) and replaces them with protein and fat.
Studies show that low-carb diets reduce your appetite and make you eat fewer calories and lose weight pretty much effortlessly, as long as you manage to keep the carbs down (4).
In studies where low-carb and low-fat diets are compared, the researchers need to actively restrict calories in the low-fat groups to make the results comparable, but the low-carb groups still usually win (5, 6).
Low-carb diets also have benefits that go way beyond just weight loss. They lower blood sugar, blood pressure and triglycerides. They raise HDL (the good) and improve the pattern of LDL (the bad) cholesterol (7, 8, 9, 10).
Low-carb diets cause more weight loss and improve health much more than the calorie restricted, low-fat diet still recommended by the mainstream. This is pretty much a scientific fact at this point (11, 12, 13).
Bottom Line: There are many studies showing that low-carb diets are more effective and healthier than the low-fat diet that is still recommended all around the world.
HOW TO FIGURE OUT YOUR NEED FOR CARBOHYDRATES
There is no clear definition of exactly what constitutes a “low carb diet” and what is “low” for one person may not be “low” for the next.
An individual’s optimal carb intake depends on age, gender, body composition, activity levels, personal preference, food culture and current metabolic health.
People who are physically active and have more muscle mass can tolerate a lot more carbs than people who are sedentary. This particularly applies for those who do a lot of high intensity, anaerobic work like lifting weights or sprinting.
Metabolic health is also a very important factor. When people get the metabolic syndrome, become obese or get type II diabetes, the rules change.
People who fall into this category can’t tolerate the same amount of carbs as those who are healthy. Some scientists even refer to these problems as “carbohydrate intolerance.”
GUIDELINES THAT WORK 90% OF THE TIME
If you simply remove the unhealthiest carb sources from your diet, refined wheat and added sugars, then you’ll be well on your way to improved health.
However, to enjoy the full metabolic benefits of low-carbohydrate diets, you also need to restrict other carb sources.
Even though there is no scientific paper that explains exactly how to match carbohydrate intake to individual needs, I have personally found these guidelines to be very effective.
100-150 GRAMS PER DAY
This is more of a “moderate” carbohydrate intake. It is very appropriate for people who are lean, active and simply trying to stay healthy and maintain their weight.
It is very possible to lose weight at this (and any) carb intake, but it may require you to count calories and/or control portions.
Carbs you can eat:
- All the vegetables you can imagine.
- Several pieces of fruit per day.
- Some amount (not a lot) of healthy starches like potatoes, sweet potatoes and healthier grains like rice and oats.
50-100 GRAMS PER DAY
This range is great if you want to lose weight effortlessly while allowing for a bit of carbs in the diet. It is also a great maintenance range for people who are carb sensitive.
Carbs you can eat:
- Plenty of vegetables.
- Maybe 2-3 pieces of fruit per day.
- Minimal amounts of starchy carbohydrates.
20-50 GRAMS PER DAY (NEXT PAGE)
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