Low-carbohydrate diets do work. People on low-carbohydrate diets are able to eat less and feel full and satisfied from the high-protein and high-fat foods that are allowed on low-carb diets. These diets have also been shown to lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
So why isn’t everybody going low-carb?
Conventional “Wisdom”
Meaning that knowledge base that doctors of today who went to medical school yesterday and yesteryear have in their doctor’s bags. Their knowledge is based on studies done in the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. It is old! After all, the Atkins Diet didn’t blast off until the 70’s and the South Beach Diet didn’t take off until well after that. Doctors, Dieticians and Nutritionists are all going to continue to tell us to eat lots of carbs, a little protein and very little fat. That’s why we’re all so darned hungry!
Conventional wisdom tells us that all that fat is unhealthy and will clog our arteries before we can lose enough weight to make a difference in our health. What it doesn’t tell us is that with a little bit of butter or olive oil and more protein, we actually feel satisfied much more quickly and don’t eat as much as we would if we were sitting down to a plate full of twigs and berries.
Conventional wisdom also assumes that low-carb dieters aren’t getting enough fiber. I’ve used both the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet and have to say that the amount of vegetables and whole grains required when following those diets properly provides more than enough fiber for one body to stay regular.
Conventional wisdom also tells us that low-carb diets don’t provide one with enough vitamins and minerals through regular consumption. Well, with soil depletion and modern farming methods, there just isn’t any way for use to eat healthy amounts of foods and get all the vitamins and minerals we need. Jump on into the new millennium, folks! If you aren’t taking a good multi-vitamin and mineral supplement as well as eating right then you’re just plain wrong! I don’t know of a low-carb diet that doesn’t recommend a multi-vitamin and mineral supplement. In fact, any doctors, dieticians or nutritionists that don’t recommend them have got to still be living in the stone age.
Conventional wisdom also tells us that dehydration is also a risk associated with low-carb dieting. Well, folks, dehydration is a risk of life in today’s world! Unless you carry a water bottle with you religiously throughout the day, you’re at risk for dehydration. It isn’t low-carb dieting that puts us at risk for dehydration. It is our ultra active lifestyles and the abundance of carbonated and super sugared soft drinks that is dehydrating us.
Conventional wisdom also tells us that we’ll become so lethargic on a low-carb diet that we won’t be able to get through the day. Well, if conventional wisdom took the time to see past day three of a low-carb diet, they’d see people with energy to spare! The fact of the matter is, once you get through all those stored carbohydrates in your system (and everybody has about three days’ worth), your body switches over to use fat (the kind you consume as well as the kind causing the dimples on your thighs) for fuel. I’m here to tell you that fat can really fuel a fire and give you plenty of energy to get through your day and then some.
The wisdom currently considered conventional is based upon outdated studies done decades ago.
Don’t be a sucker. Some people respond very well to low-carb diets and you may just be one of them.