Low carb - the next diet fad or a dietary revolution?
Diet fads come and go, and the latest to come along is low carb, or keto, diet – the modern day successors to the Atkins Diet. So after the South Beach Diet, Cabbage Soup Diet or simply the low cal diet, what’s the hype all about?
Proponents of low carb believes it improves vitality, burns fat and, it’s reported, can reverse Type 2 diabetes. But far from being an extreme regime, low carb is actually easy to follow and healthy.The science behind the theory tells us that the body burns carbohydrates first, so when there are more consumed than burned it stores them as fat. When carb supplies are depleted however, the body turns straight to burning fat because there are no carbs to use.
That may be a simplistic explanation as nutritionists would argue that the body needs carbohydrates for energy and fibre and that a truly low carb diet would leave the body weak and dehydrated.After decades of choosing low calorie, low fat options this is, for some, a radical option – high fat is acceptable because fat, we’re told, keeps us fuller longer so although we may eat more fat we’ll, overall, eat less which leaves us in calorie deficit and so we lose weight. But for some the goal is not only to lose weight but to loose fat, two potentially contradictory goals.For Joe Wicks, aka The Body Coach, ditching the calorie counting and prioritising fat burning has made him a name, and no doubt fortune, in an industry where less fat, more muscle is the holy grail. “The body digests and metabolises energy from nuts, olives and avocados very differently to the energy given from biscuits, fried food and fizzy drinks” he says. Which is why, apparently, we should concentrate on eating the foods that give us energy to burn fat. And, which he claims, along with a solid exercise routine will leave us all less fat and more healthy.
A BBC documentary to be shown this week, goes further. It claims that a simple test using a cracker biscuit can determine how much carbohydrate a person should eat. Because, it claims, some people have bodies which are less efficient at processing carbohydrates which leaves them susceptible to weight gain or, at worst, diabetes. But it doesn’t demonise the carb, it also says that carbs in moderation are fine and that ‘bad’ carbs – processed foods and bread – can even be turned into ‘better’ denser carbs through cooking. So not all carbs are bad. In fact they provide the mainstay of energy for the body and there are three types – starch, sugar and fibre. Starch occurs in things like potatoes, rice and pasta. Starch and sugar provide glucose and are used for energy or, here we go again, are stored as fat. Which, millennia ago, was good to have when times were lean. But times are not lean in 21st century Britain so we should all be aware.
It’s clear then that beyond the vanities of getting leaner, low carb diets provide true health benefits that we’d be wise not to ignore. And it’s less of a challenge than in Atkins days as low carb diets mean you can eat vegetables – they’re a source of carbohydrate but fibre too – so you won’t be facing a plate of fried food for every meal.
