Advantages and Disadvantages of Low Carbohydrate Diet

There are advantages and disadvantages in implementing a low carbohydrate intake. It is helpful for you to realize what they are in order to be able to use the strategy to your favor in achieving fat and weight loss permanently.

Advantages

-Low Carbohydrate High Protein Increases Metabolic Rate. Due to protein’s high thermic value, LC HP diets speeds up the body’s metabolism; its high thermic value of almost 30% makes protein less likely to be converted to body fat compared to other food type. Lower carbohydrate intake with the accompanying increase in protein ration raises an entire meal’s thermic value.

-Reduced Carbohydrates + Increased Protein Intake Regulates Insulin. Large amounts of carbohydrates results in the increase of insulin production. Therefore, the best way to regulate and manage the body’s insulin level is to restrict carbohydrate intake while increasing protein intake for a healthy fat loss program. Fats cause negligible insulin release while proteins cause only a minimal increase in insulin production.

-Lower Carbohydrate Intake Decreases Glycogen Levels and Forces the Body to use Fat for Fuel. Moderate to low carbohydrate intake considerably lowers the body’s glycogen levels resulting to better digestion and absorption of carbohydrates as glycogen for the muscles instead of being stored as fat.

-Lesser Carbohydrates + More Protein Reduces Water Retention. A low carbohydrate high protein diet decreases water retention resulting to better and improved muscle definition; this is the main reason fitness competitors favor the LC HP diet.

Disadvantages

-Impossible to Maintain. Restrictive carbohydrate diets almost always set you up for cravings resulting to diet failure which is why it is not recommended as a long term solution.

-Weight/Fat Gain Regression. Since it is almost impossible to maintain a low carbohydrate diet for extended periods of time, the probability of regression is very high. The lower you drop your carbohydrate intake, the more your body will bounce back to its original state the moment carbohydrates are re-introduced back into the diet.

-Lacks Essential Nutrients. It’s not healthy to remove entire food groups from the Carbohydrate Protein Fat triad for a long period of time. The best way is to balance the ratios of each of the different food group in order to maximize the gain without sacrificing nutrients. Without the essential nutrients, you are going in the direction of future health problems or heart disease.

-Lowers Energy Levels. Although fat loss occurs at a fast rate due to restricted carbohydrate intake, energy levels and performance also drop dramatically if you cut down too much since carbohydrates are the body’s ideal energy source.

-Very Low Carbohydrate Diet Weight Loss can be Deceiving. Believe it or not, very low carbohydrate diets can induce as much as 5 pounds weight loss weekly. Only 20% of this can be attributed to actual fat loss while 80% are water and muscle loss! When this happens, your nutrition program is not working to your advantage.

-Causes Irritability and Mood Swings. Since our brain and central nervous system depends almost exclusively on glucose, prolonged carbohydrate restriction can make an individual tired, weak, irritable, grouchy and moody for not reason at all.

-Induces Muscle Loss. Depletion of the body’s glycogen levels due to low carbohydrate intake often triggers gluconeogenesis – the burning of proteins for energy wherein muscle tissues are converted into the body’s much needed glucose. Enough carbohydrates in your diet ensures that muscles are not burned by the body for energy.

Water is Necessary to Lose Fat

Since one of the more important functions of the kidneys is to eliminate toxic waste from our body through urination, adequate water supply in the body is of utmost importance. When we are in a semi-dehydrated state, our body’s instinctive reaction is to hold on to whatever water there is in the body in order to survive. When this occurs, the body’s toxic wastes are not eliminated regularly and begin to accumulate causing the liver to help out with the overload. When this happens, the liver fails to perform one of its tasks efficiently: burning stored body fat for energy. The body then becomes unable to burn body fat as efficiently as normal.

A lot of people refrain from drinking plenty of water because of the misconception that it will lead to fluid retention. The exact opposite is true. Dehydration causes the body to hold on to all the water that’s available in the body. Consuming plenty of water causes the body to feel hydrated and enables the kidneys to flush the water out as they normally and regularly do, resulting in less water retention.

