subject: 3 Most Popular Low Carb Diets [print this page] What are low carb diets? Diets are a food intake program or schedule which are made to achieve aims like weight loss, inch loss etc. The diets which usually prohibit or restrict carbohydrates for the purpose of weight loss are known as low carb diets. To do this, most of foods containing high carbohydrates are replaced with the foods which have high protein amount and high or low fat. Ever since the low carb trend started in 1990s, hundreds of diets have been introduced which all had one common factor, low carbs.
The theory behind these diets is that the insulin produced by our body, uses the sugar intake to provide energy. As soon as sugar is utilized, you become hungry again. Obviously people eat when they are hungry. So more sugar intake results in more insulin. What low carb diets do is that they limit the carbohydrate and hence sugar. As a result, body has to utilize the body fat to provide energy. This results in less fat and a lighter and healthier you.
The three most popular low carb diets are as follows. First, the Atkins diet. If you want to lose weight, it is nearly impossible that you wouldnt have heard of this diet. This diet program was designed by Dr. Atkins. In this diet, all the carbohydrates are restricted. Dr. Atkins restricted the total intake of carbohydrates to just 20 grams per day. You are encouraged to take foods which have high protein and low fat. In this diet, you are not allowed to whole grains, pasta, sugar, white bread etc. what you are encouraged to eat are foods like meat, fish, eggs, milk etc. which have high protein content. You are allowed to gradually increase the net amount of carbohydrates but still the maximum allowed is 100 net grams of carbohydrates per day.
The diet on the second place of popularity chart is the south beach diet. This diet plan was made by Dr. Arthur Agatston. The theory behind this diet is to replace bad carbs and bad fats by the fats and carbs which are good for our body. Therefore replace highly refined sugar and grains with fruits and vegetables. Similarly absolutely no trans-fats are allowed and saturated fats are allowed in restricted quantity. Instead opt for foods which have high content of unsaturated fats and omega 3 fatty acids.
The third place in the most popular low carb diets goes to Sonoma diet. It was developed by Connie Guttersen. It is a derivative form of the Mediterranean diet. This diet is mainly about controlling the portion size and planning your meals including the ten power foods which are whole grains, almonds, bell peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, grapes, spinach, blue berries, olive oil and strawberries. These are the 3 most popular low carb diets.
