With so many conflicting studies and vague interpretation of information, it’s not surprising that there is a lot of confusion when it comes to the value, safety and efficacy of low-carb diets. It seems like heated debates are everywhere!

Whether it’s the South Beach or Atkins, or some other low-carb plan, as many as 30 million Americans are following a low-carb diet.

Advocates contend that the high amount of carbohydrates in our diet has led to increasing problems with obesity, diabetes, and other health problems. Critics, on the other hand, attribute obesity and related health problems to over-consumption of calories from any source, and lack of physical activity. Critics also express concern that the lack of grains, fruits, and vegetables in low-carbohydrate diets may lead to deficiencies of some key nutrients, including fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, and several minerals.

Any diet, weather low or high in carbohydrate, can produce significant weight loss during the initial stages of the diet. But remember, the key to successful dieting is in being able to lose the weight permanently. Put another way, what does the scale show a year after going off the diet?

Let’s see if we can debunk some of the mystery about low-carb diets. Below, is a listing of some relevant points taken from recent studies and scientific literature. Please note there may be insufficient information available to answer all questions.

Differences Between Low-Carb Diets

There are many popular diets designed to lower carbohydrate consumption. Reducing total carbohydrate in the diet means that protein and fat will represent a proportionately greater amount of the total caloric intake.

Atkins and Protein Power diets restrict carbohydrate to a point where the body becomes ketogenic. Other low-carb diets like the Zone and Life Without Bread are less restrictive. Some, like Sugar Busters claim to eliminate only sugars and foods that elevate blood sugar levels excessively.

What We Know about Low-Carb Diets

Almost all of the studies to date have been small with a wide variety of research objectives. Carbohydrate, caloric intake, diet duration and participant characteristics varied greatly.

Most of the studies to date have two things in common: None of the studies had participants with a mean age over 53 and none of the controlled studies lasted longer than 90 days.

Information on older adults and long-term results are scarce. Many diet studies fail to monitor the amount of exercise, and therefore caloric expenditure, while participants are dieting. This helps to explain discrepancies between studies.

The weight loss on low-carb diets is a function of caloric restriction and diet duration, and not with reduced carbohydrate intake. This finding suggests that if you want to lose weight, you should eat fewer calories and do so over a long time period.

Little evidence exists on the long-range safety of low-carb diets. Despite the medical community concerns, no short-term adverse effects have been found on cholesterol, glucose, insulin and blood-pressure levels among participants on the diets. But, adverse effects may not show up because of the short period of the studies. Researchers note that losing weight typically leads to an improvement in these levels anyway, and this may offset an increase caused by a high fat diet. The long range weight change for low-carb and other types of diets is similar.

Most low-carb diets cause ketosis. Some of the potential consequences are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and confusion. During the initial phase of low-carb dieting some fatigue and constipation may be encountered. Generally, these symptoms dissipate quickly. Ketosis may also give the breath a fruity odor, somewhat like nail-polish remover (acetone).

Low-carb diets do not enable the consumption of more calories than other kinds of diets, as has been often reported. A calorie is a calorie and it doesn’t matter weather they come from carbohydrates or fat. Study discrepancies are likely the result of uncontrolled circumstances; i.e. diet participants that cheat on calorie consumption, calories burned during exercise, or any number of other factors. The drop-out rate for strict (i.e. less than 40 grams of CHO/day) low-carb diets is relatively high.

What Should You Do?

There are 3 important points I would like to re-emphasize:

1)The long-range success rate for low-carb and other types of diets is similar.

2) Despite their popularity, little information exists on the long-term efficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate diets.

3) Strict low-carb diets are usually not sustainable as a normal way of eating. Boredom usually overcomes willpower.

It is obvious after reviewing the topic, that more, well-designed and controlled studies are needed. There just isn’t a lot of good information available, especially concerning long-range effects. Strict low-carb diets produce ketosis which is an abnormal and potentially stressful metabolic state. Under some circumstances this might cause health related complications.

