Low Carb Diet
A low-carb diet is a diet that favors low-carb foods. With a low-carb diet, the body uses up its own reserves of unused energy (fats). This reduces the production of insulin, as a result of which fatty layers in the human body self-destruct. With a low-carbohydrate diet, nutrition is balanced so that only beneficial components enter the body.
Dr. Jeff Volek studied the effects of a two-month low-carb diet on hunger hormones as well as regional and general body composition. In the study, twelve men followed a low-carb diet (8% carbohydrates). A control group of eight people ate a classic diet. As a result of the study, in the first group there was a significant decrease in fat mass (minus 3.4 kg) with an increase in lean body mass (plus 1.1 kg). In the control group, no changes were recorded. According to the results of the study, the scientists concluded that in a person with a weight within the normal range with a low-carb diet, the percentage of fat cells in the body decreases while the lean body mass increases.
Permitted and Prohibited Low-Carb Diet Foods
Many reviews of the low-carb diet indicate that the list of foods for this diet is quite impressive. On the list of allowed foods on a low-carb diet, meat comes first. During this diet, you can eat chicken, goose, duck meat, beef, turkey, lean pork. It is imperative to include fish in recipes for losing weight on a low-carb diet. Preference should be given to the sea, as it is rich in omega-3 acids useful for the body. Don't forget about seafood. Squid, shrimp, crabs, mussels, lobster, and oysters are also on the low-carb diet list.
From dairy products in the diet, you can safely include low-fat or low-fat cheese, cottage cheese. With this type of diet, eggs are allowed. They contain maximum protein and minimum carbohydrates.
From vegetables, you can eat tomatoes, cucumbers, leeks, garlic, radishes, celery. You can also include in the diet any varieties of cabbage, zucchini, green peas, pumpkin, lettuce. From fruits, you can safely add grapefruit and apples to your diet. The rest of the fruits contain carbohydrates in the form of fructose, so they fall on the list of prohibited foods on the low-carb diet. You should also give up store juices, sugary carbonated drinks, alcohol. During the diet, you should not eat bread, sugar, honey, corn syrup.
Lipolysis (metabolism of fat cells) requires water. Water helps to remove ketones. Ketones secrete fat cells. They are used as an energy source.
With a low-carb diet, nutritional supplements may be present in the diet. The most effective will be selenium, fiber, carnitine, B-complex vitamins, flaxseed oil, sodium picolinate. Insoluble fiber makes it easier for food to pass through the digestive tract, improving stool and preventing constipation.
Low Carb Diet Menu for the Week
The low-carb diet menu is quite filling and varied due to the sufficient amount of protein foods. An approximate weekly diet menu will help you navigate the selection of dishes and products for the entire period of weight loss.
On Monday, you can eat 200 grams of cottage cheese with fruit for breakfast, drink a cup of coffee or tea. For lunch, boil 200 grams of lean beef and make a vegetable salad without oil. For an afternoon snack, eat any fruit. For dinner, stew vegetables with rice.
On the second day of the diet for breakfast, you can cook an omelet with low-fat ham or boiled chicken breast, drink tea. For lunch, eat 200 grams of beef with a serving of salad. For an afternoon snack, drink a glass of kefir or milk. Prepare mushroom soup for dinner.
On Wednesday, you can eat no more than one hundred grams of cheese with fresh fruits or vegetables for breakfast, drink tea or coffee. For lunch, stew the cabbage and boil the skinless chicken breast. For an afternoon snack, eat an apple and drink plain yogurt. For dinner, cook vegetable soup with chicken broth.
On Thursday, boil oatmeal with dried fruits, drink coffee or tea. Stew chicken with vegetables for lunch. Eat fruit for an afternoon snack, and buckwheat porridge for dinner.
On the fifth day of a low-carb diet, you can eat two boiled eggs with 50 grams of cheese for breakfast, drink tea. For lunch, bake a turkey and make a vegetable salad. For an afternoon snack, drink a glass of kefir. Stew vegetables for dinner.
On Saturday for breakfast, eat two boiled eggs, drink a glass of yogurt or tea. For lunch, cook soup in vegetable or chicken broth, make a vegetable salad. For an afternoon snack, eat any fruit. For dinner, boil rice and a piece of fish.
On Sunday, you can cook buckwheat porridge and tea for breakfast. For lunch, make a casserole of fish and vegetables. For an afternoon snack, drink a glass of kefir. Stew vegetables for dinner.
If you strictly adhere to the low-carb diet menu for a week, you can get rid of three to seven kilograms of excess weight.
Side Effects of a Low Carb Diet
Some nutritionists have argued that the foods this diet prescribes can cause side effects. As a result of a decrease in the amount of carbohydrates in the diet, fiber intake is significantly reduced. Lack of fiber can lead to constipation. Increasing the consumption of animal products with a low-carb diet can lead to an increase in the amount of cholesterol and saturated fat in the body. Some reviews of the low-carb diet say that this type of diet causes weakness and wasting. That is why it should not be combined with increased physical activity.
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