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About Healthy Diets |
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In terms of books sold, perhaps the Atkins diet is the most successful of the modern age. It obviously would not be so successful if it did not work and work quickly. However, there are several cons as well as pros to the Atkins Diet, and we shall compare it to the Go-Carb Diet (good old carbohydrate diet), and give you the opportunity to chose for yourself. Due to the notoriety of celebrities using the Atkins diet, and the promotion of the book itself, it has become very well known and widely practiced, at least for a while. The advantages claimed over a Go-Carb diet are: •Not all carbohydrates are disallowed. For example, those rich in dietary fiber are allowed as the fiber is not... |
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Get Well and Feel Great with Special Diets |
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A healthy lifestyle refers to a healthy diet… There are several perceptions of a true diet. Over years, weight-loss programs and food replacement have been in demand for the people who are frustrated to have ideal size of body. Being sexy is beautiful as they say. Diet could mean different things to different people. Some prefer to have diet simply to go with the flow of the trend and others want to lose weight. Whatever your reasons are, never fail to examine your eating habits before going on a special diet. When you pursue your diet you have to make the necessary adjustments prescribed on your diet plan. It does not mean that when you are on diet you are prohibited to eat the foods... |
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Why You Should Personalize Your Diet |
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For the best diet results, you need a personalized diet that you can stick to. Maybe your aiming to shape up, or to improve your fitness and health, no matter what you want to achieve the best way to achieve it is with a diet that is designed for you - to suit your tastes, habits, and lifestyle. A personalized diet plan can be obtained from a multitude of sources. Provided you have no major health problems and your trying to lose weight (as opposed to lowering cholesterol which will probably require a more specialised diet) then one of the many diets offered by the major fitness and diet gurus will do the job perfectly. Just pick the diet that best suits you. Advice can also be... |
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"Cookie Cutter" Low Carb Diet Plans Explained
Author:
Jenny Mathers
"Cookie Cutter" Low Carb Diet Plans Explained
by Jenny Mathers
Most diet plans, including low carb diet plans are best taken with a grain of salt, because although one may work for your best friend, it may not work for you. For those with serious weight problems and have co-existing issues such as hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar levels) or like some of us hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar levels) etc., the popular diet plans usually will not be able to cater to individual needs.
We are all individuals and as such we need to feed ourselves as individuals, having said this some diet plans will be more beneficial for the general population that others.
To assess which particular diet plan will be beneficial, you can follow these guidelines. They are very much common sense points, and provide a good framework which many nutrition professionals would broadly follow, and within which you can divide the scammy diet plans from those that can offer you safe and healthy diet ideas.
- Diet offers sufficient balance and a variety of carbohydrates, protein and fats.
- Diet does not exclude one particular food group, and encourage excessive consumption of another.
- Diet encourages exercise to complement sensible eating habits.
- Diet encourages awareness of portion sizes.
- Diet does not encourage unrealistic quick weight loss.
- Diet is backed up with medical research data.
In addition to these points, I've broadly outlined the low carb diet plans, which seem to be occupying the minds of dieters and researchers alike, as well as the research for and against pertinent to the low carb diet plans.
Low Carb Diets
A lot of the diet plans these days center around the low carb diet plans. These low carb diet plans are considered by some diet fads, others consider it the new wave in healthy eating. Diets such as The New Atkins Diet Revolution maintain that obese people are insulin sensitive and carbohydrates make them gain weight. Low carb diet plans such as The Zone lay down specific proportion of carbohydrates, protein and fats that should be consumed in order to lose weight and while fats are reduced, the main source of energy comes from the consumption of protein.
Low carb diet plans such as Sugar Busters, believe that sugar is your body’s most heinous weight loss enemy and since carbohydrates are the foods that are processed into sugars – carbohydrates should be limited. The Scarsdale Diet also is a low carb, high protein diet and offers a 2 week crash dieting plan.
