Excess body weight in most cases is caused by an excess supply of adipose tissue, which is stored as a result of the chemical transformation of carbohydrates that enter the body. And although obesity is based on certain disturbances in the endocrine and digestive systems, the most comfortable and painless solution to the problem is still limiting the sources of excess calories in the daily eating process. By stopping or reducing the stomach's access to easily digestible carbohydrates using a no-carb diet, we automatically trigger a response to burn the accumulated reserves.
What is a no carb diet?
Based on a no-carb diet, athletes lose weight before competitions, artists on shooting nights, and public figures when they need to get in shape. Athletes also have a special term for such nutrition. It is called "drying" - by eliminating carbohydrates from the diet, subcutaneous fat deposits are removed and the relief and elasticity of ligaments and muscles improves. But life without carbohydrates is a difficult test for those with a sweet tooth, who are forced to change their taste preferences radically, and for quite a long time. It requires not only determination, but also patience and fair will.
There is also another side of the coin - the complete rejection of carbohydrates in favor of protein products causes a condition that nutritionists call the not entirely correct term carbophobia (literally "fear of carbohydrates"). Avoiding a single crumb of bread or a piece of sugar like fire, thinking about nothing but losing weight, sitting for months "on omelets and cut", fans of a diet without carbohydrates must "get" digestive and metabolic problems, insome cases are full of higher nervous system disorders, activity, memory loss, depression and sociopathy.
Long-term or continuous carbohydrate rejection causes a disturbance of the acid-base balance towards acidification of the body, which inevitably leads to a decrease in immunity and premature aging. Side effects of a prolonged low-carb diet are problems with the intestines, kidneys, arthritis, gout and other diseases.
Below we will look at some examples of carbohydrate-free diets and their use schemes, which allow you to normalize metabolic processes, get rid of excess weight and at the same time not go to extremes, pump the body to capacity with protein of animal origin with chemistry and energy far fromdangerous.
The biochemical and anatomical basis of a low-carbohydrate diet
The decisive argument for a low-carb diet is the peculiarity of the body's response to the entry of even a small amount of sugar into the stomach. The pancreas immediately begins to reflexively release insulin into the blood, and digestive enzymes into the stomach, which immediately increases appetite (that's why they say that appetite comes with eating). As a result, when we eat foods rich in carbohydrates, we almost always eat more than we objectively need. Protein foods do not have a seductive effect on the "pancreas", the production of hormones and enzymes goes smoothly, satiety occurs gradually and completely. Protein is broken down in the gastrointestinal tract longer than carbohydrates, so the feeling of fullness lasts for several hours, and the need for snacks does not arise if you have three or four protein meals a day.
Principle 250 kcal
Most likely, it is not possible to give up carbohydrates completely - simply because they are included in the protein meal even completely, even in minimal quantities. But this is not scary, the main thing is that the specified number of kilocalories of "carbohydrates" is not exceeded.
A low-carb diet does require willpower, but using it can be very disciplined. It is enough to remember a single number - 250. This is the number of energy units - calories, contained in the daily amount of carbohydrates that enter the body. Of course, we have to carefully weigh all dishes and calculate their energy value using tables or special notes on restaurant menus, but this is an almost unavoidable cost of any strict diet.
Monocarbohydrate diet: effective, but boring
An ideal low-carb diet for guaranteed and fast weight loss involves separate daily meals - on the first day of the diet you eat only chicken, on the second - only eggs, on the third - only cheese or cottage cheese. This is the fastest, but also the most "bland" and boring way to lose weight. Not everyone is ready for such sacrifices, so we will lose weight without fanaticism and combine business with pleasure - a healing effect with gastronomic pleasure, promised by delicious and healthy products based on animal and plant proteins.
By the way, the 250 calories of famous carbohydrates mentioned above per day should also be obtained not from bread and sweets, but harmoniously include complex carbohydrates (long to digest) in the diet - vegetables that are not rich in starch, cereals, unleavened whole. grain bread.
Basic ingredients of the menu without carbohydrates
Here is a list of protein foods that are meant for a protein diet:
- lean meat - chicken, turkey, rabbit, veal;
- offal - boiled heart and liver;
- duck, chicken, quail eggs;
- fillets of sea fish, crabs, shrimps, lobsters, sea cephalopods;
- dairy products - kefir, yogurt, grain cottage cheese, low-fat sour cream and hard cheese;
- leafy greens (cabbage), artichokes, green beans, beans, zucchini, onions, garlic, garden herbs. You can eat mushrooms, but with caution, because mushroom proteins differ from animals;
- sour berries and fruits, as well as avocado;
- nuts and seeds.
Meat and fish should be cooked by steaming, in the oven, or at most on the grill, but in no case in a pan or frying.
The correct diet does not include sausages, sausages and pates that contain many dubious additives based on carbohydrates and transgenic fats.
