Cutting out entire food groups such as carbohydrates from your diet is believed by many to be "very dangerous". In the case of carbohydrates being removed from the diet, the "danger" is in the supposed lack of fiber that remains in the diet.
Now obviously if you have Celiac Disease then you need to avoid gluten at all costs. But there are many other carbs that don't have gluten in them and many people are removing carbs to try and lose weight, which works... but you need to be careful and replace the fiber with other foods to make sure your gut works properly.
Fiber is extremely important to keep your digestive tract working correctly and therefore, keeping YOU healthy. Fiber also provides a protective effect towards bowel cancer and a reduced risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes and weight gain. There are two types of fiber, soluble and insoluble. Examples of soluble fiber are oats, nuts, beans and fruit and insoluble fiber comes in the form of bran, skins of fruit and seeds.
If you are considering adopting a low carb diet, then you need to know that essentially what is left to eat is protein, fat, fruit and vegetables. It is really really important to eat as many vegetables as you can.Once you remove carbohydrates from the diet then your gut bacteria start to live off the amino acids that make up proteins, however, this produces other compounds that are considered more toxic than beneficial. So you really need to look after your gut bacteria.
Eating fermented foods such as Kimchi and sauerkraut are a great help. These are called prebiotic foods and also include bananas, asparagus, pulses and brown rice, which are highly beneficial to your gut bacteria.
You really need to be eating as much as 10 portions a day of vegetables. In comparison, you don't need as much protein to reap the benefits protein has to offer. But with vegetables the more the better as they will basically be your only source of fiber.
I believe there is a happy medium. Learn to love your vegetables. I know that many people don't like vegetables, but try new recipes, be creative... they don't all need to be just boiled! Eat protein for breakfast (with vegetables even if it is just grilled tomatoes), have protein with vegetables for lunch and in the evening, if you are trying to lose weight, then have just vegetables. Here there is NO LIMIT to the amount of vegetables you can eat. Some mornings you can have a bowl of fruit, but the whole fruit never as juice.
What are vegetables?
Cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, salad greens, tomatoes (yes, it's a fruit but for the sake of sanity we'll include it here), and for the same reason as tomatoes, we'll include avocados here too, leeks, artichokes, asparagus, peppers, Brussel's sprouts, courgettes, endives, cucumber, runner beans, pumpkin, aubergines, mushrooms, celery, chard... etc...Root vegetables such as potatoes, parsnips, and carrots, etc are basically a no no as they are very high in sugars.
I quite often eat the left over vegetables from dinner the night before for breakfast the next day! Once you get used to the idea and start reaping the benefits of a low carb diet, then you might just find it easy.
The benefits of a low carb diet go beyond simple weight loss. Low carb diets also improve brain function, increase levels of HDL or "good" cholesterol and improve the pattern of LDL or "bad" cholesterol, reduce blood sugar and insulin levels (which means major health improvements for people with type 2 diabetes), reduction in blood pressure and they STOP you feeling hungry.
I can help you improve your health. If you would like to make an appointment with me either in person or via Skype, just send me an email to lucycarr@socialnutrition.com
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