The general rule for water intake of 8 to 10 eight ounce glasses (1920ml to 3000ml) of water daily is only a guideline. A more accurate calculation of daily water requirements should also include physical activity levels and caloric expenditure in order to achieve a more realistic estimate of individual water needs.

To get a more accurate estimate of your particular water needs, it is recommended to factor in your activity level using your daily calorie expenditure (DCE). The recommended dietary allowance for water is 1.0-1.5ml per kilocalorie expended per day. The following chart lists the required water amount based on your daily calorie expenditure.

Calories
Expended Daily H2O
Requirement
2000 2000 to 3000 ml
2500 2500 to 3750 ml
3000 3000 to 4500 ml
3500 3500 to 5250 ml
4000 4000 to 6000 ml
4500 4000 to 6375 ml
5000 5000 to 7500 ml

Using this formula, a 200 pound man with a daily calorie expenditure (DCE) of 2800 calories daily needs a minimum of 2800ml to 4200ml of water every day. The eight to ten glasses (1920ml to 3000ml) of water guideline should be used as the baseline minimum regardless of daily calorie expenditure.

Never rely on thirst as an indicator or signal to drink water; we feel thirsty when we are already dehydrated, therefore, continue drinking water throughout the day even when you are not thirsty. If in doubt, drink more water, you can never drink enough.

Make it a habit to drink water all day long, especially before, during and after your workout program.

Eating to Lose Weight

A common misconception among people is that simply balancing your calorie intake with your calorie expenditure will lead to fat loss. The equation of calorie balance is not this simplistic. The recombinant effect of each food on the body’s hormones and blood sugar levels including the diverse nutrient contents of each food that make a simplistic approach to fat loss almost an impossibility.
What Comes After Calculating Your Daily Calorie Expenditure (DCE)?

After getting arriving at your DCE value, divide up your daily ration among the three major macronutrients proteins and carbohydrates including fats. Dividing up and properly apportioning calories into the appropriate ratios can have a great effect on your overall body composition. If you eat a 2200 calorie diet of ice cream one day and a 2200 calorie diet of boiled yam and grilled swordfish the next, the ice cream diet will make you fatter whereas the yam-swordfish combination will do wonders for your body.

Nutrient ratios has one basic rule which you should always keep in mind. Food intake should never consist primarily of one food or macronutrient type; you must strive for proper P-C-F balance with more importance on the P-C combination. Using the P-C-F mnemonics, you will never go wrong because that is the exact order of importance of the macronutrients the body needs: Proteins-Carbohydrates-Fats. Do not simply eat P’s, C’s or F’s by themselves because by themselves they will invariably do more harm to your body than good.

Essential Meal Combinations

Whether you are on a diet or not, meals are always a combination of various forms of P-C and F. A complete meal generally consists of  lean proteins and complex carbohydrates and very little fat. Snacks on the other hand may simply be a protein drink, or a carbohydrate or protein food by itself.

The ultimate and essential meal is a proper combination of proteins (lean) and carbohydrates (both starchy and fibrous) eaten together all at the same meal.

Advantages of Essential P-C-F Food Combinations

-Eating more proteins than carbohydrates maintains positive nitrogen balance ensuring a gain of muscle tissue. Since protein can not be stored in the body like carbohydrates, protein intake needs to be regular and constant otherwise your body will break down muscle tissues to get the amino acids it requires. Insulin distributes the amino acids from protein to the cells and tissues of the body. Eating carbohydrates triggers the body’s production of insulin to ensure the distribution of the amino acids. Therefore, one can not go without the other. If you eat carbohydrates by themselves, this results in a rapid increase in blood sugar which are followed by sharp drops and cause cravings, hunger and fatigue.

-Rapid blood sugar elevations from excess carbohydrate intake cause overproduction and release of insulin. High concentrations of insulin in the bloodstream promote the storage of body fat and can lead to diabetes.

-Eating proteins and carbohydrates separately contributes to the depletion of the body’s muscle glycogen, the primary source of energy for physical activities and weight training. A combination of restricted carbohydrate intake with high protein and high fat foods inevitably cause energy reductions due to glycogen depletion. The best way is to insure a slow and moderate entry of proteins, complex carbohydrates and fat throughout the day.

