South Beach Diet & Other Weight Loss

Marjorie Salada asked:


There are many diets on the market today that call themselves low-carb diets, but which ones are healthy. That is what is important. You may lose weight on all of them, but some of these low-carb diets are also high in fat and that is not necessarily good either. The best kind of low-carb diet is one that is balanced. You are not looking to eliminate all carbs, but you want to stick mostly with the whole and unprocessed carbohydrates.

You should have about 5 servings of carbohydrates per day and if possible, you want get them from foods that are as close to natural as possible. Here are a few suggestions for making healthy choices on a low-carb diet:

1.Legumes-they are a great choice for a carbohydrate serving. Beans, peas and peanuts are all examples of legumes. Legumes are high in protein and fiber. They are also low in fat and very economically priced.

2.Select whole grain foods-this is not always easy, because so many foods today are highly processed. Look for foods that list a whole grain as the first ingredient on the ingredients list. Whole grains are usually high in fiber, low in sugar and they also keep your blood-sugar levels more even.

3.Try to eat more soy products-Unfortunately soy is not known for its taste, but soy products have a lot of nutritional value. Most low-carb diets do not allow soy products, because they do contain carbohydrates. The nutritional value of soy far outweighs any negative impact that its carbs may have. Soy is high in protein and has been known to reduce the risks of cancer and heart disease.

Here are some foods that are normally limited on most low-carb diets, but they are natural and can be eaten within reason:

1.Fruits-they are low in calories and high in vitamins and fiber making them a healthy choice. They have a natural sweetness that can be used to satisfy that craving to eat sugary foods. However, not all fruits are created equal. Some do have more sugar than should be consumed on a low-carb diet.

2.Leafy green and non-starchy vegetables-They are full of vitamins and a healthy choice at any time.

The things that you will want to limit as much as possible are refined sugars and carbohydrates. They add calories to your diet and do not have much nutritional value. These bad carbs come in the form of breads, pastas and starchy vegetables. These food products do not do anything for you nutritionally and they cause your blood sugar levels to be very inconsistent.

Low-carb diets are very healthy as long as you do not load them with high fat protein. Like any other weight loss plan, this one is all about the choices you make and how well you can make it fit into your lifestyle.

Jerry Leung asked:


There are plenty of dieting plans you can choose from. There are some diets which can be categorized as low carb diets. There are people who have tried them and said that they really work. As a result, you may also want to try one of such dieting plans. However, the question here is whether such dieting plans are suitable for you.

First of all, let us discuss what a low carb diet is. In fact, it is a diet that tries to cut down the consumption of carbohydrates. You may wonder how the reduction in the consumption of them can help you to lose weight. In fact, they are one of the most important sources of our body energy. Yet, if they are not used up, they will be converted to fat and stored in our body. This will certainly lead to weight gain.

As mentioned, there are a lot of diets which can be categorized as low carb diets. And it is very true that they are some people who can lose weight successfully with such kind of diet. However, it may not be really good for your health in some cases.

There are some diets which require to totally cut the consumption of carbohydrates. You will probably think that this can be a good idea since you will not get fat easily if you can cut them. However, I can tell you that it is not really easy to cut the consumption of carbs. You will have a feeling that something is missed if you have meals without carbohydrates.

Of course you will still say that you will be able to do so if you have the determination. Yes determination is always the most important if you would like to lose weight successfully. However, the point is that if you do not consume carbohydrates, you may not have the energy for metabolism and it will in turn hinder the process of fat burning. This will in fact affect your weight loss plan. As a result, you should be careful before you adapt a diet which does not allow you to eat things such as pasta and rice.

In fact, there can be some good low carb diets. As you may probably know, things such as candy and chips can be loaded with them. You may really want to avoid these foods when you are trying to lose weight. This will become a good diet. At the end of the day it seems that there is no point to cut the consumption of pasta and rice if you are not eating too much!