Three Myths Behind Low-Carb Diets

Each day, more and more Americans are reaching the level of clinically obese. As the percentage of overweight adults continues to rise, new dieting techniques are created as a means to destroy that added fat quickly and with little effort by the dieter. Unfortunately, many of these diets result in quick weight loss that is often temporary and does little more than frustrate the dieter.

Contrary to what most weight-loss supplement ads would have you believe, there is an effective means of long-term weight loss out there. This diet, which has been around since the early 1970s, involves eating very few carbohydrates while consuming mostly meat and other high-protein food sources. Unfortunately, the low-carb Atkins diet has been lambasted by the media for its supposedly negative effect on overall health. Below, you will learn the three myths of low-carb dieting and why a high-protein, low-carb diet is a healthy and effective way of stimulating weight loss.

Myth #1: Low-carb diets are ineffective

When looking at whether a diet is ineffective or not, you have to consider what the definition of effective is. if you consider a good diet to be one in which you lose weight quickly, a low carb diet is especially effective. In fact, one of the hallmarks of the low-carb diet is the quick and effective way at which it sheds fat. This has been shown to be especially true in extremely obese individuals.

Defenders of a high carb diet would argue that once someone goes off a low-carb diet they begin to regain much of the weight they have lost, and this is true. However, regardless of the diet that you are on, if you do not maintain healthy eating habits after a diet has finished then you will regain much of the weight that you had lost.

Myth #2: Low carbohydrate diets are healthy

While this statement in itself is a myth, low-carb diets have the potential to be just as healthy as any other diet. One of the problems with most people who pursue a low-carb diet is that they feel that sense they are restricting their carbohydrate intake, they can consume whatever type of protein that they want. As a result of this, many low-carb dieters choose to eat an excessive amount of unhealthy, protein rich foods such as bacon and cheese. Both of these foods are very high in saturated fat and cholesterol, and therefore that they should always be consumed in moderation regardless of whether or not you're a diet.

Myth #3: Calories don't matter on a low-carb diet

One of the most unfortunate myths surrounding Atkins and other low-carb diets is that if you don't eat carbohydrates, then you don't need to worry about your caloric intake. When the low-carb diet was originally invented, proponents such as Dr. Atkins advise their clients to eat as much as they wanted because they were consuming more fat and would therefore feel fuller on less food. One of the problems with this advice is that it renders a low-carb diet ineffective to people who have trouble controlling their urge to eat. For this reason, advocates for the low-carb diet has begun recommending that dieters consume enough to stay full, but to always use some type of portion control.

A low-carb diet is an effective, time-tested means of both losing weight and keeping it off; however, just as with any other diet, you must not tried to bend the rules as the only person you're hurting if you do that is yourself.