About Low Carb Diets

What is a low carb diet?

What first is a normal diet? A normal diet is one which consists of, on the average, 60% carbohydrates, 10% protein, and 30% fat. Carbohydrates contribute a lot to a normal diet because it is easily converted to energy. This energy of course is used by body to perform its normal functions.

However, if the energy produced is not used up because of lack of physical activity and with the increase of food intake, the energy is stored as fat. Body fat takes form and size, and can be a source of discomfort.

A low carb diet is an allowance of food and drink in which carbohydrates provide no more than 50% of total calories. A normal diet would have 60% carbs on the average.

With the lowering of carbohydrates in the diet, it is expected that fat and protein levels would be higher.

Carbohydrates are restricted in this type of diets to make the body look for other energy sources. Because of this “starving”, the body targets and burns the fat stores.

Many diets have been developed in order to balance the energy equation with the goal of losing weight and or inches. Low calorie diets and low diet emerged in the past decades. Now the trend is going into Low carb diets.

Low carb diets such as the Northpole or Eskimo style diet and the Power Protein diet proposes to increase intakes of meat and other sources of protein than carbohydrates. The more popular and current diets patterned over the low carb diet are Atkins and South beach diets.

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