Weight Loss & Low Carbohydrate Diets
Carolyn Classick-Kohn,MS,RD

It's not surprising that people lose weight, lower cholesterol, and lower blood pressure when following a low carbohydrate, lower calorie diet. 

1. High carbohydrate, low calorie diets will do the same thing. 

2. Any diet that restricts calories will cause weight loss, a reduction in cholesterol, and a lowering of blood pressure. It's the loss of body fat caused by the reduction in calories, not the composition of the diet that causes this.

3. What's more informative when evaluating the risks/benefits of a diet is what happens when the diet is consumed at your maintenance calories, when your body is not in a state of fat loss due to caloric restriction. 

4. Carbohydrates are the body’s primary source of energy, and are quickly and easily converted to blood glucose, the body cells’ preferred source of fuel. Therefore, carbohydrates must be supplied on a regular basis and we also need a certain amount of carbohydrate to prevent ketosis. 

Carbohydrates include sugars, starches, and fiber. Foods that contain mostly carbohydrate are grains, cereals, beans, fruits, and vegetables. Sugar and flour are forms of carbohydrate, so any food made with sugar (like soda pop) or flour (breads, pasta, bakery goods, cookies, crackers, etc.) are sources of carbohydrate as well.  

Do Low Carbohydrate Diets Work? Consider the following:

1. Insulin resistance has a very strong genetic component, and is heavily influenced by level of physical fitness and the degree of body fatness.

2. Generally, the more fit a person is, the less resistant they are to insulin, and the more body fat a person has, the more resistant they are to insulin. 

3. Insulin resistance is not caused by simply ingesting carbohydrates, and is not completely solved by eliminating them. 

So the real answer to solving insulin resistance (and many other health problems) may be to maintain your body at a healthy weight, not to severely restrict the body's main source of fuel. In other words, reducing calories, not just reducing carbohydrates may be the best solution.

What are the effects of severe restriction of carbohydrates? Severe carbohydrate restriction leaves fat, protein, and alcohol left to supply calories. 

• In the absence of weight loss, diets high in fat damage arteries and promote heart disease in the long term.
  

• Diets high in protein, especially animal protein, are very hard on kidneys, causing them to work too hard to remove the waste products of protein metabolism.
  

• Diets high in animal foods are higher on the food chain, so you're consuming whatever chemicals, pesticides and hormones the animals were fed to make them fat or were in their food (even fish).
  

• By severely limiting carbohydrates, you are restricted from many plant foods (not just the green stuff) which contain protective factors against cancer, heart disease and other chronic diseases.

While restricting junky, low nutrition carbohydrate sources like chips, crackers, cakes, cookies, soda pop, etc. replacing those foods with other high nutrition, high fiber carbohydrates (vegetables, beans, whole grains, fruit) instead of replacing those calories with high fat, high protein animal foods or high fat foods. A sensible diet designed to keep the composition of of your diet healthy... around 30% fat, 20% protein, and 50% carbohydrate accomplishes the goal of improved nutrition while simultaneously allowing you to efficiently lose weight. 

With a diet designed personally for you with these percentages  of protein, fat and carbohydrate foods (PersonalDiets), you'll accomplish your personal health and fitness goals and you'll have a diet you can follow long term.