by Abzerd Hazim

Created on: March 01, 2006   Last Updated: April 18, 2007

"Low-carb" food will give you a lower amount of carbohydrates, such as sugar (glucose) and starch (many glucose 'chain'). This is good, especially for diabetics because they do not have insulin in the body or the insulin they have do not utilize glucose so that it can be absorbed into the cells of the body to provide energy for its cellular activities. So, by having a low-carb diet, diabetics do not have to worry about dehydration. It is because, when they consume glucose, but does not utilize them, the glucose in the bloodsteam will be high or "very concentrated", causing water in the cells to move out, entering the blood stream and be excreted from the body via urine. This will then lead to dehydration.

For normal people, consuming excess carbohydrates is bad for health because excess carbohydrates will be converted into fats. And having excess fats in the body is unhealthy.

[but how do we get energy if we never consume glucose (carbohydrate)? Other food sources, which are high in protein, because proteins also provides energy!]

However, low-carb food does not mean that the food is good because it may contain other nutrients that are in excess. If, for example, the food is low in carbohydrate, but high in fats, it can lead to diseases such as heart attack and stroke. Because, food that are high in fats can lead you to having excess fats in the body. These (excess) fats will be deposited at blood vessels and block the movement of blood. Blood (mainly red blood cells) function to transport oxygen to cells in the body for its activity and survival. If movement of blood is blocked or less efficient, cells of the heart does not receive enough oxygen for it to work and it will stop working eventually. This will then lead to heart attack.

In conclusion, low-carb food is not necessarily good. To judge whether it is good, we must also consider the amount of other nutrients that it contains. And most importantly, HAVE A BALANCED DIET!

For more info about how to have a balanced diet, visit this site:
http://www.sambal.co.uk/diet.html

Thanks for reading!

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