Do Low Carb Diets Actually Work?

By now just about everyone has heard of the term low carb. How can you possibly avoid it? There's been more written about the evil carbohydrate and low carb diets than you could shake a stick at. There is no debate when it comes to their popularity, but that's not why you're here.

You want to know if low carb diets really work or not.

The premise of the low carb diet is pretty simple. If you restrict the amount of carbohydrates going into your body, it will run out of sugars to burn for energy and will have to start burning fat. And if it is using fat as its primary fuel source, it will leave your body that much faster.

As far as weight loss goes...yes, low carb diets do work. You can lose a bunch of weight relatively quickly. But the story doesn't end there. Maintaining a low carb diet can be extremely difficult, and many who try don't make it very far. Your brain likes to run primarily on glucose, and when carbohydrates are severely restricted, some pretty foggy times might lie ahead.

I know my wife was about three days into a very low carb diet and actually shut the door of our minivan on her finger. No word of a lie! She was way out of it.

There may be other pitfalls too:

It's not known whether eating large amounts of saturated fat (as in the Atkins's diet) will later increase cholesterol levels, or cause a greater incidence of prostate or other cancers.
It's not clear whether high protein diets jeopardize bone health or not, since excess consumption of animal protein causes excretion of calcium in urine.
It is known that a lack of carbohydrates makes it difficult to exercise - especially in higher intensity or longer duration aerobic activities. These activities are beneficial in preventing and treating heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, arthritis, and some forms of cancer, and in weight and stress management.
It's uncertain if high protein diets cause kidney damage. Common sense tells us that the kidneys work harder to excrete excess fluid lost on a high protein diet, but it's not known yet if this translates into disease. What about people who are in the early stages of kidney disease and don't know it? Perhaps a high protein diet may in fact be harmful to them.

Personally, I tend to question any "diet" designed to benefit your health that won't even permit you to eat an apple. Yes, with many low carb diets you can't eat fruit. So, try one if you must. But please proceed with caution, and keep in mind that there are better options available.

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