There are diets for everything out there. But how many of them actually work? If you’ve tried any sort of diet before, you probably realize that even though they’re “good for you,” or so you’ve heard, most of them are just not sustainable and many diets we hear about do not even have any scientific data to back them up.
Now, if you’re a type 2 diabetic I’m sure you’ve heard of the low carb diet or the ketogenic diet. This diet, as stated in it’s name, requires a person to eat an extremely low amount of carbohydrates. The American Diabetes Association states that, “carbohydrates are the primary nutrient affecting glycaemic control in people with diabetes.” So, according to that statement, …show more content…
1) What exactly is a Low Carbohydrate Diet?
Specifically, the definition of a low carb diet is inconsistent. A recent meta-analysis defined a low carb diet as one that has less than 45% of the total energy intake (TEI) from carbohydrates. Others argue that such an intake is too high and advocate very low-carbohydrate ketogenic diets of roughly less than 50 grams per day of carbohydrates (or 10% of TEI for a 2000 kcal diet.) 2) What to eat instead of Carbs? If a person is to stop eating carbs, he or she must obviously replace it with something else. This leaves two categories in the macronutrient department. Fat and protein. However, increasing protein intake too much can lead to many problems, some of these problems involving your kidneys as it increases the load on them. And really, protein isn’t a great energy source. One gram of protein contains 4 calories, whereas one gram of fat contains 9 calories. That means a person would have to eat more than twice the protein compared to fat in order to meet the necessary caloric needs he or she may …show more content…
Well the studies in the recent meta-analysis on low carb dieting recommends that people try to get their calories from monounsaturated fat instead of saturated. So if you’re curious as to which foods monounsaturated fat can be found in, monounsaturated fat can be found in many nuts such as cashews or macadamia nuts or almonds and they can even be found in most oils like olive oil or avocado oil or sesame oil. There are many more sources out there of monounsaturated available too so you won’t be too bored with it any time