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Specifically designed to adjust an individual’s eating habits, a low-carb diet is one of the most popular diets around. Typical carbohydrate-rich foods usually include pasta and bread, which provide energy. A low-carb diet, on the other hand, is focused on ensuring that the body has a steady low supply of carbohydrates. Through this diet, the source of energy would come from foods high in protein and fats as well as vegetables, replacing sugary and starchy foods.

You might be wondering about the science behind the low-carb diet, which is one of the most effective ways to lose weight. This personal diet plan is commonly certified by many doctors, assuring you that partaking in this diet is safe and healthy. Additionally, with this diet plan, there is no need to use weight loss supplements. It also does away with meticulous calorie-counting. All one needs to do is remember to eat foods rich in protein, fats, and nutrients for a complete and nutritious meal.

Alternatively one can also find out more about their personal genetics related to well-being and health through a heathy weight and DNA diet test.

If you are curious to know more about the low-carb diet, here are some of the tips you need to know.

What does low-carb really mean?

As many of you may know, most low-carb diets involve the decrease of one’s intake of carbohydrates. But you also need to know that it also involves increasing fat proportion. This specific strategy is called low-carb high-fat diet, which is also otherwise known as “keto diet.”

Because fat has had a bad reputation in the past, it is quite surprising for low-carb diets to recommend an increase in fat intake. Fats are actually essential in weight loss! The problem with low-fat diets is that they usually contain a very high amount of sugar, which is the culprit behind weight gain and obesity. It means that the low-fat dietary products you see in the market are not actually as healthy as they are made out to be.

Research proves that natural fats should not be avoided but, instead, should be a regular part of one’s diet. To explain the concept simply, cutting sugar and carbs should always go hand in hand with fat intake increase to provide your body with the necessary energy that you need to function. This simple equation not only aids in weight loss but also results in health benefits.

The intake of sugar and starches tends to raise the blood sugar to unhealthy levels. Your body’s insulin will then store the leftover fat, which leads to obesity. But when you cut starch and sugar from your system, your body will be able to burn fat more effectively and you will have better blood sugar levels.

Traditional Low-Carb Diet

The traditional low-carb diet simply refers to resorting to the most basic form of low-carb dieting, which involves limiting or completely removing carbohydrates from your system.

This diet plan mainly focuses on replacing as much carbohydrates as possible and, at the same time, increasing your protein intake. Usual staples included in the traditional low-carb diet include fish, eggs, meat, seeds, vegetables, nuts, fruits, and healthy fats.

You will need to cut down on almost your entire carbohydrate intake, so you need to bid farewell to foods like grains, sugar drinks like juice and cola, potatoes and other starchy foods, and most especially high-sugar junk foods.

Use this recommended daily carbohydrate intake:

  • 100 to 150 grams
    • This range of carbohydrate intake is ideal for people who are looking to do some weight maintenance. It is also important to use this range when doing high-intensity workouts to avoid fatigue.
    • With this diet, there are more opportunities to add the occasional healthy starchy foods like potatoes and fruits. This will help you maintain just enough sugar to get you through the day.
  • 50 to 100 grams
    • This range of carbohydrate intake is perfect if you are looking to lose eight consistently.
    • With this diet, you need to restrict your food intake more, and your source of carbohydrates would be limited to fruits and vegetables.
  • Below 50 grams
    • This range of carbohydrate intake can be used by people seeking to lose weight quickly and drastically.
    • For this diet, to avoid blood sugar collapse, you need to restrict your carb intake to only vegetables and a tiny piece of fruit.

Ketogenic Diet

The widely popular ketogenic diet is a diet plan that forces the body into a metabolic state called “ketosis,” which is the basis of the diet’s name.

The keto diet pushes the body by restricting the daily carb intake to the lowest possible level, resulting in the complete plummeting of insulin levels. This, in turn, results in the release of large amounts of fatty acid that the body will burn to use as fuel.

When this happens, the body would stop looking for carbohydrates to supply the body’s needed energy and will, instead, rely on “ketones.” Ketones are a water-soluble substance that passes through the barrier between the bloodstream and the brain, helping supply energy to the latter even under certain harsh conditions. The goal of keto diet is to reach these harsh conditions to achieve weight loss.

The keto diet was originally formulated as a means to treat chickens and small farm animals that are diagnosed with epilepsy. Similarly, there are studies showing that humans undergoing the keto diet may see vast improvements in neurological disorders as well as metabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes.

You can find that the keto diet can range from simple to extreme. More determined individuals may resort to even cutting down their protein intake because high levels of protein would result in a lower production of ketones.

Normally, though, the keto diet would involve the intake of high amounts of protein and high amounts of fat. However, one’s carbohydrate intake should never exceed 50 grams per day. In fact, for keto diet practitioners, the optimal carbohydrate intake level is only around 20 to 30 grams per day.

If you are curious to try the ketogenic diet, these are the 3 common variants that will allow you to maintain a decent amount of carbohydrates:

  • SKD – Standard Keto Diet
    • This is the conventional ketogenic eating pattern that involves the measurement of your carb intake per day beforehand.
  • TKD – Targeted Ketogenic Diet
    • This is the type of keto diet that involves adding bits of carbohydrates to your system when you are doing workouts, allowing you to maintain a high-energy and high-intensity routine.
  • CKD – Clinical Ketogenic Diet
    • The diet revolves around the maintenance of a strict ketogenic on most days. However, you need to allocate at least 1 or 2 days a week for a high-carb diet needed for the regulation of your body’s natural nutrient supply.

LCHF – Low-Carb, High-Fat

The low-carb, high-fat diet is probably one of the simplest forms of the low-carb diet. It is also focused more on a healthy and gradual weight loss than on restricting certain nutrients.

