High Protein- Low Carb Diet – Going Against the Grain
Is the food pyramid causing obesity?
Diets high in protein and low in carbohydrates go against the government’s food pyramid which advocate more grains and foods like rice – whose got it right?
It’s common in our society today for people to consume diets high in carbs but lacking in adequate levels of protein. This can lead to obesity which is becoming more and more of a problem in our culture every day.
Not only is obesity and diabetes on the rise with adults but also with kids – our children are overweight and set in their dietary patterns before they’re even adults.
The American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and the National Cholesterol Education Program recommend the opposite of the high protein and low carb diets. These organizations recommend only a small percentage of calories to come from protein sources. Proteins are nutrients that are important for the building of tissues, as well as the maintenance and repair of such. Dr. Atkins went against this with his low carb and high protein diet saying our obsession with carbohydrates was causing obesity rather than fatty foods.
So there is the argument but who is right?
Well, certainly diets in high carbohydrates are causing obesity so we haven’t exactly get that right with our food base. The fact is protein is essential and should be a part of most meals but the right kind of protein.
What’s the Right Kind of Protein and Fats?
Lean meat remains the best source of protein – our ancestors, who were hunters, were not overweight and consumed flesh as there primary source of energy. Avoiding red meat was advocated by the health organization because it contained fat and why would you eat fat if you were trying to get rid of it? The problem stems from how the meat was produced and what the fat contained. Profits for farmers was increased by feeding livestock with cheap grans and injecting hormones to fatten them quicker and antibiotics to keep them healthy.
Unfortunately, all this tampering with live stocks natural habits and physiology produces meat containing contaminated fats and means we consume the chemicals injected into the animals. Not good. One answer is to eat meat from livestock raised naturally such as grass-feed beef.
Avoid vegetable fats as they are not natural and highly processed, and avoid any fats containing trans fatty acids. Trans fats have been linked to heart attacks, strokes, and cancer.
How Do These Types of Diets Work?
When carbohydrates are drastically reduced in an individual’s diet as compared to the typical diet consumed by Americans then the metabolism of the body changes. It metamorphoses into a state known as ketosis. What this means is that the body uses its own fat to burn as energy and fuel.
Someone who is in the ketosis state is receiving their energy from ketones. Ketones are small carbon fragments that are the fuel for the body that is created due to the breakdown of fat stores. A person in ketosis will not feel as hungry and therefore will not eat as much.
What has happened in essence is that the high protein-low carb diet has turned the body from a carb-burning engine into a fat- burning one. The fat stores you already have on your belly, hips and thighs will then turn into a primary energy source. This sounds like heaven for somebody who wants to lose weight.
What Does This All Mean?
You shouldn’t avoid carbohydrates altogether and in fact some low carbs diet can be frankly boring to many so you’ll need to research and find one that works for you.Here are some recommendations:
The first is Dr Sear’s High Speed Weight Loss in 7 Easy steps. His approach is very low carb and may not appeal to everyone but he has some worthwhile information in this book that can be easily adapted.
If eating a high protein diet does not appeal to you, then you may be better off with my other recommendation.
The second person I would recommend is Isabel Del Rios. Many people are totally confused about what healthy eating is – there are contradictions even within the medical community so by the time it gets filtered down to us, it is no wonder we are confused!
One of the major reason there is so much confusion is that in truth, different people need different plans. The first part of Del Rios’ solution is to check how YOUR body process proteins and carbohydrates. You see you may have been doing all the ‘right’ things but instead you have been walking the wrong path. More details on her program can be found at her Diet Solution site here.
So whose got it right?
Well, we continue to discover and uncover things in the healthy eating category, and we do know not one diet fits all but we can see the evidence ourselves the food pyramid has not produced a healthy nation of adults or children. Avoiding protein and consuming lots of carbohydrates is not the diet we were born to consume.
For my family and what I advocate to my weight loss clients is a modified high protein – low carb diet that suits their palate and budget and individual needs.
We cover all this information here in our six session weight loss hypnosis in Massachusetts class and you can find out more details about our next local group weight loss session here.
Erika Slater, CH
Free At Last Hypnosis
erika@smoke-free-at-last.com
www.smoke-free-at-last.com
508-529-2490
Filed Under: Weight Loss
