How do Low Carbohydrate Diets Work?
30189
Health & Fitness > Nutrition
May 8, 2007
sdmeyers
How do Low Carbohydrate Diets Work?
By now the term "low carb" has become synonymous with loosing weight and improving fitness. This diet seems to work well, and many people feel they have derived great benefit from it. The system seems simple enough, eat fewer carbohydrates (carbs) and you will loose weight. One must ask what the mechanics are behind all these success stories. By reducing carbohydrates, you are cutting more calories than you would by reducing any other nutrient. While it may seem redundant, reducing "empty" or low nutrient value calories is an important part of changing your diet for the better. Reducing carbs, therefore, will help you curb your appetite, and allow you to eat foods that flush out of your system instead of being stored as fat tissue. At the beginning of your diet, reducing refined sugars and starches will force your body to turn to the glycogen stored in the liver and muscles. Glycogen can be easily broken down into glucose - the energy or fuel your cells need in order to function. It takes a sizeable amount of water to store glycogen. This accounts for the sudden weight loss that many people experience when they start dieting. It is also why people reach a stagnation point after approximately two weeks. Once the glycogen is used up, and the water flushed, the next job is to reduce the fat tissue. As long as your carbohydrate intake is lower than 50 or 60 grams daily, your body will seek to break down fat tissue in order to create more glucose. This, however, can be a struggle, as the body naturally wants to keep its stored up reserves. Thus, the metabolism will slow down in order to reduce the amount of fat tissue being lost. Ketones, however, are also released when you get into the fat reducing stage of your diet. Ketones are normally flushed through your kidneys, and can act as an appetite suppressant. Increased ketones can lead to increased urination. During the fat burning phase of your carb diet, it is important to drink plenty of water, as you may become easily dehydrated. While low carb diets appear to be effective and as reliable as diets go, not everyone can stay on the regimen for the necessary amount of time. Ultimately, the duration is a personal choice. As always, before starting any kind of a diet, it is recommended that you see a doctor.
Scott Meyers is a staff writer for Its Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Nutrition and Health .
send email to sdmeyers
Write a Review
Add to My Favorite
Refer it to Friend
Report Article
Other links owned by this user
As commonly known to most of us, Anorexia and Bulimia are the most common forms of eating disorders. While this is true to a large extent, Compulsive over Eating is another type of an eating disorder which is slowly becoming very common too.
Category:
Babies respond well to gentle massages and receive many benefits from the loving touch of a parent or caregiver. If bonding and showing your baby is not enough reason to give your infant a massage, there are ten other reasons you should consider.
Category:
I have a lot of bones to pick with Western Medicine. We are in such a crisis these days and yet our society still trusts that the people behind western medicine have our best in mind. That couldn't be further from the truth.
Category:
In the continuing search for alternates to antidepressants those who suffer from depression are looking to acupuncture as one option.
Category:
There are many types of massage therapy. Almost everyone can benefit from massage therapy whether they are young or old, sick or healthy, male or female. Massage's benefits can range from simple relaxation to healing.
Category:
Are you one of those people who impatiently wait for spring to arrive? Does the gloom of winter months and cloudy days depress you and sap your energy? Many Americans suffer from a condition aptly named Seasonal Affective Disorder.
Category:
When one thinks about eating disorders, the first illnesses that come to mind are the more commonly occurring eating problems, such as anorexia and bulimia. Few realize that there are actually many other types of eating disorders, which can be equally ser
Category:
Man has been dependent on traditional medicine for a long time. However, as time passes by, researchers and even medical experts see that even the most efficient of drugs can bring unsatisfactory results. One of the newest, "non traditional" methods of tr
Category:
Many women have severe problems with menstrual cramps and premenstrual syndrome. It can also help harmonize the large and small intestine. It has benefits for the spleen, stomach, and gallbladder. If you want to help your stomach problems with self-messag
Category:
There is a whole philosophy to traditional Chinese medicine that goes beyond the scientific and explains why and how the body functions the way it does. The essence of this explanation centers on what is called Qi.
Category:
Back pain is one of the most common problems suffered by the American adults. Lower back pain is a particularly difficult problem.
Category:
The sacral chakra is an area on the body that is located between the upper parts of the sacrum. This chakra is important in communicating and opening to universal energies, as well as helping with healing in Reiki.
Category:
Have you ever noticed that when you're going through an episode of depression that you dream more? When we're depressed, we dream three times more than a non-depressed person dreams.
Category:
The South Beach diet is becoming a more popular type of diet in order to balance out nutrition and eating habits. There are several ideas and informational resources that are used for the South Beach diet. These are all centered on you finding a balance i
Category:
Infertility is an issue that 11% of all couples will experience during their reproductive part of their lives. Understanding what some of the causes of female fertility might be for them may help them to deal with their situation.
Category:
Anger is destructive. Fortunately, you can learn to control it through anger management. It is actually vital and necessary to be able to control your anger and not let it take control of your life.
Category:
Ginseng is a popular herbal supplement that has been used in Chinese medicine for centuries. In the west it has been used to increase energy and boost the immune system.
Category:
As with any treatment plan, individuals should discuss vitamin or supplement therapy with their physician. Vitamins and supplements can help relieve some of the symptoms experienced by people with CFS.
Category:
There are some people who feel that the main cause of depression is a disruption of the body's circadian rhythms. Some believe that our body clocks no longer run our bodies.
Category:
In today's fast and hectic life, our back gets neglected so much that we only care about it when it starts giving problems. Back ache is a very common problem that most people face. Being aware of the after effects of anti-inflammatory drugs and pain kill
Category:
Other links at Health & Fitness > Nutrition
A healthy heart is necessary for a healthy life. If you get any heart disease then you will lose a lot in your life even though you have a lot of money. Eating healthy to maintain a healthy heart is an essential thing in life. You have to be careful in
Category:
If anyone thinks they have not been affected by child abuse, looking at current statistics should tell you otherwise. The costs of child abuse in the United States has been estimated to be around $94 billion.
Category:
People tend to talk about chocolate and its nutritional facets and in the end, people tend to conclude that because of its many ingredients that are not considered healthy, chocolate then is also not nutritious. However, this popular notion may not be ent
Category:
As a prospective vegetarian, you probably question whether or not it really matters if you stop eating meat. You might wonder how much of a difference one additional vegetarian can make.
Category:
Forget all of those hair gels, special shampoos, not to mention all of the lotions and wrinkle creams you've been wasting your time and money on.
Category:
Site Sponsor
Directory Statistics
Articles: 68309
Categories: 501
Yahoo Entertainment