This diet relied greatly on the intake of whole and unprocessed foods, which include meats, fishes, shellfishes, eggs, healthy fats, vegetables, dairy products, nuts, and berries. These whole foods are the key components that will allow you to follow this diet correctly and effectively. Following this diet will also require you to do away with any and all processed foods.

Not as limiting as the keto diet, the low-carb high-fat diet allows around 20 to 100 grams of carbohydrates per day.

Low-Carb Paleo Diet

Paleo diets have been around for some time, and they revolve around the intake of foods that were available during the Paleolithic era, which is the diet plan’s namesake. We can assume that during the paleolithic era, the foods that were available were the ones before agricultural and industrial revolutions.

Studies show that following the paleo diet can be beneficial to one’s health because it results in vast improvements brought about by the simplicity of the food intake. Because of the limited food sources, it is said that our bodies will be naturally inclined to digest and absorb these foods more easily than modern processed foods.

Some of the health benefits attributed to the paleo diet include reduction of blood sugar, a lower risk for heart disease, and weight loss. It consists of meals based on fish, meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruits, tubers, nuts, and seeds. Just like the low-carb high-fat diet, the paleo diet strictly requires the individual to remove all processed foods. Other foods that need to be removed from the diet are added sugar, grains, legumes, and dairy products.

Just like the keto diet, there are also a few forms of the paleo diet that you can choose from, such as the primal blueprint diet and the perfect health diet.

Atkins Diet

Next, one of the earlier forms of the low-carb diet is the Atkins diet, which is formulated to promote a low-carb eating plan that involves several phases rather than merely restricting the intake of carbohydrates.

The Atkins diet is divided into 4 different phases:

  1. Induction

a. For the next two weeks, the beginning phase will require the individual to focus on maintaining under 20 grams of carbohydrates per day.

  1. Balancing

a. During the next stage, the individual can gradually add more nuts and various low carb vegetables into their diet.

  1. Fine-Tuning

a. In the next phase of the Atkins diet, one should be getting closer to your target weight. This is an ample time for them to slowly increase their carb intake to slow down the weight loss to an easier and maintainable pace.

  1. Maintenance

a. The last phase of the Atkins diet allows you to eat more healthy carbs as your body can now tolerate the weight gain.

b. During this stage, you are to maintain your weight and adjust your diet accordingly.

The Atkins diet plan, just like any other diet plan, has its share of detractors. However, research has shown that this form of the low-carb diet results in many benefits to the body as long as it is accompanied with ample amounts of fiber to balance out the food restrictions.

Eco-Atkins Diet

Low-carb diets are often associated with carnivore diets with high-protein and high-fat requirements, but there are also diet plans designed for people with specific dietary requirements. The Eco-Atkins diet, for example, is made for the vegetarian market and is, essentially, considered the vegan version of the Atkins diet.

The Eco-Atkins diet involves the substitution of meat and fish products with plant-based foods that are still high in proteins and natural fats. Some of the best plant-based protein and fat sources include soy, gluten, nuts, and plant oils.

Allowing an amount of carbohydrates that is a lot higher than the traditional low-carb diets discussed above, a proper Eco-Atkins should contain 25% calories from carbohydrates, 30% from protein, and 45% from fat. However, the amount of carbohydrates allowed for this diet plan is still lower than other vegan diets.

It has been shown that following the Eco-Atkins diet is linked to an improvement in weight loss. It may also prevent the development of heart disease. You can also find out any intolerances through a vegetarian food intolerance test.

Zero-Carb Diet

For people who are willing to go to more extreme lengths to lose weight quickly and drastically, a simple low-carb diet may not suffice. For these people, the more effective diet plan may be the zero-carb diet.

The zero-carb diet essentially completely erases all the carbohydrates from your diet. This entails a strict diet plan composed of only meat, fish, eggs, animal fats such as butter and lard. You may also allow for a bit of salt and some spices to flavor your food.

Despite its supposed efficacy in aiding weight loss, the zero-carb diet is generally frowned upon by the scientific and medical communities. This is because with this diet, an individual would suffer from the lack of essential and vital nutrients and can lead to a number of diseases and conditions.

Mediterranean Low-Carb Diet

Finally, we have the diet plan that is generally praised by many health care professionals due to its vast health benefits. The Mediterranean low-carb diet has been found to be beneficial in preventing the development of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even breast cancer.

Just like what the name implies, the Mediterranean low-carb diet is composed of meals originating from Mediterranean countries in the 20th century. Following this diet, your main source of protein would be fatty fish instead of traditional red meat. You would also need to replace butter and lard animal fats with extra virgin olive oil.

Unlike other low-carb diets, the Mediterranean low-carb diet allows for higher limits of carbohydrate intake, permitting the intake of whole grains.

As mentioned previously, those who follow this diet report better heart disease management than most of the other low-carb diet plans. However, further research is still necessary for us to understand the full capacity of this diet plan’s benefits.

General Tips For Low-Carb Diets

A low-carb diet is generally beneficial for most people and is something that you should consider as part of your long-term lifestyle. With this said, it is essential to choose a low-carb diet plan that will not completely hinder your life. It is also important to not choose a diet plan that might cause serious health concerns in the long run. You should also understand your personal intolerance to certain foods through tests like our lactose intolerance test and celiac disease genetic test.

Instead of weight loss, good health should be top priority, and you should seek for the best form of diet that you can healthily maintain for a long period of time. Don’t just follow what is popular as everyone has different needs; instead, choose one that best suits your goals and lifestyle.

If interested to find out more about how your body responds to various diets and food items, we offer a number of different health DNA tests you can choose from.

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