The Dangers of Following a Low Carb Diet Program

Most of the low carbohydrate and high protein diets promise rapid weight loss. In fact, the tagline for many of them seems to be some variation of "the pounds will melt right off of you!" It is certainly true that the beginning of a low carb/high protein diet will send the first few pounds almost flying off of you-the water weight and probably a few extra pounds-but these diets don't help you keep the weight from coming back. In fact, they practically guarantee that you will regain all of your lost weight!

There are plenty of reasons not to follow a low carb diet:

The amount of protein people need to eat while on this type of diet is usually high in fat, which is very unhealthy. The American Heart Association says that only ten to fifteen percent of our daily calorie intake should come from protein. These diets exceed this by quite a bit-with many of them having as much as half of their daily calories being protein based.

According to studies done by Johns Hopkins Hospital, this makes the body excrete calcium, which increases a person's risk of kidney failure and heart disease.

The simple truth is that the body gets a lot of its energy from carbohydrates. The body creates this energy by breaking down the carbohydrates into simple sugars and then using those sugars as fuel. When you don't consume enough carbohydrates, the body begins to raid its fat stores. The fat gets broken down into amino acids or ketones. When the body's ketone levels are too high, the kidney's end up working overtime trying to eliminate those ketones and puts the entire body under a large amount of stress. This is called Ketosis. Ketosis is one of the major causes of kidney stones.

In 2002 the University of Chicago did a study in which participants were put on a high protein/low carb diet for six weeks. The participants had a sharply elevated calcium excretion rate. This excess calcium can cause osteoperosis, kidney stones and a high acid load in the blood stream.

A diet low in carbohydrates can also cause constipation and other problems usually associated with a lack of fiber in the diet. This is because most of the foods that contain fiber also contain those forbidden carbohydrates. When people don't get enough fiber, they become prone to diverticulosis-a condition that causes the intestines to weaken and bulge outward.

Sure it is possible to lose some weight quickly while following a high protein/low carb diet, but you will also have less energy, poor moods and constant carbohydrate cravings. Some of the side effects can even be life threatening. What's more, as soon as you begin eating carbs again the weight will come right back-almost faster than you lost it.