Are low carb diets effective for fat loss?

By Synergy Clubs™ Mentor Team

High Carb foods

Many health professionals now believe that a low-carb diet (higher in fat and protein) is a much better option to treat obesity and other chronic diseases.

In the past years, an increasing number of studies have been challenging the low-fat dietary approach.

Here's how carbs work:

1. High-carb foods cause a rapid rise in blood sugar
2. This blood sugar causes the body to produce insulin which carries nutrients to cells
3. Our cells use this sugar for energy
4. If there's too much sugar, it is stored as fat

Supporters of low-carb diets believe that when you eat too many carbs, insulin becomes less effective at carrying sugar to the cells which results in more sugar being stored as fat.

However, Scientists aren't sure if this is true and some researchers believe that this insulin insensitivity is only true for people who eat too many calories in the first place. 

So what is 'low-carb'?

• The National Academy of Sciences recommends no less than 120 grams of carbs per day
• The recommended daily allowance (RDA) is 300 grams of carbs per 2000 calories (about 60% of total calories)
• Atkins initially recommends 20 grams per day (less than 5%)
• Protein Power recommends about 12-15% of calories should be carbs
• The Zone advises keeping carbs at 40% of total calories

While it is unclear which, if any, recommendation is right, recent studies in the New England Journal of Medicine report that participants who successfully followed low-carb plans for six months lost more weight than those who ate low-fat.

There's no question that people lose weight on low-carb diets, but are they safe? Is it possible to stick to them?

Low fat diets are based on the belief that eating fat causes you to gain fat and a whole host of other health problems. Typically, in order to lose weight on a low fat diet, the diet must also be calorie controlled.

Low carb diets are based on something called the glycemic index. The philosophy behind a carbohydrate controlled diet is that eating carbs brings about spikes in blood sugar, which causes your body to produce insulin. Insulin is the primary mechanism by which fat is ushered into and stored in your fat cells. 

If you can keep your body from producing much insulin, then it will be far less likely to store fat, instead using it as a fuel. When on a low carbohydrate diet, dieters also enter a state known as "ketosis," which helps to reduce hunger and stabilise energy levels. 

In this way, low carb diets are more about body chemistry than calorie control; however, detractors of low carb diets point out that the restriction of carbs leads to a restriction of calories and ultimately, low carb diets are merely calorie controlled diets.

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