A few months ago, I read a book called " The Art and Science of Low-Carbohydrate Living . ”(Art and Science of Low-carb diets”)
The author of this book is two of the world's leading researchers on low-carb diets, Dr. Jeff S. Volek, nutritionist, and Dr. Stephen D. Phinney, a doctor medical.
These two guys have done a lot of practical research, and have treated thousands of patients with low-carb.
According to them, there are many other obstacles that appear during the application of this diet. And these obstacles can lead to side effects and make the treatment process not achieve optimal results.
To thoroughly apply the ketosis diet and get the best metabolic benefits from low-carb diets, cutting down on carb is not enough.
If you do not get the expected results with low-carb diets, you are likely to have one of the five common mistakes below:
1. Eat Too Many Carbs
There is no clear, precise definition of specific carb in low-carb diets.
Some people believe that eating less than 100-150gam carb / day in low-carb mode. This amount of carb is determined lower than the Western diet.
A lot of people also get amazing results with this carb, as long as they consume healthy carb through unrefined.
But if you use a ketosis diet, make sure your brain is provided with enough blood, make sure your body always gets enough energy, the level of carb consumption is a bit too much.
To find the right amount of carbohydrates for your body depends on many factors, but most people need to eat less than 50 grams per day to be able to apply the ketosis diet comprehensively.
This does not allow you to choose a variety of carb, except vegetables and some high-fiber and high-fiber fruits.
In short: If you want to officially apply ketosis diet and get the most optimal metabolic benefits, you should eat the amount of carb below 50g / day.
2. Eating Too Much Protein
Protein is a very important nutrient, but most people are not getting enough.
Protein can improve satiety and increase fat burning faster than other nutrients.
In general, eating more protein will help your body lose weight better and improve your body composition.
However, dieters on low-carb diets may eat a lot of peanut animal foods.
When you eat more protein than your body needs, some of the amino acids in proteins are converted into glucose through a process called gluconeogenesis.
This can become a problem for low-carb diets and ketosis diets, and prevents the body from participating in a comprehensive ketosis diet.
According to Dr. Volek and Phinney, a good low-carb diet is a low-carb, high-fat and medium-protein regimen.
The ratio of food to be directed is 1.5-2.0 grams per kilogram of weight, or 0.7-0.9 grams for 0.5kg weight.
Summary: Protein can be converted into glucose through a gluconeogenesis process and excessive protein consumption will prevent you from successfully applying a ketosis diet.
3. Fear of Fat
Most people take most of the calories from carbohydrates in the diet, especially sugar and cereals.
When you remove this energy from your diet, you must replace it with something or you will starve.
Unfortunately, some people believe that low-carb is a good idea, and if low-fat and low-carb will get better results. This is a big mistake.
You need to get energy from somewhere and if you don't eat starch, then you need to add fat to compensate. If not, you will feel hungry, tired and uncomfortable, even give up the plan.
There are no scientific reasons that make you afraid of fat. Just consume healthy fats such as monounsaturated, saturated, and Omega-3, and minimize vegetable oils and completely eliminate trans fats.
Personally, my fat intake fluctuates around 50-60% of the total calories when I maintain it in a low-carb plan. According to Volek and Phinney, fat accounts for about 70% of the total calories will bring better results.
To get healthy fats as stated above, you need to cut down on the fat of the meat and supplement your diet with healthy fats like butter, coconut oil, olive oil, lard (organic pigs) muscle).
In short: A low-carb diet needs a high fat content, otherwise you won't be able to get enough energy to maintain your daily activities.
4. No Additional Sodium
One of the main mechanisms behind low-carb diets is reducing insulin levels.
Insulin has many functions in the body, such as it causes fat cells to store fat, but does not require kidney to store sodium.
In low-carb diets, your insulin levels drop, and your body starts to discharge sodium and excess water out. This is why many people suffer from redness in the first few days of low-carb diets.
However, sodium is an electrolyte that plays an important role in the body, so when your kidneys discharge too much sodium your body will have problems.
And this is the main reason many people have side effects when applying low-carb diets such as eyebrows, dizziness, fatigue, headache and even constipation.
The best way to avoid these problems is to add sodium to your diet. You can do this by adding more salt to your food, or if it is still not enough, you can drink a cup of broth every day.
Personally, I often add a broth to a cup of hot water and drink like soup. This is really good and provides 2 grams of sodium per time. Or you can drink salted lemonade.
Bottom line: Low-carb diets lower insulin levels, causing the kidneys to excrete sodium from the body quickly, causing a sodium deficiency.
5. No Perseverance
Preferred designed body burns carb if it is available. Therefore, if carb is always available, it means the body will choose it as energy.
If you cut carbohydrates thoroughly, the body needs to switch to other energy sources, which are fat. Fat can either be taken from your diet or taken from stored fats.
Maybe your body will take a few days to get used to the new environment that prioritizes burning fat instead of carb. During this time you may feel a little uneasy.
In my experience, your body may take about 3-4 days to get used to, and acclimatization can take several weeks depending on each person.
Therefore, it is important to apply low-carb, you need to be very patient, and strictly apply this diet to the body to adapt to new diets and new metabolic activity.
Summary: It takes a few weeks for your body to fully adapt to a low-carb diet, so you need to be patient.
Message To You
I personally believe that low-carb diets can help us improve some health problems including obesity, type 2 diabetes. This problem has also been proven by science. However, just cutting each carb is not enough to get the optimal results.
