Other Benefits Low-carb diets that emphasize healthy sources of carbohydrates, fats and proteins can help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease. In fact, almost any diet that helps you lose excess weight can improve blood sugar and cholesterol levels, at least temporarily. It's perfectly healthy to follow a low-carb diet, as long as it includes a variety of nutritious, whole, and unprocessed foods. Low-carb diets can be good for heart health, as they can increase good cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure and triglyceride levels.
According to recent studies, a low-carb diet can even cause you to burn more calories than other diets. But RCTs for strict low-carb diets tend to show better results, compared to RCTs for more moderate or liberal low-carb diets. Following these foods will make it relatively easy to follow a moderate low-carb diet (less than 50 grams of net carbs per day) or even a strict low-carb diet, with less than 20 grams of net carbs per day. Recent guidelines from the American Diabetes Association have included low-carb eating as an option for treating this common condition.
On a strict low-carb diet, the liver produces ketones from fat metabolism, and those ketones become an effective fuel for the brain. A ketogenic diet is a common name for a very strict low-carb diet, which contains very few carbohydrates, usually below 20 grams of net carbs per day. Studies show that some people successfully lose weight on a low-carb diet, just as they do on a low-fat or Mediterranean-style diet. Studies have shown that low-carb diets are at least as effective, if not more, than other diets.
AbstractAlmost without exception, low-carb diets lead to greater short-term weight loss than low-fat diets. A low-carb diet pattern generally includes less than 26 percent of the daily calories from carbohydrates of less than 130 grams (g) per day for a 2,000-calorie diet. Another good option is to simply have a cup of coffee, as many people are less hungry on a low-carb diet and may not need breakfast.
