Low Carb Diet
A low carb diet, short for a low carbohydrate diet is a kind of food diet program that is geared towards shedding pounds by way of limiting the quantity of carbohydrates a person takes in on a regular basis. The low carb diet has developed from research studies that point to the high consumption of a number of specific carbohydrates as the cause for increased levels of blood insulin and the overexposure of insulin that is connected to the metabolic syndrome, which most clearly shows itself as excessive weight gain and leads to obesity.

Low carb diets limit carbohydrates such as sugars and starches that are digestible and they are replaced by foods that are higher in their amounts of proteins, fiber and/or good fats. The roots of the low carb diet date back as far as the paleolithic diet of early humans. The history of the low carbohydrate diet is rich and the first genuine low carb diets were believed to be two that came out of the 1960s, which included the Air Force Diet and the Drinking Man’s Diet.

The popularity of the low carb diet in today’s society is attributed to the work of Dr. Robert Atkins in 1972 that advocated the merits of a low carb diet when he published his book, “Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution.” The low carb diet plans Dr. Atkins detailed in his book were drawn from the thousands of patients he had treated for weight issues in the 1960s. Many people criticized Dr. Atkins no carb diet or low carb diet because they feel it is based on little research and that it has its share of risk factors in terms of espousing the virtues of eating excessive amounts of fat and protein while limiting carbohydrates. The mainstream medical community put forth the view that Dr. Atkin’s low carb diet and high protein low carb diet was misleading and dangerous and because of these views this type of diet lost much of its appeal at the time.

In the 1980s and 1990s the concern over increasing obesity levels fuelled the re-emergence in the popularity of the Atkins low carb diet and well-known celebrities endorsed much of this. The low carb diet continued to be popular in the late 1990s and into the early 2000s. One study showed that 18% of those dieting were doing so with the help of the Atkins low carb diet.

Low carbohydrate diets are closely connected to other diets such as the Zone Diet, the South Beach Diet and the Protein Power Lifeplan. Foods to not eat for low carb diets included greatly reducing the consumption of breads, pastas, potatoes, rice, desserts and any foods that are high in sweet or starchy content. The low carb diet recommends eating only 20 to 30 grams of net carbohydrates per day, which some medical professionals say is too low.