When choosing a feed supplier, you should give preference to farms where meat and dairy animals are kept in comfortable conditions and do not receive various growth hormones and antibiotics in their feed. You can not trust the price tag in the supermarket - if you are on a diet, carefully read the instructions on the packaging and first study the list of food additives, most of which are harmful to health, but are used in the manufacture of famous "healthy products".
Prohibited carbohydrates
Now about the main thing for every diet - what is prohibited. On a low-carb diet, the following are prohibited:
- bread, except unleavened whole grains;
- everything made from flour - pasta, pizza, pies, khachapuri, cakes, pastries;
- chocolate and confectionery;
- fruits and sweet and sour fruits;
- vegetables rich in starch (potatoes, carrots, corn, beets);
- semi-finished industrial products. No matter what the manufacturer writes on the packaging, they almost always contain additives and preservatives of carbohydrates, as well as genetically modified fats;
- fruit juices and carbonated drinks;
- alcohol in any form.
Confident carnivores will find it hard to resist a glass of red wine with their favorite steak, but here you have to choose: health or pleasure. Alcohol, in addition to its direct toxic effects on the body, is also a strong appetite stimulant and a relatively high-calorie product - the calories obtained with it can be safely added to 250 kcal which is the daily limit for a protein diet.
Menu for 7 days
Monday
- Breakfast - Cheesecake made from low-fat cottage cheese with bran.
- Lunch - Vegetable salad with herbs, 200 g chicken breast with herbs.
- Snack - Orange.
- Dinner - Turkey 100 g with boiled vegetables.
Tuesday
- Breakfast - Omelet with vegetable salad or boiled vegetables. Black tea without sugar.
- Lunch - Vegetable cream soup with pieces of turkey or chicken.
- Snack - Green apple.
- Dinner - Salmon baked in the oven.
Wednesday
- Breakfast - Muesli without sugar with milk and dried apricots or other dried fruits.
- Lunch - Bean soup with chicken breast.
- Snack - Almonds or other nuts (a handful).
- Dinner - Cherry tomato salad, arugula, canned tuna (1 can) and mozzarella.
Thursday
- Breakfast - Oats with water without sugar. One banana (can be chopped and added to oats).
- Lunch - Vegetable soup with beef balls.
- Snack - Orange or grapefruit, a glass of citrus juice.
- Dinner - Low-fat steamed fish.
Friday
- Breakfast - Mix 1 banana, a glass of fresh or defrosted pit cherries and a glass of milk. Mix in a blender.
- Lunch - chicken pilaf 200 g.
- Snack - Green tea with a piece of hard cheese.
- Dinner - Chicken or turkey with vegetable salad.
Saturday
- Breakfast - White omelette. Tea without sugar. 1 banana.
- Lunch - boiled chicken breast 100 g with brown rice.
- Snacks - Sandwiches made of unleavened bread, soft cheese, ham, lettuce and sliced tomatoes.
- Dinner - Stir-fry vegetables with meat. A glass of kefir or yogurt drink without sugar.
Sunday
- Breakfast - 1 boiled egg. Diet bread with hard cheese.
- Lunch - Cream soup of champignons or wild mushrooms. You can add ground turkey or chicken to the soup.
- Snack - An orange, a green apple or a handful of nuts.
- Dinner - Vegetable salad, 100 g of meat or fish baked in the oven.
Porridge for a low-carb diet
Porridge on water occupies the boundary position. When dieting without carbohydrates, it is recommended to include four types of grains on the menu:
| Nope. | Name | Protein content | Carbohydrate content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buckwheat | eleven% | 68% |
| 2 | Nuts | 21% | 50% |
| 3 | Oatmeal | 12% | 65% |
| 4 | Quinoa | 14% | 64% |
Porridge is especially useful in the interval between periods of active weight loss, when you need to restore the balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates in the body.
A dubious alternative: the keto diet In the United States, with its famous fast food culture, a very popular type of carbohydrate-free diet is the ketogenic diet, which allows you to eat large quantities of not only protein, but also animal fat. This scheme has supporters and detractors. The last main argument is the danger of fatty foods to the cardiovascular system, due to the deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels. It's hard to disagree with this.
Diet time and precautions
The effects of the diet begin to appear after two to three weeks; with strict daily separate meals, you can lose weight within a week of switching to protein. Limiting fast-digesting food will almost inevitably cause intestinal disorders - constipation, flatulence, due to a decrease in plant fiber content in food. When eating a meat menu or eating fish and seafood, you must drink at least two liters of liquid a day, eat soup, and if you have persistent constipation, take a mild laxative. After a month, to prevent the development of carbophobia, you should take a break - from two to four weeks. It will restore protein-carbohydrate balance and disturbed bowel movement. When taking a break from dieting, you don't need to bother: the diet should be balanced and strict, otherwise you will not only lose all your gains, but also gain extra fat, and you will have to start the fight against excess weight all over again.