That Health Rules

 Look around your friends when you have a party… almost everybody is not eating rice! Most are into the fad of the low carb diet…,mainly to lose weight. 

But how effective is it in making you lose weight?

Everybody swears it’s effective- but why and for how long? 

Several mechanism have been proposed:

1. Stored sugar in the body called glycogen contains water.  If you diet is low carb, you break down glycogen and in return loses water resulting in increase urination and weight loss.

2. If your intake is low carb, you break down fat as energy source which can lead to ketosis.  Ketone bodies in the blood then decrease ones appetite resulting in weight loss.

3.To replace carb in your diet, your fat and protein intake should increase.  A high fat- high protein food is more difficult to digest and therefore longer feeling of fullness.

The downside of a low carb diet is that foods marketed as low carb tend to have a higher fat content to replace the carb and usually replaces carb with sugar alcohols which can cause diarrhea and bloating.

Likewise in a recent study comparing a low carb versus a low fat diet published in the New England Journal of Medicine…the low carb resulted in faster short term ( less than 6 months) weight loss BUT no difference in weight loss was noted after one year on both diets.  Likewise many patients on both diets failed to follow the regimen after 1 year suggesting both diets are not easy to follow long term.

But overall…if you reduce the total amount of calories whatever diet regimen you’re on will lead to weight loss. To be successful in maintaining weight loss, it should be a diet regimen that you can follow long term. Restricting your calories drastically like a liquid diet or a grape fruit diet or just cabbage soup for several days will definitely make you lose weight faster BUT regain most of the weight once one consumes the regular meal.

You just can’t starve long term!

The success of ones diet regimen depends on the long term weight loss and whether you maintain that weight on a diet you can go on for the rest of your life.  If not… rethink and reconsider your diet!

A 7% to 10% weight loss is more than enough to reverse some of the metabolic abnormalities associated with obesity.  The most that one can lose from a balanced diet with regular exercise is 10% so aim for that amount.  Be realistic with your goal so as not to get disappointed.

Remember…

Losing Weight is a

Matter of Changing Your

Lifestyle!