Changing your diet is a big decision, and rarely easy, but it is often necessary if you need to improve your health and transform your body. Too many Americans miss the fact that eating right isn’t just about losing weight and feeling great, it’s also about what happens inside your body.
Health starts from within. If you are one of the many people curious about the low carb diet and low carb food, now is the best time to learn about the real benefits of a low carb lifestyle and and how it can positively impact your body, inside and out.
Here are four ways a low carb diet will help you to be healthier:
Kills Your Appetite
If there is one thing that can sabotage any diet fast, it is hunger. If you constantly feel hungry while you are dieting, it is only a matter of time before you give in and begin binge eating. This means that you need to be on a diet that still allows you to eat, but also helps you lose weight. The low carb diet is a great choice because it is known for curbing your appetite. When you cut carbs from your diet and begin eating more protein and fat, the result is that you feel fuller faster. Protein takes longer to break down compared with refined carbs, and will help fuel you throughout the day. This allows you to actually eat less as a result. If you are looking to keep hunger at bay, the low carb diet is the way to go.
More Weight Loss
If you aspire to lose the most weight possible while you are dieting, many studies show that a low carb diet is the best option available next to caloric restriction. It is a diet that is known for helping you to lose abdominal weight or belly fat that can be difficult to get off through exercise alone. As you may know, belly fat is also an indicator of visceral fat issues (fat that wraps around your internal organs, which puts you at risk for a whole host of serious medical issues). If you are doing tons of sit ups daily without any real results, remember that bodies are built in the kitchen, not just the weight room, so give a low carb diet a try and you should begin to see more weight loss fast, especially in all of your trouble areas.
Reduce Risk of Heart Disease
In America, 1 in every 5 deaths is attributable to heart disease (nearly 700,000 people die of heart disease every year). A low carb diet could help to reduce that number according to a study published recently in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that overweight and obese individuals who consumed a higher-fat, lower-carbohydrate diet with fiber-rich foods had greater improvements in their cardiovascular disease risk factors compared to those who followed a lower-fat, higher-carbohydrate diet, even when replacing “healthy” whole grain carbs with higher-fat foods.
One piece of scientific evidence supporting a low carb diet reducing the risk of heart disease is the results of the Virta Health study. This study found that people with type 2 diabetes who followed a low carb diet lost weight, improved their blood sugar control, and reduced their risk of heart disease.
While these studies provide evidence that a low carb diet can be beneficial for people with heart disease or diabetes, it is important to note that more research is needed to confirm these findings.
Reduced Blood Sugar
The body turns carbs into sugar, and high blood sugar can lead to diabetes, which has the ability to wreak havoc on your health and lifestyle. If you adopt a low carb diet now, you may be able to avoid having to deal with diabetes in the future. If you already have Type 2 diabetes, reducing your carb intake will help you to gain control of your blood sugar levels without having to rely upon a lifetime of medication.
As a bonus, we’ll throw in a fifth way low carb diets can positively impact your health…
Lower Blood Pressure
Being overweight puts a lot of stress on the body, and the heart is no exception. High blood pressure can leave you at risk of heart disease, but with a low carb diet, it is possible to impact your blood pressure in a positive way and help it to go down. This can be a huge benefit to those who struggle with their blood pressure. You can expect to reduce 1 point from your blood pressure numbers for each extra pound you shed.
There are lots of benefits to being low carb, but as with all diets, you should consult your physician first in order to determine whether a low carbohydrate diet is a good option for your particular health needs. If you’re looking for some great low carb food options, check out our low carb store.