Healthy Low Carb Diets and Calorie Consumption
About 32 million Americans are estimated to be following a certain type of low carbohydrate diet. This supports the fact that hundreds of healthy low carb diets are out in the market, newspapers and health magazines especially in the internet. Most of these followers believe the claims of fad diet authors that carbohydrate consumption is the main cause of America’s increasing problems of obesity.
Carbohydrates have been back lashed since the 1980’s resulting to the healthy low carb diets craze. The food manufacturers figured out that in order for the public consumer to continue patronizing their products even with the cut down on their fat food intake is to create processed food product with low carb content. The “fat-free” signs on the processed food products blinded the Americans from the fact that even though the products claimed to be free of fat they are not free of calorie. This resulted to the slow increase of the total amount of calories daily. Although the total percentage of calories that came from fat decreased but the actual fat intake amounted to an increase of 10% each year since the year 1975. Carbohydrate intake has also increased at the rate of 20% every year mostly from the results of highly processed food products.
An American is now producing an estimated amount of 3800 calories even with healthy low carb diets available everywhere. The people evolved from a world of famine to a world of feast. It may be that we are in a state of perpetual feast but our bodies haven’t changed to make defenses against calories. Approximately 300,000 to 400,000 fatalities in the United States are caused by obesity problems.
The lowest rates of obesity and heart diseases in the world are from the Middle Eastern and Asian populations. These populations are consuming 50% to 70% of their calorie intake from rice. Mediterranean people are also into healthy low carb diets. They don’t have the common problems which are usually found in the United States. Their diets are mostly fish, low in meat and poultry, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, nuts and legumes. Although the fat intake of Mediterranean people are as high as those in the United States, but the difference is the type of fat used by these people are usually monounsaturated fats such as canola and olive oil while Americans are used to saturated animal fats.
There are hundreds of healthy low carb diets and when you are following one of them regardless of the advantages and disadvantages, always be reminded of the three recommended steps in maintaining good health while you are on course with that certain diet. The fist step is to be smart when choosing your fat intake, opt to unsaturated fats rather than unhealthy saturated fats. Second is to eat fresh fruits and vegetables although some low carb diets especially in the first phase may restrict consumptions of these foods. But then later it will be allowed again but it will require limited intake of them. Third is to avoid having easy snacks or convenient food instead prefer having to eat whole foods in your diet. Remember that your health should always be top priority than any other diets in the world.