The diet you choose should be a blueprint for a lifetime of better eating, not just a quick weight loss plan to reach your weight goal. If you can’t see yourself eating the prescribed foods longer than a few days or a week, then chances are it’s not the right diet. To this end, following a moderately low fat diet with a healthy balance of fat, protein, carbohydrate and other nutrients is beneficial.

If you do decide to follow a low-carb plan, remember that certain dietary fats are associated with reduction of disease. Foods high in unsaturated fats that are free of trans-fatty acids such as olive oil, fish, flaxseeds, and nuts are preferred to fats from animal origins.

Even promoters of the Atkins diet now say people on their plan should limit the amount of red meat and saturated fat they eat. Atkins representatives are telling health professionals that only 20 percent of a dieter’s calories should come from saturated fat (i.e. meat, cheese, butter). This change comes as Atkins faces competition from other popular low-carb diets that call for less saturated fat, such as the South Beach diet plan. Low-carb dieting should not be considered as a license to gorge on red meat!

Another alternative to “strict” low-carb dieting would be to give up some of the bad carbohydrate foods but not “throw out the baby with the bath water”. In other words, foods high in processed sugar, snacks, and white bread would be avoided, but foods high in complex carbohydrates such as fruit, potatoes and whole grains, retained.

I am on a mission to educate women on why fad diet plans don’t work. I have seen too many women fall victim to the never ending stream of fad diet plans that come on the market and wants to change the way women look at how to lose weight fast.

I have seen it over and over and over again; women constantly on the lookout for the latest and greatest fad diet plan. They almost always result in the dreaded yo-yo weight gain cycle that actually causes women to gain more weight back than they originally lost!

I have the following advice for women who want to know how to lose weight fast in a safe and healthy manner.

1) One of the best ways to lose weight fast is to eat 4-6 small, nutritious meals throughout the day. Women are advised to ignore any fad diet plan which teaches anything different. The reason for eating 4-6 small, nutritious meals a day is to boost your metabolism. By eating small frequent meals daily your body has to burn more calories to digest these meals resulting in faster metabolism. This is an easy way to provide a little boost to your metabolism and burn more calories throughout the day. The more healthy food it consumes in small portions over the course of the day, the more fat is burned. Fad diet plans typically teach women to starve themselves which causes a great deal of damage to their metabolism.

2) You need to incorporate some lean protein into these 4-6 small, nutritious meals. The importance of adding protein is twofold. First, protein is a great nutrient that helps provide fullness and satiety. It will prevent you from getting hungry between meals and splurging or overeating. Second, protein has what is called a high thermic effect of food. Your body then requires more calories to be able to digest protein than it does for other nutrients such as carbohydrates and fat. This is another way to speed up your metabolism and burn more calories throughout the day.

3) Fad diet plans tend to focus on one particular food that women enjoy eating. A fad diet plan should not be followed if it advises to consume any one food such as grapefruit only as this will lead to eventual failure.

A quick short term solution is the answer with fad diet plans and many times this doesn’t even happen. To get permanent fat loss you have to make behavioral changes that you will follow all the time. Fad diet plans won’t teach you how to keep your fat off and this is why it results in eventual failure and the return of the weight you just lost.

One popular diet program nowadays is Slim Fast Diet Plan. It is a program that follows a very simple set of steps that starts from the personalization of your meal intake. The goal of this is to reduce calorie intake by controlling the portions eaten while trying to provide a good nutrition, too. A typical plan is mainly consist of Slim Fast Meals along with a regular but sensible meal and several healthy snacks. Slim Fast meals are usually nutritious bars or shakes.

The Slim Fast Diet Plan is composed of four parts: Replace, Combine, Dine and Snack. Replace means eating a breakfast that is different from your usual ones. The suggested breakfast meals are Slim Fast Optima Rich Chocolate Royale Shake, Slim Fast Optima Chocolate Chip Chewy Granola Meal Bar, Slim Fast Optima French Vanilla Shake or Slim Fast Optima Strawberry Cheesecake Meal Bar. Each of these contains a balanced nutrition of a regular meal and 2-5 grams of dietary fiber.

The combine part of the Slim Fast Diet Plan involves mixing Slim Fast diet meals to those foods which you enjoy. Note that only 200 calories of your favorite food can be added to a Slim Fast product. An example of this meal is Slim Fast Optima Shake plus half of a turkey sandwich.