Popular diets such as the South Beach Diet and the Carbohydrate Addicts Diet are also low carb diet plans that have become popular with dieters who have tried and failed at the Atkins diet. All these diets see themselves as the worlds answer to the obesity problem.
To be fair, there are significant and many research papers that support and argue against the low carb revolution, as yet the wider medical community has not fully made it’s mind up as to whether the diets are something that is favourable in the long term.
Recent research by Layman et. al., and Saris have found that the low carb and high protein diets provide little benefit to dieters. Researchers found that when protein was moderately increased and carbohydrates proportionately decreased, insulin levels stabilised but no significant weight was lost. Saris in his review concluded that it is probable that a low carb, high fat diet will increase the likelihood of weight gain.
While there is a lot of evidence against the low carb philosophy, there is also a lot of evidence to support it. Research published in May, 2004, found that when patients on a low carb diet were compared with patients on a low fat diet, those patients who had consumed a low carb diet had a greater weight loss, decreased triglyceride levels and increased levels of HDL's - in other words their cholesterol levels had improved. To put the icing on the cake research has just been published to support the long term efficacy of eating a low carb diet.
Despite the evidence to support low carb diet plans, mainstream medicine still does not recommend them. The main points of contention with the low carb, high protein diets is that they don’t offer balance and variety and could prove dangerous for people at risk of heart disease. Particularly with low carb diet plans such as the scarsdale diet, they are not realistic and cannot be maintained in the long term causing yo-yo dieting and no one wants that !
References:
Wim HM Saris Sugars, energy metabolism, and body weight control Am J Clin Nutr 78: 850S-857S
Donald K. Layman, Harn Shiue, Carl Sather, Donna J. Erickson and Jamie Baum Increased Dietary Protein Modifies Glucose and Insulin Homeostasis in Adult Women during Weight Loss Nutrition.org
Yamashita T, Sasahara T, Pomeroy SE, Collier G, Nestel PJ. Arterial compliance, blood pressure, plasma leptin, and plasma lipids in women are improved with weight reduction equally with a meat-based diet and a plant-based diet. Metabolism. 1998 Nov;47(11):1308-14.
Yancy WS Jr, Olsen MK, Guyton JR, Bakst RP, Westman EC. A low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diet versus a low-fat diet to treat obesity and hyperlipidemia: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2004 May 18;140(10):769-77.
Copyright © 2004 Jenny Mathers. All Rights Reserved.
About the Author
Want more great ideas about which foods to eat and which to avoid ? Research fat burning foods at Savvy Fat Burning Foods
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A Quick Note
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I have been seriously working on losing weight for about 2 1/2 months and many people have asked me what I am doing to be so successful. I reply, “The 3 W’s for weight loss!” Of course they don’t know what the 3 W’s of weight loss are so I quickly tell them, “Walking, Water, and Weight Watchers.” I know this isn’t a formula that will work for everyone but it sure is working for me! Water is an essential fluid needed by everyone, walking is an excellent form of exercise, and Weight Watchers is a world renowned weight loss organization that has helped millions of people lose weight and keep it off for good. Walking:
Walking is a feel good calorie burning exercise that most of us have been doing for the majority of our lives. Other than a good pair of walking shoes and comfortable clothing, it doesn’t require any other equipment, so the price it right! But the most impressive thing about walking is the health benefits it provides. Walking is easy on joints and actually eases back pain in some people. It has the ability to lower blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels, reduce the risk of diabetes and heart disease, build muscle and strengthen bones, and of course it leads to weight loss! Try to walk at least 10,000 steps each day! I have lost 24 1/2 pounds so far but aside from the weight loss, walking daily allows me to mentally unwind and I feel that it lowers my stress levels. The funny thing is that the more I walk, the more my body and mind seem to crave it. Walking has become a very healthy habit for me Water:
A recent study indicated that after drinking 17oz. of water, both men and women experienced a 30% increase in their metabolic rate that lasted for about 40 minutes. A few months ago, I quit drinking soda and replaced it with water. I... |
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