Low Carbohydrate Diet (LCD)

Not all carbohydrates are created equally, the sugar form of carbohydrates are “empty calories”, meaning you get little to no nutritional value from them. Unlike fiber that provides health benefits and helps you stay satiated between meals to prevent you from overeating. Carbohydrates found in sugary foods, pasta, and bread will increase your blood sugar levels which results in an increase in the fat-storing hormone, insulin. To decrease insulin in your body the pancreas, which produces insulin, must be “reset”. When carbohydrate consumption is limited, less insulin is produced and stored as fat. This is why the low-carb diet is known to be very effective for losing weight and reversing certain diseases like type 2 diabetes.

Different types of LCD based on the carbohydrate (CHO) content:

There is also the Paleo diet, which does not claim to be a LCD because it doesn’t have any guidelines on the number of carbs you can have per day. But since it eliminates grains and sugar, it naturally decreases carb intake. The Paleo diet is intended to be a long-term lifestyle change, rather than a diet like Atkins 20, Atkins 40, and Keto. By adjusting your eating habits and mimicking what people in the Stone Ages ate, you naturally eliminate most high-carb foods. The big difference in the Paleo diet compared to some of the other low-carb diets is that Paleo still allows for starchy vegetables and high-glycemic fruits. While this diet may not help someone lose a large amount of weight, it does improve glucose tolerance and improves appetite management.

• The LCD has many desirable benefits like rapid weight loss, disease prevention and treatment, and improved mental clarity, making practically anyone a part of the target population.
• Broadly Low CHO diet improves health with prevention of illness, improvement of health, and management of chronic metabolic illnesses.
• Excess CHO intake is the primary driving force behind the current epidemic of Metabolic syndrome, affecting more than one-third of the US adult population
• Metabolic syndrome is characterized by High blood pressure, increased waist circumference, high fasting blood glucose, and abnormal lipid profile ( high triglycerides and/or low HDL level)
• These risk factors substantially increase the risk of the development of cardiovascular disease, stroke, and diabetes.
• A low CHO diet is an effective tool for improving Metabolic syndrome and even reversing some of the long-term damage related to this condition.
• Persistent high carb intake leads to high glucose levels due to the body’s inability to continue to adapt to such dietary changes with increased insulin production. This in conjunction with the failure of insulin to act effectively in cellular uptake of glucose lead to High blood glucose levels.
• High blood glucose, known as hyperglycemia (Prediabetes and Type 2 diabetics) greatly benefit from being on a low carb diet because it helps improve the body’s response to insulin (Insulin sensitization). Over time, this decreases blood sugar and insulin levels, improving metabolic syndrome.
• Another disease showing improvement and potential reversal is what’s commonly referred to as Fatty liver disease, technically known as Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease ( NAFLD or NASH). High insulin levels related to hyperglycemia lead to excess deposition of fat in liver cells, which in some patients lead to liver damage and development of liver scarring, commonly known as Cirrhosis. In fact NAFLD/NASH has now become the most common cause for cirrhosis in the adult US population, and the reason for liver transplantation.
• By reducing CHO intake, low glucose levels lead to decreased circulating insulin, higher insulin sensitivity, and reduced fat deposition in the liver and other soft organs ( visceral fat) thus improving the metabolic syndrome
• A strict low-carb diet is targeted at people who are obese and need to lose a substantial amount of weight. Liberal and moderate LCDs are very livable for the long term due to not having to count calories and still being able to eat out at a restaurant. This is a great advantage of a long-term low carb diet compared to other diets.
• LCD had shown improvement in patients suffering from polycystic ovarian syndrome ( PCOS). Obesity and high glucose levels lead to high insulin levels, which is related to high androgen levels and features of PCOS with infertility and irregular menstrual cycles.