The third part of the Slim Fast Diet Plan, on the other hand, is based on eating sensible meals. The plan includes a Portion Size Guide which will help you decide which food to eat. Ideally, a sensible meal should be ½ a plate of vegetables, ¼ lean source of protein, and ¼ whole grain starch. A dessert can be a serving of a fruit or salad. All in all, this meal should contain at least 500 amounts of calories.

The snack part is composed of portions of calorie-controlled healthy foods. Slim Fast Diet Plan suggests fruits and vegetables such as an apple, half a banana, half cup of grapes or small cup of fruit salad. One of these healthy foods is to be eaten with snacks such as a Slim Fast Optima bar, 1 mini bag of light popcorn, a Slim Fast Optima Muffin bar or an ounce of pretzels.

As you may notice, Slim Fast basically works by controlling your food intake. It limits your meals to what it calls the sensible meals. While this may work for a few people, this may not be enough for those who need a higher amount of calories. This, in turn, can render you unstable and miserable through out the times you would be undergoing this plan.

So why not try a diet program that guarantees a weight loss of 11 lbs. in 9 days but will not sacrifice your food intake? Fat Loss for Idiots promises such amount of weight loss even if it will let you eat meals regularly. It will only change a part of your eating habit which is expected to trigger the fat-burning capabilities of your body.

At a price which is way, way cheaper than how much Slim Fast Diet Plan costs, the result from Fat Loss for Idiots is much, much more positive and motivating.

Dieting web sites and dieting plans are so successful that it’s almost a given that anybody can find the perfect free dieting scheme on the internet. Free diet plans are, well, free – you don’t pay anything upfront. But many people don’t trust them having a good reason. The famed “cabbage soup diet” or the “3 days diet” are just two random examples of diet plans that will never work and can even be downright dangerous.

So how can you find a sound free diet plan? Is there any such a thing?

The keyword when you’re looking for a diet plan is common sense. Use your knowledge and your intuition to pick between the various diets, it’s not that hard. For example it would be a good thing to find out right from the start what the right amount of calories you need based on your current weight and daily activity. It’s worth noting that even if you are 100 lbs and a complete couch potato, you still need about 1300 calories per day just to stay alive and well.

For most of us, a good dieting plan would do nothing more than give some guidelines on what to eat to stay within the daily limits for calories. And any plan that attempts to tell you that 500 calories per day is good for you won’t help you at all.

After decades of dieting, many people have become more knowledgeable and it’s easier to say when we are eating something we shouldn’t. Any scheme, be it a free diet plan or one especially made for you by a dietician, will take into account that you will be faced with having to eat some no-so-healthy food sooner or later. You never know what will be on the menu at your cousin’s wedding party or at that very important dinner meeting with out of town customers.

The next very important thing is to find a diet that can accommodate your favorite foods, even if they are pork chops and fries. You won’t be able to diet and feel happy about it if you have to give up everything you like. Incorporating foods you like is beneficial in the long run and it will drastically decrease the danger of binge eating.

And another tricky part you have to take into account when you try a free diet plan is during the day you are most likely to eat. I am yet to find a person who likes to eat very early in the morning and needs to diet. Hey, maybe I’m on to something here!

A good diet plan will make the transition from a dedicated evening eater to a healthy morning eater seem easy and enjoyable. And the whole purpose of a diet plan is to make life and food enjoyable even when it’s served in small, healthy bites. Dieting is supposed to be fun, to make you feel happier, healthier and ready to try even more nice new things in your life!

