Do You Know Your Low Fat Low Carb Foods?
The normal diet of a healthy and fit person includes balanced amounts of three main sources of energy - carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The daily recommended values (DRVs) of these macronutrients according to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are 60%, 10% and 30%, respectively, of the total calorie intake. However, if one has become overweight/obese due to long years of leading an unhealthy lifestyle with unhealthy food habits, such DRVs make exercise-based weight/fat loss programs extremely difficult to succeed. In such cases adopting a diet based on low fat low carb foods for a limited period helps normalize the body chemistry and thereby trigger the process of weight/fat loss. The famous South Beach Diet is an example of a diet based on low carb low fat foods.
What exactly are low fat low carb foods?
As the name suggests, low fat low carb foods are foods that are moderately to severely restricted in fats and carbohydrates in comparison to the daily recommended values of 30% and 60% (of the total calorie intake), respectively. FDA defines a low fat food as one that contains not more than 3 g of fat per serving; as of now there is no formal definition of low carb food given by FDA. But one can say that a diet is low carb if no more than 25-30% of daily calorie intake comes from carbohydrates/sugars, and very low carb if this number is less than 25%. This deficit in carbs when accompanied by sufficiency in proteins forces the body to burn fat for fuel.
What is so good about low fat low carb foods for weight loss? Upon digestion all carbs except for dietary fiber get converted into simple sugars like glucose. It is this glucose that acts as a fuel to meet body's energy requirements. But excessively high blood glucose levels caused by high carb foods trigger the release of too much insulin, which readily converts excess glucose into stored body fat as well as further stimulates the brain to produce hunger pangs. This state of constant hyperinsulinemia makes the body insulin-resistant, leading to obesity when excess sugar gets converted to fat (or diabetes if excess sugar stays in the blood). A low carb diet helps prevent hyperinsulinemia/insulin resistance as well as increases the level of glucagon (a pancreatic hormone that reverses the action of insulin), thus switching the fat-storage-promoting body chemistry to fat-burning mode, which triggers sustained weight loss. Any dangers of low fat low carb food diets? Since the body requires a minimum calorie intake for proper functioning, a diet based on low fat low carb foods must invariably be high in proteins in order to fulfill the calorie deficit created by the outgoing fats and carbs. Otherwise, the body would start burning lean muscles as fuel and one can end up looking old and haggard. Moreover, as the South Beach Diet recommends, carbs starvation should continue only for 2 weeks in order to trigger weight loss. Thereafter, carbs must be slowly reintroduced into the diet - but only the unrefined, slow carbs (i.e., which raise blood glucose levels slowly) like whole grains, fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. A consistently high protein diet can raise some health concerns in the long run. Examples of low fat low carb foods Basically, all low-fat/defatted high-protein foods like skimmed milk products (unsweetened curd, cheese), extra lean meats, sea food, soy milk, tofu, beans, legumes, etc., can make a part of low fat low carb diet. Foods like breads, pasta, cereals, sweets, fats, etc., are a big no-no. Conclusion A diet based on low fat low carb foods, like the South Beach Diet, can help achieve sustained weight loss by stabilizing blood glucose/insulin levels.
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