Low-carb diet: A low carb diet limits carbohydrates, primarily found in sugary foods, pasta, and bread. Here you exclude carbs and focus on protein-rich whole foods and vegetables.
Experts suggest that low carb diets can result in weight loss and improved health markers such as such as blood triglycerides, HDL (good) cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure. Low-carb diets have been popular for decades and have recently gained acceptance widely.
When you avoid sugar and starches, your blood sugar tends to stabilize, and the levels of the fat-storing hormone insulin drop, which may make it easier to burn fat stores in the body. In addition, the higher protein intake and presence of ketones (if eating very low carb) may make you feel more satiated, thereby naturally reducing food intake and promoting weight loss.
We bring you some popular low-carb diets.
Typical low-carb diet
With no fixed definition, this diet is lower in carbs and higher in protein than a typical diet. It focuses on meats, fish, eggs, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits, and healthy fats.
Ketogenic Diet
The ketogenic diet is a very-low-carb, high-fat diet. The goal is to keep carbs so low that your body goes into a metabolic state called ketosis. In this state, your insulin levels plummet and your body releases large amounts of fatty acids that are transferred to the liver, which turns them into ketones.
Some versions of this diet even restrict protein intake because too much protein may reduce the number of ketones you produce.
This diet is popular for fat loss. It involves high-protein, high-fat foods. Carbs are generally limited to fewer than 50 — and sometimes as few as 20–30 — grams per day.
Low-carb, high-fat diet
It’s a fairly standard very-low-carb diet with emphasis on whole, unprocessed foods. It focuses mostly on meats, fish and shellfish, eggs, healthy fats, vegetables, dairy products, nuts, and berries.
The recommended carb intake on this diet can range from 20–100 grams per day.
Low-carb paleo diet
This is currently one of the most popular ways of eating. It encourages eating foods that were likely available in the Paleolithic era — before the agricultural and industrial revolutions.
Paleo diet can cause weight loss, reduce blood sugars, and improve risk factors for heart disease. It emphasizes meats, fish, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruits, tubers, nuts, and seeds. It eliminates processed foods, added sugar, grains, legumes, and dairy products.
Low-carb Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet is very popular, especially among health professionals. It is based on the traditional foods of Mediterranean countries earlier in the 20th century. This diet may help prevent heart disease, breast cancer, and type 2 diabetes.
It emphasizes more fatty fish instead of red meat and more extra virgin olive oil instead of fats like butter.
If you’re going to try a low-carb diet, pick a plan that suits your lifestyle, food preferences, and personal health goals.
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