Low carbohydrate diets can help a person lose weight and can help a person maintain good health.
Carbohydrates and Cholesterol
One of the most common debates among dieticians is the role that carbs play in eating a healthy diet. Some dieticians believe that carbs aren’t essential for adequate nutrition and that it increases your risk of neurological disorders, cancer, and diabetes.
Others believe that we need to eat carbohydrates in order to have good health and that carbs should be a part of everyone’s diet, making up the majority of the calories we take in.
The scientific research shows some significant evidence that low carb is actually better than low fat in reducing markers and risk factors for heart disease, including in regards to the lipid profile.
How many carbs do we need?
According to the Institute of Medicine, every adult should take in at least 175 grams of carbohydrates per day, especially women who are pregnant. This represents about 29 percent of the calories taken in by a diet containing about 2400 calories. In pregnancy, it is recommended that proteins be restricted to less than 15 percent of calories consumed and that about 30 percent of the calories taken in should come in the form of carbohydrates.
Adrenal fatigue is another medical condition that requires moderate carbohydrate consumption. Adrenal fatigue happens when the adrenal glands are overworked so that cortisol levels are too low. Cortisol levels increase whenever a person adopts a low carb diet.
Carbs are recommended for athletes who train up to six days per week because carbs are the optimal source of cellular fuel in intense workouts and weightlifting for adequate performance.
Athletes who restrict carbs generally develop poor training habits and need to go on a diet that contains at least some carbohydrates for cellular fuel during exercise. Athletes should take in about 20 percent of their calories as carbohydrates. It depends, however, on the health goals of the individual, the individual’s weight, and on their training schedule. Those that exercise heavily need 40 to 50 percent of their calories from carbohydrates. They also need fat, which will be quickly metabolized by the body during a workout.
In short, low carbohydrate diets are not for everyone.
Though, even bodybuilders and other athletes can and do follow modified low carb diets, namely, the Cyclical Ketogenic diet and Targeted Ketogenic Diet, where carb intake fluctuates round workouts.
For the obese and those with overweight issues, a low carb diet can really serve 2 major purposes, to lose the weight AND keep it off.
Additionally, those with type 2 diabetes or prediabetes will also benefit from a low carb plan stabilizing blood sugar levels, and significant weight loss, which can result in the reversal of type 2 diabetes.
