How Does a Low Carb Diet Work? Here's Everything To Know

Low-carbohydrate diets limit your carbohydrate intake and it involves you eating up to 150 grams of carbs daily. There a number of low-carbohydrate plans you can follow, but you will need to supplement it with healthy, and moderate to high protein and fat. To better understand carbs, there are simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates.

The latter are considered as good carbs and are healthier. They will take a longer time to digest but provides sustained energy instead of a sugar rush. You can find these kinds of carbs in carrots, broccoli, quinoa, avocados and more. In a low-carbohydrate diet, you will eat foods that are unprocessed. You'd be surprised to learn that these diets can do more than just help you lose fat. Read on to find out more!

Suppresses hunger when dieting

When it comes to dieting, one major factor that could spoil your plans is hunger! In fact, it is the biggest reason why many dieters quit halfway as they are not able to eat the food they love. When you switch to a low carb diet instead, these foods will help reduce your appetite and food cravings.

Along with causes like emotional eating, sugary foods, processed foods and nutrient deficiencies, having too many carbohydrates in your diets, can cause you to overeat. Hence, you should find out how much carbohydrate is best for you, and stick to it.

When you start reducing your carbohydrate intake, you might need to wait up to two weeks to completely rid yourself of the cravings and get back to dieting properly.

Helps control insulin and blood sugar levels

Yes, you heard that right! A low- carbohydrate diet can help you manage Type 2 diabetes. When you consume carbohydrates, they are broken down into glucose (simple sugars) in your digestive tract. They will then enter your bloodstream and elevate your blood sugar levels. That is something that should not happen as high blood sugar levels can become toxic.

Normally, your body will respond by releasing a hormone called insulin, which instructs your cells to bring the glucose into the cells and to start storing or burning it. For healthy individuals, they usually have no problems minimizing the "spike" in blood sugar and prevent further harm.

People who are unhealthy may develop insulin resistance and it forces their pancreas to produce more insulin, which further contributes to a high blood insulin level. If you are keen on lowering your blood sugar levels, you will want eat a low-carbohydrate diet. However, it's pertinent that you check with your doctor before making any changes to your carbohydrates intake, if you are currently taking blood sugar lowering medication.

Lowers blood pressure and reduces risk level for hypertension

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a condition that puts you on a higher risk for a number of diseases such as kidney failure, stroke or heart disease. In this case, lowering the blood pressure comes with great pertinence, and low-carbohydrate diets are effective ways to do that. What's more, these types of diets are ideal if you have a weight problem.

As you already know, you reduce your insulin resistance by reducing your carbohydrate intake. It also reduces the activation of your sympathetic nervous system and allows your blood vessels to relax and dilate. This is also possible because of the increased production of nitric oxide and reduction of abnormal sodium retention from your kidneys.