The truth of the matter:While initially reducing your carbohydrates this low will
A low carb diet, which is defined as a
diet that has less than 50 grams of
carbohydrates a day (and is higher in
fats and proteins) has been touted as
the end all solution to weight loss.
Supporters of this diet claim that you
can eat anything you want, and as
long as you keep the carbs at 50 grams
or less you will lose weight.
have a drastic impact on your weight loss, most of the weight loss will come from water weight. The reason for this is because when you eat a diet with carbohydrates, some of these carbohydrates are stored in the muscle and liver in the form of glycogen (stored carbs). Each gram of glycogen contains with it some water weight. However, this is not the same water that causes a puffy look as the water that causes such look is excess water under the skin. By the way, such excess water is caused by improper dieting.
So when you go on a low carbohydrate diet, as the glycogen gets depleted, all the water weight contained within it is released. Thus, you lose a significant amount of weight, but in reality, you are losing roughly the same amount of fat that you would in a properly designed diet like the one in the Fat Extinction Program.
In addition, over the long term, these low carb diets cause problems. While initially you can indeed consume a bit more calories than you could on a more balanced diet (this is due to the fact that these diets are very high in protein and protein increases your metabolism), in the absence of carbohydrates your thyroid hormone production (which is a key hormone that regulates your metabolism) starts to dramatically go down. As a result, your metabolism gets crippled, and so does your ability to burn fat.
Also, because you don’t have enough carbohydrates and your glycogen levels are depleted, you will suffer from low energy and your muscles will not look hard and toned. They will instead look soft because there is no glycogen to keep them looking firm; muscles are no different than balloons except that in their case, glycogen, as opposed to air, is what fills them up.
As if that would not be enough bad news, the lack of carbohydrates coupled with the high protein and high fat intake creates an acidic environment in your body that can lead to suppressed immunity and constipation. Also, in the absence of carbohydrates, cortisol rises much easier as well.
Finally, as you can imagine, there is not a lot of variety in a diet made up of proteins and fats. In my personal experience, everyone I have met who has tried a diet of this nature, ends up breaking free from the program one day and gaining much more weight than what was lost.
It should also be noted, that any increase in carbohydrate levels will have a dramatic increase in weight as well since the glycogen stores are depleted and any new glycogen that is stored will result in added weight gain. This plays havoc on a dieter’s psychology and this is another reason why sometimes the dieter that goes off the diet for a day, sees 10 lbs of extra weight the next day, and gets so discouraged that they start eating everything in sight!
I want you to keep in mind that carbs are not the enemy. Having the wrong sort of diet program is. So please remember that while some carbs do promote weight gain in the form of fat, there are other carbs that are designed to give you energy, suppress your appetite and give you a lean appearance while increasing your metabolism.
That is the reason why in my Fat Extinction Program, the nutrition I prescribe is a non-restrictive, enjoyable and varied program proven to work by science and balanced enough to where you can easily follow it for the rest of your life!
