Low Carb Diets – An Unhealthy Gimmick

I know my eyes must roll into the back of my head at least three times per supermarket visit nowadays. It seems almost every kind of food comes in a “low carb” variety. This is yet another example of how corporations prey on innocent people looking for hope. For those of you that may not be aware of this yet, it’s time to clear something up here- low carb diets don’t work. Plain and simple.

“Ohhhh but my friend lost so many pounds and looks great.” Normally when people refer to losing weight, they mean losing fat. The only thing that will be lost here is water weight. Stay on the diet long enough and you might lose some muscle density as well. The moment a break is taken from the diet that water weight will bounce right back and you’ll get the lovely bonus of the newly found sensitivity to carbs. You may find you’re piling on the pounds faster than you got them to begin with.

Still don’t believe me and think we’re all just looking for something to rant about? Alright then- I’ll give you some food for thought. (No pun intended.) Let’s look at China and Japan, for instance. Their diets predominately consist of carbohydrates such as grains, rice and vegetables with little emphasis on fats. They don’t have the obesity problems, heart disease, or concerns with diabetes that we do here in America. Our bodies weren’t designed for such a diet and even for few weeks a diet like this could cause massive confusion to our bodies on a cellular level.

Now regardless of whether it works or not there is still another major issue at hand. Is it healthy? Well we all have known for years that increased fat in our diets can lead to heart disease, high cholesterol, etc. Not to mention a diet such as this that our bodies can’t fully handle may lead to liver and kidney damage. I know how aggravating it can be when one minute something is considered healthy, and the next people consider it next to fatal. We hear contradicting stories all the time, but in this case nothing has changed.

Cutting back or restricting fruits and vegetables from our diets wouldn’t be wise either. If anything, we generally don’t have enough in our diets. Fruit and vegetables contain vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and “phytochemicals” which help to prevent disease. Believe it or not these valuable phytochemicals also exist in in healthful carbohydrates such as brown rice, oatmeal, wheat, and other high fiber sources. The focus should be on what kind of carbs to cut back on. Carbs as I just mentioned are considered “complex carbohydrates” and we actually need to be eating more of it! I can see cutting back on carbs such as pasta, white bread, and sugar. Eliminating the greatest sources of fiber and nutrients mother nature has to offer, however, just doesn’t make sense.

So many of us are focused on losing weight, and goodness knows it’s not easy. Yes, even I fight it- so I know the pain. For those of you going through this as well, I beg of you- hold your health above all else. You can’t win in battle of the bulge if you’re not alive to fight it.

You can find more articles by this author at Chambers Essentials- Our blog for beauty, health, home, and soul…

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