Carbohydrates: Friend or Foe?

 

Carbohydrates have been the subject of many debates, especially when it comes to how they affect weight management and blood sugar levels. There are two types of carbohydrates, and each affects weight management and blood sugar levels differently.

• Complex carbohydrates include foods such as fruits, vegetables, grains (whole wheat flour, brown rice), beans, and soy products in their natural forms. These foods are rich in fiber that slows their absorption. Because of this, your blood sugar remains relatively constant.
• Simple carbohydrates such as sugar, white flour, white rice, and alcohol are absorbed quickly. This causes a rapid rise in your blood sugar which, in turn, causes your pancreas to secrete insulin to lower your blood sugar back to normal. However, insulin also accelerates the conversion of calories into triglycerides, which is how your body stores fat. To top it off, high triglyceride levels in the body are one of the greatest risk factors for heart disease.

High carbohydrate meals tend to leave you less satisfied than those that contain adequate fat levels; so you eat more and get hungrier sooner. If you find this hard to believe, think about how much pasta you can eat at lunch and then how hungry you are running to the vending machine for another 'carbo-fix' in the mid-afternoon. If the pasta you ate was really giving your body what it needed, you would stay full until dinner time. So the typical low-protein, low-fat meal leaves you eating more and hungry sooner.

So what should you do? Get off the insulin generating roller coaster of the low-fat diet and start cutting down on your carbohydrate consumption, especially the worst offenders: sugar, white flour and other simple carbohydrate-based products.

A Lo-Carb Diet will help you lose weight

You'll start to burn fat for energy: Since carbohydrates are the body's primary energy source, you'll rarely use your secondary energy source, you own body fat, for energy unless you restrict carbohydrate consumption. This offers a lifetime of body fat burning, which is the goal of most people trying to lose weight.

You won't feel hungry in between meals: The biggest battle that most people have with weight loss is the constant obsession with food (for example, if you've ever thought about dinner when you're eating lunch). Again, much of this is caused by blood sugar fluctuations that are aggravated by carbohydrate consumption (especially the refined kind). By cutting the carbs, you'll maintain a more even blood sugar level throughout the day. No more false hunger pains or mid-afternoon brain drains.

Your overall health will improve and you'll feel better: Many of the toxins you take into your body are stored in your fat cells. By getting your body to burn stored fat, you allow it to clean itself out. Combined with the benefits of stable blood sugar, the end result is that many common ailments you have been experiencing could well be alleviated. Fatigue, irritability, depression, headaches, and even many forms of joint and muscular pain simply go away.

Furthermore, you should see a significant improvement in your blood profile, (including cholesterol and blood pressure levels). All this leads to better health and well-being-- something all of us strive to bring into our lives.

The Proof behind the Lo-Carb Diet:

A lifetime nutritional philosophy, focusing on the consumption of nutrient-dense, unprocessed foods and vita-nutrient supplementation is the cornerstone of the treatment protocols for over 60,000 patients of The Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine in New York City.

The Atkins diet restricts processed/refined carbohydrates (which make up over 50% of many people's diets), such as high-sugar foods, breads, pasta, cereal, and starchy vegetables. Core vita-nutrient supplementation includes a full-spectrum multi-vitamin and an essential oils/fatty acid formula.

This lifetime nutritional philosophy has been embraced by an estimated 20 million people worldwide since the release of Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution in the 1970s.

Statements contained herein have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat and cure or prevent disease. Always consult with your professional health care provider before changing any medication.