by Phillip Osborn

Created on: March 03, 2009

Do Low Carbohydrate Diets Really Work?

The obesity epidemic continues to rise, and people have turned to numerous quick fixes to loose weight. This has contributed to the massive marketing outbreak of diet pills, weight loss supplements, gimmicky exercise equipment, and fad diets, most of which prey upon the desperation of overweight individuals. With the drastic increase in faulty health and fitness product sales, many Americans have wasted millions of dollars in attempts to loose weight, only to be disappointed by trickery and failure. It has been proven though, that a consistently healthy diet substantially contributes to ideal body weight. With its introduction, the low-carb diet craze gained a reputation of being a healthy way to eat, and the "secret" of weight loss. Americans stormed health food and grocery stores, stocking up on every low-carb diet product available, and some people were actually loosing weight! Over five years later, obesity is at its all time high in the United States. Weight problems are now contributing to some of the top causes of health-related deaths including heart disease, diabetes, and stroke. So, what happened? Many people gained the weight back, some even more. They had difficulty staying on the diet because they felt weak, shaky, and even disoriented at times. Some diets even fed the misconception that limiting ones carbohydrate intake gives him/her the privilege to eat excessive amounts of fat to compensate. These are not the characteristics of a healthy diet.

The good news is that the theories implemented in some of these fad diets do hold some legitimacy, and may actually help you loose weight. The concept of moderately limiting carbohydrates to loose fat has been implemented for years before its mainstream introduction. Bodybuilders, fitness competitors, and athletes use these techniques to obtain optimal weight and physique, but without sacrifice of lean tissue. Preserving muscle is one of the best ways to ensure an efficient metabolism, and a person who retains more lean tissue burns an immense amount of calories when compared to a less muscular individual. It is common for these lower carb plans to include an increased amount of protein to maintain muscle, yet an extreme limitation of essential carbohydrates forces the body to break down its own tissue for energy, including lean muscle tissue. A person may loose weight initially, but at the expense of ultimately lowering his/her actual metabolism due to muscular atrophy

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