LOW-CARB HIGH-PROTEIN DIETS

There is a lot of controversy over low-carb high-protein diets, but regardless of the proven detrimental effects that this style of dieting can create, they seem as popular as ever.

Ever since the unfortunate explosion of the Atkins’ diet, desperate dieters have been falling over themselves to jump on the LCHP (low-carb high-protein) bandwagon - in many cases this was literally true due to the nauseating side effect of the diet! Despite the Atkins’ diet, and its many successors, being attacked and berated as a serious risk to health by various medical authorities, they still continue to thrive.

Why is this?

Well, the various low-carb high-protein diets have managed to procure the valuable reputation as rapid weight-loss miracles. While there could be some truth to the claim that they do sometimes produce more noticeable results in a short period of time, they do this at the expense of a person’s health, vitality and oral hygiene.

Technically, LCHP diets are two different types of diet. Low-carb was the first to rear its ugly head and the first to attract bad publicity. High-protein sprung up as a result of this, the rename was clever rebranding by unscrupulous marketers and manufacturers that were seeing rapidly decreasing profits due to the low carb diets new found bad press. While there are very minor differences between the two, and they are so negligible as to be irrelevant. For that reason, I lump the two miscreants together.

So do they actually work? - Well here’s the theory behind them:

Low-carb diets are based on the premise that a diet very low in carbohydrate leads to a reduction in the body's insulin production, resulting in fat and protein (muscle) stores being used as its main energy source.

When the body is in ketosis, you tend to feel less hungry, and thus you're likely to eat less than you might otherwise, so there is a form of food limiting or starvation diet about the LCHP diet.

As mentioned, the body burns carbohydrates for energy, if you severely restrict your intake of carbs your body changes from a carbohydrate-burning engine into a fat-burning engine.

The theory is that instead if burning carbohydrates, as it normally would, your body will now start burning its fat stores and this will result in weight loss.

There are proven results from this method and indeed it has been a very popular form of dieting for many people, and during the height of its popularity the press went nuts for this new wondrous miracle diet.

Lots of Hollywood stars go on low-carb diets because they need to drop a dress size for a film - they don't do it for permanent weight loss or good health.

The reasoning behind the technical aspects of the LCHP diet is quite sound and there is likely to be some dramatic weight loss quite rapidly. But are they really telling the whole truth.