Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Pros And Cons Of Losing Weight With Low Carbs

The low carb (carbohydrate) diet has taken the lives of many weight-conscious people by storm. When you move through the super markets shelves you are now more likely to hit low carbohydrate items like: pasta, bread, peanut butter, cereal, and even beer. However, you may still be thinking that is low carb really better than the low-fat diet notion that had been considered the 'diet maestro' since ages?. Though we still need to wait and see to get a definite answer, for starters it's better to know that low-carb is based on 'good carb' and 'bad carb' distinction. The bad-carbs harm your body by causing arise in blood sugar with food such as white potatoes, rice, pasta and bread. Good carbs are body friendly with their low GI and include fruits veggies, whole grains and beans.

The typical explanation of weight loss is that dietary fat does not necessarily get converted into body fat following the low-carb regime. Surprisingly, Carbohydrates win the race to fat conversion because they are acted upon by insulin. Experts have seen that obese people do not become overweight because of fatty dietary intake but due to hyperinsulinemia (high levels of blood insulin).

A high carb intake produces blood sugar which directs the pancreas to produce insulin which stimulates the cells to use up this sugar. Not only does insulin directs the brain to produce hunger signals but also causes fat deposits in your body. With this cycle you get used to increase carbohydrate intake because of hunger-signals and consequently the cell need more insulin to break up. The high level of insulin leaves adverse effects on the body and you may even start ageing prematurely.

Now to break the vicious cycle described above you have to limit carbohydrate intake with strict control on your diet. When you try to reduce your daily ingestion of carbohydrates, your insulin degree starts lessening gradually and your glucagon level raises. Glucagon acts like a life-saving hormone at this time because it burns body fat and removes cholesterol deposits in the arteries which would have choked them eventually. When you start restricting carbohydrates in your diet like a regimen your body would soon go into 'ketosis' state. This process works with fat burning and subsequent ketone production in your bloodstream. Consequently, the blood sugar level in your body stabilizes and a decrease in insulin level is noticed along with reduced calorie count.

This last part of the South Beach diet is termed as a 'ketogenic diet (from ketosis). The routine for inducing ketosis is to reduce carbohydrate intake to 30 grams or less per day. Most people lose weight more quickly this way and get back in shape after throwing the haunting pounds away.