Low Carbohydrates

Low carbohydrates have been shown to help control weight. But some diets that focus on low carbohydrates can be detrimental to your health.

Low Carbohydrates

Before you start on a low carb diet, make sure you know all the facts. While you really can lose weight on them, you also have to realize that there will be side effects. Some you can probably live with and even work around, but others are more serious.

Why Your Body Need Carbs

In addition, before starting on a low carb diet, you must understand that your body needs carbs. Carbs aren't the reason for weight gain. It's the kinds of carbs and the amounts that people eat that cause weight gain. It's seemingly inescapable too. You walk into it blindly, eating the same foods you've always eaten. But if you're eating the right kinds of carbs and controlling your portion sizes, you probably won't have a weight problem.

What do our bodies use carbs for? Carbs fuel the body with energy for your muscles, central nervous system and brain. In fact, carbs are the only way for your brain to get energy. Here's how our bodies turn carbs into energy: First, you eat. Then your body converts digestable carbs into glucose, which is the fuel our cells use. Some of the glucose is stored in the liver for future use by your muscles, cells, etc. But excess glucose is converted to fat. So that's one risk you run of eating too many carbs.

There are two classes of carbs--simple and complex. Simple carbs are turned to glucose by our bodies easily, and complex ones are converted to glucose slowly. The faster carbs are converted, the faster it converts to fat. In addition, if it takes longer for a carb to be converted to glucose, you feel full longer and don't experience sugar rushes followed by sugar crashes.

Choosing Foods that have Low Carbohydrates

Hopefully by now you've figured out that choosing the right kinds of carbs is essential to weight control. Most people only need 130 grams of carbs a day, but most of us eat a lot more than that, which leads to extra glucose, which is converted to fat. But since your body needs carbs, cutting down to 20 grams a day isn't really enough. What you want to do is choose foods with low carbohydrates . You're still cutting carbs, but not so drastically. You want to choose foods with low carbohydrates, sure, but you want those carbs to be complex carbs. If you decide to eat foods with low carbohydrates, stick with lean cuts of meat, vegetables, whole wheat or whole grain breads, long grain or brown rice, whole wheat pasta, whole grain cereals and oats. All of these foods are complex carbohydrates.

In the grocery store, you'll see foods that are labeled "low carbohydrates." But buyer beware--just like some of the foods marked "low fat," this could be a marketing ploy. Some foods have always been low in carbs or low in fats, but marketing gurus added that fact to the label in hopes that low carb dieters will buy. In addition, the FDA doesn't have strict rules about labeling, so if a food labeled as having low carbohydrates has 2.4 grams of carbs, the food manufacturer only legally has to list it as having 2 grams of carbs. A good rule of thumb is to stick to the outside aisles of the grocery store. That's where you'll find the healthiest foods--fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy. Then of course, you'll need some whole grains, and that's fine too.