Why Low Carb Diets Work
- Whether it's the Atkins diet, Hollywood diet or the Zone diet, low-carb weight loss programs have increased in popularity within the last decade. A low-carb diet operates off the principle that the less carbohydrates you ingest, the more the body will turn to fat storage to get its energy, rather than processing carbohydrates into energy.
- When you ingest carbohydrates, your body reacts to the carbohydrate intake by releasing insulin into the body. Insulin is a hormone that turns carbohydrates into blood glucose (blood sugar). Blood glucose can then be used to create energy for the body.
- Once the glucose has entered the blood stream, the tissue is activated to begin absorbing the glucose out of the blood and using it as a building block for energy. This is an important process, as too much sugar in the bloodstream for extended periods of time results in the damage seen with insulin related disorders such as diabetes. Unfortunately, at the same time, this process also turns off the need for the body to burn fat for energy, as much of its energy is easily obtained from the glucose.
- Once carbohydrates are cut down in the diet, less insulin is produced, as well as less glucose is present in the blood stream. Since the tissues of the body are no longer able to get all of their energy from the glucose, they must turn to other sources of energy in the body. One of the first places the body usually chooses is fat storage. These fat storage areas can then be burned to make up the difference in the lost glucose. The result is a greater levels of fat being burnt, leading to extra weight loss.
- Cutting carbohydrates completely from the diet is an overzealous mistake of many low-carbohydrate dieters. Carbohydrates are still an essential part of a diet, and should only be restricted, not eliminated. Removing too many carbohydrates from the diet may also cause the body to turn to muscle storage for energy, which can result in the loss of healthy body mass.
