If you would like to eat fewer carbohydrates to lose weight, it is good to know how you can make the best start here. Below you will find the explanation if you want to start with a low-carbohydrate diet. That way you know what to look out for.
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The low-carb diet is low in carbohydrates. If you want to eat fewer carbohydrates, it is mainly carbohydrates from sugars and refined carbohydrates that you should exclude as much as possible. Instead, eat whole foods for your protein, fat and dietary fiber.
Studies have shown that low-carbohydrate diets induce weight loss while simultaneously improving health. This is measured by markers such as cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.
Low-carb diets have been followed and recommended by doctors for decades. The low-carb diet gained its fame with the Dr. Atkins diet which became the standard in dieting worldwide in the late 1990s. This was followed by many diets based on low-carbohydrate eating, for example attempting to address shortcomings from the original Dr. Atkins Diet Take Away.
Low-carbohydrate diets have in common that you eat fewer carbohydrates. In principle, you replace the carbohydrates with fats and vegetables. In addition, carbohydrates are partly replaced by proteins, but the main part will have to be replaced by fats. This feels strange to many people because in the past it was thought that you had to eat low-fat to lose weight.
If you want to start eating fewer carbohydrates, it is important that you know very well what you can and cannot eat. You can follow experts such as Oscar Helm, on this page he has written an extensive article about the low-carbohydrate diet. This is important because the low-carb diet is based on a number of principles that promote weight loss. If you do not follow these principles, you will lose weight less quickly or it may become too heavy to maintain the diet with the result that you will not reach your target weight.
As can be read in the article by diet expert Oscar Helm, one of those principles behind the low-carbohydrate diet is to lower insulin levels. When you have eaten carbohydrates, your blood sugar level rises and your body then produces insulin to be able to absorb the glucose from the blood. If the insulin levels in the blood are high, your body will store and retain fat. By eating less carbohydrates, the insulin levels are kept low and the body is able to burn fat.
Because of keeping the blood sugars low, it is also important to eat the right type of carbohydrates. Eating fewer carbohydrates alone is not 'enough'.
We can divide carbohydrates into 2 groups; the good and the bad carbohydrates. The good carbs are the type of carbs that break down slowly and release glucose into the bloodstream slowly. The bad carbohydrates are broken down quickly and cause a spike in blood sugars and thus in the production of insulin. Bad carbohydrates are added sugars and refined carbohydrates. There is therefore no place in a low-carbohydrate diet for soft drinks, white rice and products made from flour or flour such as pizza bases, white bread, biscuits and pastries.
In summary, you can eat the following carbohydrate sources:
Keep in mind that you also do not take too many carbohydrates from the above carbohydrate sources. Eating fewer carbohydrates still applies here too.
It is of course important not to eat sugar. The following carbohydrate sources contain fast carbohydrates and should be avoided:
Depending on how strict you want to follow a low-carbohydrate diet, you will need to eat between 50 and 150 grams of carbohydrates to lose weight. Eating fewer carbohydrates is also possible, but then you are no longer talking about a low-carbohydrate diet but about a ketogenic diet. With a ketogenic diet, you eat extremely high amounts of fats and extremely few carbohydrates, so that your body switches completely into fat burning mode. The disadvantage of a ketogenic diet is that you can smell out of your mouth and you can suffer from constipation due to a lack of dietary fiber in your diet.
As already indicated, with a low-carbohydrate diet, the intention is to eat more fats if you eat fewer carbohydrates. For the purpose of losing weight, in principle it does not matter what kind of fats you eat. You could lose weight on a low-carb diet of bacon and frikandels. You will understand that this is not really healthy. Losing weight already puts extra stress on your body and immune system and it is therefore extra important during weight loss to eat healthy so that your body gets all the essential nutrients. That is why healthy fatty acids are included in the better low-carbohydrate diets.
Responsible fats that you can eat during a low-carbohydrate diet are:
Vegetables play an important role in the low-carbohydrate diet. They are an important source of fiber that your body needs to remove waste products through the stool. They prevent you from getting constipated and they ensure that your stomach is filled. And the beauty of all this is that vegetables are very low in calories.
Vegetables are also very low in carbohydrates and the carbohydrates they contain are broken down slowly by the body and the other part is dietary fiber. Exceptions are beans and vegetables that grow underground, such as beetroot, parsnips, potatoes and carrots. These are high in starch and are best avoided, or at least eaten in moderation.
I have often written about eating fewer carbohydrates and various low-carbohydrate recipes. This is because I think it's a nice way to feel better about myself. I lose some weight, but at the same time I also feel a lot fitter because of this way of eating. If you want to try some of my recipes, check out these blogs to get fewer carbohydrates and still eat well:
Many people have positive experiences when they eat fewer carbohydrates. As I mentioned myself, they often feel fitter and more energetic † In addition, the need for (bad) snacks quickly decreases because the insulin levels remain low and there are only few people who feel hungry during a low-carbohydrate diet. You also read that there are people who benefit from a low-carbohydrate diet if they suffer from migraine .
In the first weeks you will not always see results on the scale if you eat fewer carbohydrates. So keep in mind that this can take a while and don't get demotivated by it. You can already feel the results from the second week, but even then the scales can still "fail". Hang in there, because from week three you will usually also see results in the number of kilos.
In the beginning it is best to eat a little more tired. Just remember that by eating fewer carbohydrates, your body has to make more effort to 'release' the energy. After all, the more carbohydrates you eat, the more energy is immediately available. Now your body has to learn to burn fats to get its energy and that takes some effort in the beginning.
Tiredness in the beginning is therefore not bad and even logical. Just keep in mind that you don't get so faint that it becomes dangerous. Drink plenty of water and tea (my favorite is Alka tea or just warm water with ginger and lemon).
Your body may need to wean off the carbohydrates and that will give you some headaches in the beginning. Drink plenty of water (or tea) to make sure everything is well drained.
Get some rest in the first days that you start eating less carbohydrates. Do you get a headache? Then you can really take some time for yourself to relax. So nice. After a few days, the (minor) headache should disappear on its own.
