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Dietician Sheela Seharawat

5 Benefits of Low Carb Diet

What is a low carbohydrate diet?
As the name implies, a low carbohydrate diet is a diet that limits the consumption of carbohydrates in favor of fat and protein. Here are its rules:

• Eat meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and natural fats such as butter.
• Avoid starchy foods - pasta, rice, bread and sugar.
• As soon as the feeling of hunger is felt, eat without counting calories.

Like all slimming programs, the low carb diet plan aims to help you lose weight. But why does such a diet make you lose weight? This is due to three main reasons:

• Consuming more lipids and proteins increases the feeling of satiety. As a result, you will be much less hungry, a phenomenon that will push you to consume fewer calories and that will automatically accentuate weight loss.
• A low carbohydrate diet lowers insulin production and as you know, the higher the rate, the more fat storage is essential.
• The body is forced to switch to burning fat rather than sugar. Explanations: As soon as you consume carbohydrates, your body stops the burning of fat and begins to draw energy from the sugar. By limiting your carbohydrate consumption, this trend will reverse.

What foods are allowed during this diet?
During a low carbohydrate diet, not all foods are allowed. To follow it well, it is, therefore, necessary to make the right choices and to introduce the right foods into one's diet.
Among foods to consume, you can find:
Meat - you can consume all types of meat such as poultry, red meat, lamb is allowed
Fish - mackerel, herring, salmon and other fatty fish.
Eggs - according to your taste, you can cook them in many ways - scrambled, omelet or boiled.
Vegetables - spinach, cauliflower, cabbage, zucchini, asparagus, onions, peppers, tomatoes, eggplants, mushrooms, salads.
Fruits - apples, strawberries, oranges, raspberries, blueberries and others low in carbohydrates.
Dried fruits - nuts, almonds
Milk - butter, yogurt, cheese, cream. Choose non-fat products.
Oils and fats - olive oil and other healthy oils such as sunflower.

Benefits of low carb diet.
1. Lower insulin levels –
The consumption of carbohydrates has the greatest impact on our blood sugar and insulin levels. The limitation of carbohydrates in our healthy diet plan has the direct consequence of reducing our sugar and insulin requirements. High sugar levels play a role in almost all chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes, dementia, cancer, and cardiovascular diseases.
Reducing carbohydrate intake controls blood glucose levels and minimizes insulin levels. This is of great benefit for people with diabetes (type 1 or 2) and people with insulin resistance.

2. More satiety due to proteins –
Low-carbohydrate diets increase satiety due to the balanced blood sugar levels through the day. Unlike diets with carbohydrates, glucose and insulin levels are kept to a minimum throughout the day.
In a comprehensive analysis of hunger and appetite, participants on a low-carbohydrate diet were compared directly to those on a typical low-fat diet. The results showed that the low-carb group wanted to eat much less and was less disturbed by hunger. Anyone who undergoes a low carb diet knows this because of the fat-increasing effect of fats in the diet. A diet rich in healthy fats permanently eliminates desire.

3. Lower your heart disease risks –
A low carbohydrate diet has a positive impact on many risk factors for heart disease. In particular, they reduce triglycerides (a significant risk factor for cardiovascular diseases) and increase HDL ("good" cholesterol) levels. Besides, they lower blood sugar, insulin, and inflammation in the body. All these things can damage the heart. Also, weight loss is another great benefit, since weight and obesity increase cardiovascular risk.

4. Most significant impact on weight loss –
To examine the effect of a low-carbohydrate diet on weight, the Harvard School of Medicine analyzed more than 53 separate studies. The results were not surprising: among all dietary interventions to lose weight, people with low-carbohydrate interventions lost more weight than participants in low-fat interventions. Low-carbohydrate diets have a positive effect on satiety, weight and the cardiovascular system.
Given the personal anecdotes and the new studies that accumulate day after day, it is clear that the benefits of a low carbohydrate diet are worth it. Not only do you eat incredibly fresh and delicious foods every day, but it also significantly improves your health and reduces the risk of serious illness in the future.
If you are a person on a low carb diet, you would not ever want to go back to your previous way of eating. After tasting real, natural food, all the processed foods will seem to have a terrible taste.

5. Less bloating due to lack of carbs –
Carbohydrates cause your body to retain water. The more carbohydrates you consume, the more bloated you will feel.
If you start with a low-carbohydrate diet, you will absorb more protein and fat than before, helping your body eliminate excess water faster. Therefore, you should feel less bloated after a week or two.
Conclusion.

Drastically reducing carbohydrates causes the body to enter a different metabolic state called ketosis, where it burns fat by providing fuel. The reduction of carbohydrates leads to a decrease in insulin levels, which results from the decomposition of fat stores. This makes your body burn fat instead of burning carbohydrates. A low carb diet allows you to eat a lot of protein and helps you build muscle, increase the transition time of digested food, and help reduce inflammation.