# To carb or not to carb



## petite (Feb 13, 2004)

**as posted by admin at IBB**



 In This Issue.....

1) How Does It Work? 

2) Who Started the Madness? 

3) Why It Works For Most People? 

4) Why Aren't More People Doing It? 

5) Making It Work For You.

Can you really loose weight while eating all of your favorite high fat foods? Does steak and eggs sound good to you? Enter the current diet craze, the low carb diet and all of its variations, including the Atkins Diet, Living Low Carb, Protein Power and many more. 

1) How Does It Work? 
For those people who haven't tried it, basically the low carb diet requires that you eliminate almost all foods that contain carbohydrates from your diet. The goal is to eat less than 100 grams of carbohydrates a day. 


Some low carb advocates recommend eating even less than that, and suggest that you take your daily carb intake down to 30 grams or less. This means that you have to cut out all starches, fruits, rice, pasta, sweets etc. and eat only protein, fats and green leafy vegetables throughout the day. 


If you're trying to loose bodyfat while keeping as much muscle as possible, this may be the diet for you. However, there are some important factors to consider before trying the low carb diet. The goal of this article is to give you enough non-biased information about the pros and cons of low carb diets, allowing you to make a more informed decision as to whether or not this diet seems like something that will work for you. 

2) Who Started the Madness? 
Even though many advocates of the Atkins diet would love to give Dr. Atkins all of the credit for creating the low carb diet. It has actually been around for decades. Bodybuilders have used this type of dieting in order to get rid of that last stubborn layer of bodyfat right before a competition. 
Another variation of the low carb diet used by competitive bodybuilders is carb depletion and carb loading. This involves cutting out almost all carbohydrates for 3-5 days and then slowly loading up on carbs a day or two before a show. When done correctly, it gives your muscles a very vascular and full appearance. 
During the past few years, the incredible popularity of the Atkins diet has brought the concept of low carb dieting to the public eye. 

3) Why It Works For Most People? 
O.k. so where's the science behind the low carb diet, or is this just another diet trend with nothing to back it up. Actually there is quite a bit of science explaining why this type of diet works so well. 
The low carbohydrate diet is based on the idea that controlling your insulin levels will help regulate the amount of fat that your body stores. Carbohydrates cause your blood sugar levels to rise which causes your body to release insulin in order to get your blood sugar back to normal levels. High levels of insulin slow the breakdown of fatty deposits in the body. 
Low carbohydrate diets keep your insulin levels very low, which causes your body to produce a counterbalancing hormone called glucagon. Glucagon gets its energy from your bodies supply of stored fat. In other words, low carbohydrate diets cause your body to burn fat for energy as opposed using carbohydrates as its main source of energy. 
Since the goal of an effective diet is to loose fat (not just bodyweight), low carb diets are great for people who want to save as much hard earned muscle as they can while dieting. 

4) Why Aren't More People Doing It? 
If it's so effective, why aren't more people using this type of diet? Like most things that sound to good to be true, there are some negative aspects of the low carb diet. The effects vary from person to person. Here a some of the most common negative effects that people complain about after a few days of low carb dieting. 

- Fatigue.
- Very easily irritated.
- Difficulty concentrating on simple tasks.
- Mood swings.
- Light headed or dizzy.


5) Making It Work For You. 
As I mentioned above, the effects vary among individuals. Some people experience only a mild touch of the negative effects or none at all. Replenishing you body by eating 200-300 grams of carbohydrates after restricting your carbohydrate intake (100 grams or less) for 2-3 days helps to replenish your energy levels and goes a long way in terms of avoiding many of the negative effects listed above. 
One of the most important things to keep in mind when following this type of diet (or any diet that severely limits your food intake) is the lack of vitamins and minerals. Even if you are eating a lot of green leafy vegetables, you will most likely still need to take a good quality multivitamin and mineral supplement. 
This will help to supplement the vitamins and minerals that you would have received from carbohydrate containing foods. Drinking plenty of water (8-10 glasses per day) is also very important. 
Keep your protein intake high (.5 - 1 gram per pound of lean body weight) in order to preserve as much muscle as possible while dieting. This shouldn't be a problem since all you can eat is basically protein, fat and vegetables. 
Thermogenics (i.e. xenadrine, ripped fuel and other “fat burners”) may be helpful, since the “fake energy” that they provide helps to make up for the energy that carbohydrates would have supplied. Just be careful, and make sure you check with your doctor before using any type of thermogenics since side effects vary among individuals.


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