-Eating lean proteins and fibrous carbohydrates combined slows down the digestion of complex carbohydrates, resulting in stable blood sugar and energy levels and moderate output of insulin – without the erratic ups and downs if you eat carbohydrates by themselves.

-Protein enhances the thermic effect of food and accelerates the body’s metabolism. Meals that consist of carbohydrates alone without the protein and complex carbohydrate component is not as good or beneficial.

Why Skipping Meals is a Sin

Skipping meals to induce lesser calorie intake does not do you any good. All it does it slow down your metabolism, cause muscle loss and triggers the body’s starvation responses. Especially if you skip breakfast!

Skipping breakfast and making up for it during the day and then going to bed encourages your body to store fat because you are training your body to go without fuel for more than 12 hours. This invariably causes muscle loss and metabolic slow down!

Frequent Meals is the Secret to Successful Fat Loss

Speeds up the Metabolism due to the Heat Transfer Effect of Food

Each and every bodily process requires energy – the pumping of the heart, breathing, blood circulation, food digestion and absorption, cell regeneration, thinking, even sleeping. Some diet and exercise programs refer to the process with an intimidating term, “thermogenic.”

Some foods have higher thermic effects and low calorie density than others. Green vegetables like asparagus, broccoli, okra are some examples of food that have high thermic effect and low calorie density – they can not be stored as fat because their calorie content are burned off just to digest them. For a successful fat and weight loss program, it is best that your diet consist mostly of foods with high thermic effect. The higher the thermic property of food the better.

Inhibits Cravings

Eating frequently makes yourself less likely to have cravings because you always feel full and you do not suffer from a prolonged gap between meals.
More importantly, the bad habit of missing meals is detrimental to the cardiovascular system and is contributory to the escalation of atherosclerotic disease, high LDL cholesterol levels in the bloodstream and obesity.

Maintains High Energy Levels

Frequent meals in small amounts and the right types of carbohydrates and lean proteins provide more energy and stabilize your blood sugar and insulin levels. Eating small meals every 3 hours keeps the muscle’s glycogen levels high and provides plenty of energy to fuel high-intensity exercise.

Eating carbohydrates in small and regulated quantities regulates the release of insulin because the more carbohydrates you consume, the more insulin the pancreas produce. Overproduction of insulin removes sugar from the blood and causes hypoglycemia which cause fatigue, intense hunger and cravings.

Promotes Muscle Growth

Moderate and steady output of insulin is necessary for muscle growth and glycogen storage. The body’s regular and steady production of insulin to deliver glucose and protein amino acids to muscle cells for regeneration and muscle growth can only be accomplished by eating small meals more frequently instead of just 3 times a day.

Prevents Muscle Breakdown

Skipping meals to induce weight lose is a misconception. What it will do is burn up muscle protein; cutting off the continual flow of amino acids by skipping meals makes the body literally eat muscle tissue to feed its amino acid requirements because the body does not have the ability to store proteins.

Promotes Better Utilization of Food Nutrients

Eating more at regular intervals provides for more efficient utilization not only carbohydrates and proteins but also vitamins, minerals and virtually every nutrients food contain.

Reduces Fat Storage

Frequent meals prevents the over consumption of calories. Since excess calories are always converted into body fat, a more efficient metabolism brought about by eating small frequent meals ensures the efficient burning of food calories, regular and constant distribution of glycogen and amino acids throughout the body preventing the storage of body fat.

How Many Meals Daily

Nutritionists and doctors say that the human digestive system needs only 3 hours to digest each meal and that the proteins we get from those meals are retained in the bloodstream only for a maximum of 3 hours as well.

If you sleep 8 full hours daily, you have 16 waking hours. Divide this by the amount of time necessary to digest each meal (16 ÷ 3) and you get 5.33, the number of meals you must eat daily if you sleep 8 hours a day! Five meals daily therefore is the optimal number of times we must eat daily. Going beyond is taxing your metabolism because there would be one meal that is left undigested in your stomach!

Eating small amounts but frequent meals on a regular basis raises the performance level of your metabolism to its maximum level because it digests food completely and normalizes its working time to the maximum level. It make you burn more calories because the body’s natural calorie burning rate is accelerated.

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