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Low-Carb Diets,
explained
so what’s the deal with all of these
low-carb diets, like keto and Atkins?
THE PROS Many people who try a super-low-carb eating plan like the keto diet or the
Atkins diet have initial success losing weight or managing their blood sugars. And that’s
because these diets involve a lot of healthy choices. Eating healthy fats, gett ing adequate
protein, and cutt ing out processed carbohydrates, condiments, and fast food all of
these steps are good for you, says Lynch.
But it’s not the particular diet that’s responsible
for these changes. It’s the fact that you are creating
some rules around what you eat and following
them. “People cut out the high volumes of rice,
the granola bars, the sodas or energy drinks, and
they’ve cut out a lot of inflammation from those
foods. [Th ey have lower] insulin levels and they feel
bett er,” says Lynch.
Cutt ing out simple sugars and processed foods
is a healthy habit that does not need to be keto- or
carb-defined at all, says Lynch. “That’s generally
healthy eating. Th e problem is that generally healthy
eating is just not sexy. It’s just the most boring thing
ever, so it has to be packaged as something.”
THE CONS Turn to any number of blogs, Facebook posts, and forum threads, and
you’ll hear that extremely low-carb diets help PWDs, in particular those with type
2, keep their blood sugars stable. But on the research side, the evidence is mixed.
Most longer-term studies have found that, over a period of 12 months, PWDs who
followed generally healthy eating habits had outcomes that were just as good as those
who followed a very-low-carb diet (eating, for example, 50 g carbs per day) in terms
of weight loss, reducing A1C, and reducing fasting glucose.
Another downside? Extreme diets are very hard to follow for the long term. Later
in those same studies, a majority of people in the very-low-carb-diet groups went back
to eating the way they had before the studies. “Th e problem is that most people [try a
diet] because they’re looking for magic. Th ey’re looking for the quick snap of fi ngers.
Th en it all turns around again and they’re confused and frustrated,” says Smith. Lynch
agrees: “Th ere are so many emotions and associations that go into the way we eat.
When you just let all of that go and follow [someone else’s] plan that’s when we have
a hard time sticking with it.”
Th en there are the foods you’re avoiding. Beans, legumes, fruits, and whole grains
are not foods we need to banish from our diet. “What we know really clearly is that,
when we go low-carbohydrate, we are typically low in a lot of prett y important nutri-
ents potassium, fi ber, vitamin C, some of the B vitamins. We cut out a lot of things
that the body actually really needs to be healthy,” says Lynch. If you replace these foods
with more meat, eggs, butt er, and cheese, you also add more saturated fat to your diet,
which increases your risk of developing heart disease.
“We’ve become so carb-centric that people have learned, ‘Well, if I just reduce the
amount of carbs or get rid of them, I don’t have to take as much insulin and my blood
sugar doesn’t have as many big swings,’” says Smith. “But the bad part about that is the
reduction of a macronutrient that really is an important nutrient for us.”
If you really
want to
go keto ...
DO YOUR HOMEWORK
“Make sure you fully under-
stand what following the diet
entails,” says Smith. Read a
book, look online, take a look at
the actual meals and foods that
you will need to eat, and think
about the shopping and meal
prep you will need to do. “Some
people found that the keto diet,
while it gave them good blood
sugar, was really a pain in the
butt to follow,” she says.
GIVE YOURSELF TIME
If you do try a new diet, Smith
warns that it will take quite
a while to get used to it. “It’s
going to take about a month to
feel normal. Many people give
up on a habit within two to
three weeks, but you have to be
patient. You have to give it time.
But within the patience you
also have to have plans, because
this is going to be a change.”
BUDGET ACCORDINGLY
Eating fewer plant-based foods
and more meat and dairy foods
is expensive. Can you afford
it? Valentine works with many
people who are struggling to
aff ord enough food in the fi rst
place, so following a lower-carb
diet can be a challenge. “A lot of
people live on beans and rice
and potatoes,” she says. When
money is a factor, she suggests
two strategies: focusing on por-
tion size, and trying to swap in
some vegetables where you can.
“The problem is
that generally
healthy eating
is just not sexy.
It’s just the most
boring thing
ever, so it has to
be packaged as
something.”
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