Low Carb Tips

Welcome to LowCarbTips.org, the site created to help you learn more about low-carbohydrates diets. As with all major lifestyle changes, please consult your medical practitioner before starting…

Low-carbohydrate diets or low carb diets, are food diet programs for dietary health as well as weight loss that advocate restricted carbohydrate consumption, based on research that ties carbohydrate consumption with increased blood insulin levels, and increased insulin with obesity.

Under these various dietary programs, foods containing carbohydrates (like sugar, grains, and starches) are limited or replaced in favor of foods containing more protein and fat. Vegetables, though classified as carbohydrates, are thought to be far healthier than grain-based carbohydrates.

Weight loss
Programs such as the South Beach, Atkins and Zone diets, are claimed to work because they reduce insulin levels, which in turn causes the body to burn its fat for energy.

As a process, these kinds of diets have been in and out of fashion since the Banting diet appeared in the 19th century. But long before modern scientific invention, anecdotal and holistic prescriptions, containing passages about limiting certain foods, including foods of mostly carbohydrates, have appeared throughout history. Although strong evidence suggests, and general agreement claims, that low carb diets can help achieve weight loss, some have been controversial among nutritionists, and their relative safety has been challenged.

Differences between low-carbohydrate diets
Low-carb diets are largely distinguished by the proportions of carb intake they recommend, and the method or methods used to determinine which source or sources of carbohydrates should be consumed and which should be avoided. While all agree that processed sugar should be eliminated, or at the very least greatly reduced, they often differ on the recommended levels of grains, fruits and vegetables, though there is broad agreement that, in general, vegetables are better than fruits, and fruits are better than grains.

Food producers have ascribed a commercial impact to the growing popularity of low-carbohydrate diets in recent years. For example, in May 2004, New World Pasta filed for bankruptcy protection, claiming that low-carbohydrate diets were reducing demand for pasta. In the same month, Krispy Kreme Doughnuts warned investors that its earnings would be below projections, and blamed low-carbohydrate diets on reduced demand for its products.

Other producers have taken advantage of the trend. In response to consumer demand for low-carb foods, the food industry has been marketing low-carb products in recent years and restaurants are increasingly offering low carb menus. These items typically replace carbohydrate-laden wheat flour with high-protein soy flour and replace sugar with artificial sweeteners such as sucralose and sugar alcohols.