Your Low-Carb Diet Questions Answered

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Q5. Low-carb diets seem to be full of bacon, red meat and eggs. Aren’t those foods high in fat and cholesterol?

When low-carbers severely restrict or cut out healthy carbohydrate foods, such as wholegrain breads and cereals, potatoes, fruit, vegetables and milk, there's not much left to eat other than meat, poultry, eggs and cheese - and larger servings are usually consumed.

These foods are generally high in fat (including artery-clogging saturated fat) as well as cholesterol and sodium. When eaten in excessive amounts, the risk for heart disease and a host of other ailments is generally increased. These potential ill-effects are likely to be made worse by any lack of fruit, vegetables and wholegrains, which provide protective nutrients and antioxidants.

Q6. If you really love your carbs, do you have to give them up to lose weight effectively?

It’s common for people to think they have to give up the foods they enjoy to lose weight. But this isn’t true. In fact, it’s wise to eat some of the foods you love, but there are tricks in doing so. For instance, if you love pasta, cut back on portion size and make up for the difference by topping it with veggies and low-fat protein. If you love bread, go for the high fibre or whole-grain varieties and, of course, use low-fat toppings. 

Watching overall calories and having a balance of healthy carbs, lean protein and healthy fats is a great dietary approach for most people. Deprivation of any food group – especially one you love – is just asking for failure.

Q7. Is there a healthy way to go low-carb?

If you cut carbs by restricting refined flours and sugary foods and drinks, but still include plenty of healthy carbohydrates such as wholegrains, fruits and vegetables, then going low-carb could be a healthy option. However, you still need to include at least 100g of carbs a day in your diet. Over time that amount should be gradually increased. If the diet restricts carbs to less than 100g per day, it’s not a healthy option.

To reframe the question… Is there a healthy way to diet? Yes. Increasing your physical activity, and watching calories and portion sizes, while including healthy and nutritious foods from all of the food groups is a healthy way to lose and maintain weight. You should do all of those things if you want your low-carb diet or any other diet to be successful in the long term.

Related articles :

• Carbohydrates and Diabetes: Breaking it down
• The CalorieKing Carbohydrate Guide
• The Carbohydrate, Fat and Protein Balance
• The Glycemic Index Explained

Last updated: August 2nd, 2006