A low-carbohydrate diet has been controversial for decades. Consider, for example, the South Palm beach diet and the Dr. Atkins diet. A low-carbohydrate diet or 'low-carbohydrate high-fat diet' is a diet with which you get a relatively large amount of energy from proteins and fat and little energy from carbohydrates. A low-carbohydrate diet provides 50 to a maximum of 130 grams of carbohydrates per day. We speak of a ketogenic diet if you take a maximum of 50 grams of carbohydrates per day, which is extremely low.
Some people claim that these diets increase cholesterol and cause heart disease due to their high fat content.
However, in most scientific studies, low-carbohydrate diets prove their value as healthy and beneficial.
Here are 10 proven health benefits of a low-carb or ketogenic diet.
A low-carbohydrate diet reduces appetite
Hunger is usually the worst side effect of a diet. It's one of the main reasons many people feel miserable and end up giving up.
However, eating low carbohydrates automatically leads to a reduction in appetite.
Studies consistently show that when people avoid carbohydrates and eat more proteins and fats, they end up taking in far fewer calories.
A low-carbohydrate diet will initially lead to more weight loss
Avoiding carbohydrates is one of the simplest and most effective ways to lose weight.
Studies show that people on a low-carbohydrate diet lose more and faster weight than those on a low-fat diet, even if the latter actively restrict calories.
This is because a low-carb diet will remove excess water from your body, lower insulin levels and lead to rapid weight loss in the first two weeks.
In studies comparing low-carb and low-fat diets, people who limit their carbohydrates sometimes lose 2-3 times as much weight - without feeling hungry.
A study in obese adults found a low-carbohydrate diet to be particularly effective for up to six months, compared to a conventional weight loss diet. After that, the difference in weight loss between diets was nil.
In a one-year study of 609 overweight adults who followed a low-fat or low-carbohydrate diet, both groups lost similar amounts of weight.
A larger part of the fat loss comes from your abdominal cavity
Not all fat in your body is the same.
Where the fat is stored determines how it affects your health and the risk of disease.
The two main types are subcutaneous fat, which is located under your skin, and visceral fat, which accumulates in your abdominal cavity and is typical of most overweight men.
Visceral fat tends to settle around the organs. Excess visceral fat has been linked to inflammation and insulin resistance - and can cause the metabolic dysfunction so common in the West today.
Low-carbohydrate diets are very effective in reducing this harmful belly fat. In fact, a higher proportion of obese people who lose fat on low-carb diets seem to come from the abdominal cavity.
Over time, this should lead to a drastically reduced risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
Triglycerides tend to drop dramatically
Triglycerides are fat molecules that circulate in your bloodstream.
It is known to have high fasting triglyceride levels in the blood after overnight fasting - are a strong risk factor for heart disease.
One of the leading causes of elevated triglycerides in sedentary people is carbohydrate consumption - especially the simple sugar fructose.
When people avoid carbohydrates, they tend to experience a very dramatic reduction in blood triglycerides.
On the other hand, low-fat diets often cause triglycerides to increase.
Increased levels of 'good' HDL cholesterol
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) is often referred to as the 'good' cholesterol.
The higher your HDL level compared to 'bad' LDL, the lower the risk of heart disease.
One of the best ways to increase "good" HDL levels is to eat fat - and a low-carb diet is high in fat.
Therefore, it is not surprising that HDL levels increase dramatically on healthy, low-carbohydrate diets, while they tend to increase only moderately or even decrease on low-fat diets.
Decreased blood sugar and insulin levels
Low-carbohydrate diets can also be particularly helpful for people with diabetes and insulin resistance, which affects millions of people worldwide.
Studies show that reducing carbohydrates drastically lowers blood sugar as well as insulin levels.
Some people with diabetes who are starting a low-carbohydrate diet may need to lower their insulin dosage by 50% almost immediately.
In one study in people with type 2 diabetes, 95% had reduced or eliminated their glucose-lowering medications within six months.
If you are on blood sugar medication, talk to your doctor before changing your carbohydrate intake, as your dosage may need to be adjusted to avoid hypoglycaemia.
May lower blood pressure
Elevated blood pressure or hypertension is a major risk factor for many diseases, including heart disease, stroke and kidney failure.
Low-carbohydrate diets are an effective way to lower blood pressure, which should reduce the risk of these diseases and help you live longer.
Effective against metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a condition strongly linked to your risk of diabetes and heart disease.
Metabolic syndrome is basically a collection of symptoms, including:
- Abdominal obesity
- Raised blood pressure
- Increased fasting blood sugar levels
- High triglycerides
- Low “good” HDL cholesterol levels
However, a low-carbohydrate diet is incredibly effective in treating all five of these symptoms. Under such a diet, these conditions are almost eliminated.
Improved 'bad' LDL cholesterol levels
People with high "bad" LDL are much more likely to have heart attacks.
However, the size of the particles is important. Smaller particles are linked to a higher risk of heart disease, while larger particles have been linked to a lower risk.
It turns out that low-carb diets increase the size of “bad” LDL particles, while decreasing the total number of LDL particles in your bloodstream.
As such, lowering your carbohydrate intake can improve heart health.
Therapeutic for various brain disorders
Your brain needs glucose because some parts of it can only burn this type of sugar. That is why the liver makes glucose from proteins when no carbohydrates enter.
Still, much of your brain can also burn ketones, which are formed during starvation or when carbohydrate intake is very low.
This is the mechanism behind the ketogenic diet, which has been used for decades to treat epilepsy in children who are unresponsive to medication.
In many cases, this diet can cure children with epilepsy. In one study, more than half of the children on a ketogenic diet experienced a greater than 50% reduction in their seizure rate, while 16% became seizure-free.
Conclusion
Few things are as well established in nutritional science as the immense health benefits of low-carb diets.
These diets can not only improve your cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar, but they also reduce your appetite, increase weight loss and lower triglycerides.
If you are curious about improving your health, one of these diets may be worth considering.
Sources include; Pubmed.gov (link), The new England Journal of medicine (link), Pubmed.gov (link), Pubmed.gov (link, link), JAMA (link), Nutrition and metobolism (link), nutrition center (link)
