By A low-carb diet is not always what it seems
Low carb is still a craze like no other — and it is very suitable for some people and not others.
A diet that eliminates food groups that serve a purpose must be carefully considered and dependent on your goals and lifestyle requirements.
I was also very caught up in low-carb eating for many years. Sure, I lost a lot of weight, but at the end of the day, it didn’t serve me as a long-term health and weight loss solution.
We all experience different results when it comes to eating particular foods. Someone may prefer to eat a heavily based meat diet, whilst others like myself prefer going vegan/vegetarian.
There is no right or wrong here, and it’s part of our self-discovery.
Why go low carb
Low carb is great for some people — especially when controlling blood sugar and those with type two diabetes.
I put my mum on a low-carb, fasting nutritional plan to control her blood sugar. It also helped her lose weight to keep her from using drugs to control her diabetes.
I didn’t want her to eat crap and rely on drugs to make it better for her.
The root cause of the problem was improper diet and lifestyle habits.
From a scientific perspective, quality, not quantity, matters when reducing carbs in your diet.
Low-carb diets have been very popular over several years, mainly because of the rapid weight loss which followers within a short period.
Currently, there is no evidence to suggest why they are so effective for weight loss or the long-term health benefits of pitfalls they might produce.
Typically, when you decrease carbs and offset that with increased protein and fats, you feel much more full, reducing hunger and maintaining a steady blood sugar rating throughout the day.
Eating more protein also helps to increase basal metabolic rate and, therefore, burns more calories when at rest (and active too).
When it comes to type two diabetes — some studies do show that low-carb diets can help to improve blood glucose levels in people who are pre-diabetic or already have type two diabetes.
Some low-carb diets are better than others — as this research will soon uncover.
But you must admit that a strict diet, such as low-carb varieties, may not meet the relevant dietary needs and recommendations to be considered a balanced diet.
That’s not to say you should not go low carb; it just means you can still meet the specific needs — you need to be more aware of what type of protein you eat regularly and balance it out more.
What researchers say about low-carb diets
Researchers investigated the suitability of low-carb diets and the odds of developing type two diabetes. Type two diabetes can lead to heart disease and stroke.
An analysis of medical data from adults during 1984–2017 followed.
All participants filled out a questionnaire about the foods they were eating and then contacted 30 years later. No one at the time had diabetes.
Researchers based their findings on the percentage of total energy each person ate from their dietary intake of fats, carbs and protein.
Once established, the data showed that people in the lower carb group got more protein and fat from plant-based sources and had a 6% lower risk of type two diabetes.
If these people added less refined sugar to their diet, type two diabetes risk lowered even further to 15%.
Those people who ate most of their protein & fat intake from animals had a 35% higher risk of developing type two diabetes.
They also had a 39% higher risk if their diets minimised whole grains.
The research flaws
There are a lot of flaws in this research, such as the lack of Ethnic diversity. But, it gives us a good point for structuring your low-carb nutrition accordingly.
The American Heart Association recommends eating many fruits, vegetables and fresh protein sources.
Try to add more fish, lean meats, and even legumes.
Though beans may have higher carbs, they contain much more fibre and provide fantastic fat-burning potential.
When it comes to high protein diets, try to avoid those ultra-processed foods like sausages, bacon and any other meats which are dried or cured.
Limit alcohol and processed sugar items.
Key take away
While a low-carb diet with less animal protein will improve your health, a balanced diet will probably be more sustainable in the long term.
I can only quote from my experience, as I am now a non-meat eater and have been for almost a year.
Animal protein stripped my gut health and caused many problems with my digestion.
Once I eliminated animal protein and focused on high-quality pulses, vegetables and sauerkraut, things changed positively. I am no longer chronically anemic either.
High protein diets caused me to feel hungry all the time and disrupted my gut microbiome.
Although this is just one experience out of many, many people would give you another interpretation.
The best diet you should stick with for life is the one that helps you to maintain better health and longevity.
Only stick to something if it’s working or causing health issues, and that’s a dietary plan built on the disaster.
Do you prefer a low-carb, plant-based or animal-protein diet?
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