Weight loss tips are everywhere nowadays. All you have to do is search the internet and you will find the next great weight loss tip. Some of the information is great and some of it is really bad. You like many others may be desperate to lose weight and the Devil knows this so he thought he would mess with your mind a little bit and give you his killer weight loss tips. Losing weight is an emotional effort and we have struggles, we get frustrated, we jump from one healthy weight loss diet to the next. We also try to focus on niche parts of our diet or weight loss thinking that this is going to be the cure to our weight problems. We think we have the problem solved and then up pops another mystery and we jump over to that problem. All we do is end up chasing weight loss techniques and never actually develop a solid nutritional foundation. So what the devil did was he turned the weight loss tips upside down. He figures you will jump from one strategy to the next without ever giving any of them a solid effort or actually develop any good healthy eating habits. If you were to follow the devils advice then he would want you to follow these “killer” weight loss tips. 1. Watch TV and sit on the couch a minimum of 5 hours a day. 2. Eat cakes and cookies 3x a day. 3. Eat fried food at every meal. 4. At every meal eat all carbohydrates. No lean lean protein or fat. Just carbohydrates all the time. 5. Eat late night high calorie desserts every night 7 nights a week. 6. Don’t exercise at all 7. Do as little activity as possible. The more activity you do the less likely you are to lose weight. Follow these “Killer” weight loss tips from the Devil and he says you will lose a lot of weight. I suggest you simply do the opposite of the devil’s weight loss tips. Sometimes we over think weight loss and forget many of the basics of an overall healthy thin body. Think simplicity and make sure you are doing the simple and foundational things when it comes to losing weight. You may surprise yourself and find that you lose weight. Following healthy eating guidelines is step 1 of losing weight. You will never permanently lose weight if you never develop your nutritional foundation. You will go from one strategy to the next. Another problem will appear and you will jump over to that after you have just fixed one problem. You will never actually achieve permanent weight loss. Master the solid nutritional principles that all weight loss has to be built on and then focus on problem areas or accelerating your weight loss. I just gave you seven principles above. What are they you ask? Do the opposite of what the Devil suggests above and you will be on your way to developing your own solid nutritional foundation.

It seems as if just about everyone has tried a diet or weight loss plan at one time or another – and it also seems that every time you turn around, there’s another new diet that promises results with very little effort. For example, there are and have been some crazy fad diets floating around…the popcorn & ice cream diet, the soup diet, the sardine diet, the hot dog diet, and now there’s…. the cookie diet !!!

Some popular diets today are: the South Beach diet, the Zone diet, the Atkins diet, Macrobiotics, Weight Watchers, Raw Foods, Life Choice….etc. and they promise to deliver – if you can stay with the program to the letter.

But the question is: do any of these diets really work ? If some of these popular, highly advertised diet plans do achieve the weight loss promised, why do so many dieters tend to re-gain their weight back, and more times than not, why do they eventually end up gaining back more weight than when they started on the diet?

From experience, I can tell you this : these diets are not made for everyone – if every person who wanted to lose weight all went on the same diet, it would work for some, and not for others. Everyone has a different metabolism, different systemic needs, different digestion – every person is an individual with a body system that is different in some way from every other person.

Popular diet plan promoters want you to believe that everyone who is really motivated to lose weight, should choose their special _____________( fill in the blank…) diet – and they will lose weight and succeed !!! And of course, they show you numerous “before and after” photos to convince you that their diet is the only one that really works, and that you too will soon be thin and attractive.

Many people have had success with low carb and other popular diets. On the other hand, many others fail on these diets, as not every diet is for every person. Some diet-educated people actually make up their own personalized diet and this works for them…but in most cases, losing weight requires guidance, discipline, and life style changes which a good diet guide or diet plan can provide.

So, if you need to lose weight, do some research and learn all that you can before starting on any diet. Look it up online and check out the successes – and the side effects… Consult your doctor and take the diet information with you and ask questions.

In my own experience with dieting I learned Rule # 1 about weight loss: If you take in more calories than you burn off every day, you will gain weight. If you burn off more calories than you take in, you will lose weight – sounds simple and it is, but even this rule has it’s own rules… a starvation diet of 1,000 calories a day will eventually put your system on “hold” – you won’t lose any more weight, as your body thinks it’s starving, and will “hold on” to any calorie it can get for survival. Eventually, you will eat – and gain.

I have personally found that a balanced daily diet combined with different forms of exercise up to 3 hours per week works best for me – but many people don’t have the time to exercise 2 to 3 hours or more…

As mentioned above, it’s best to do the research on any diet that you are interested in first, and then make an educated decision for yourself.

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