It seems to be not so long ago that the common weight loss plan was to count your calories in your diet or to reduce the fat in your diet as much as possible. When Atkins diet first appeared in the 1990s, it took the weight loss scene by storm with its novel approach of high fat and low carbohydrates in dieting. Further hype was created when many celebrities raved about it.



What many do not know is that this type of diet was already in existence one hundred years ago. This fellow, William Banting wrote in his book called "Letters on Corpulence" that having a diet high in fat result in weight loss. Following that during World War II, Dupont also suggested that having high fat and low carbohydrates in dieting could result in a fast effective weight loss.

So, is low carbohydrates in dieting the safe and effective way to lose weight?

Let examine the theory behind low carbohydrates in dieting. When you eat carbohydrates, the level of sugar in your body increases. This is due to the fact that carbohydrates are broken down into glucose in the digestive system. Then the body will release insulin in order to get the glucose to the cells where they are used as units of energy to be expended. When you do not expend all the excess energy, the body will store these excess as fats.

Food that you take which are high in fat and low in carbohydrates do not increase the sugar level in the bloodstream. What happens then is that the body do not release insulin and will break the fats down instead for use as energy. This is referred to as "benign dietary ketosis". When this happens, you may find yourself having some minor symptoms such as headaches, nausea, etc. Your urine might also change in appearance and odor.

Many people, however, think that these are small price to pay for an effective weight loss. However, is it really true that having low carbohydrates in dieting really works?

Studies all over the world have shown that it is true that weight loss through low carbohydrates in dieting is much faster compared to the rest of the diets. However these studies also indicate that after a year, this advantage had completely vanished and those who had discontinued the diets often find themselves gaining every pound that they initially lost. Furthermore, this type of diet is not easily sustainable and may lose its effectiveness in the long run.

Everyone wants to lose weight. By adopting only low carbohydrates in dieting can effectively help you lose a couple of pounds quick if you follow the diet strictly. But the real winner in the end is the one who can lose the weight and maintain their weight loss in the long run. What is the point if you lost 10 pounds in the first 2 weeks and gain another 20 pound back in the following year?