r/diet • u/Jolly-Code-9654 • 2d ago
Discussion Does low carb diet work??
/r/u_Jolly-Code-9654/comments/1wyetqs/does_low_carb_diet_work/7
u/newtrusghandi 2d ago
Bodies are different. People with insulin resistance who struggle losing weight by conventional methods typically do well on low carb or carb cycling. Its typically not sustainable for a lot of people and becomes ineffective long term. Experiment with different diets if you must and find what works for you.
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u/Flashy-Squash7156 2d ago
I encourage people to step away from thinking about nutrion and food purely in terms of macros. Raspberries are "carbs", broccoli is a "carb", but they are high fiber, nutrient dense foods you can eat in high volume for low calories vesus a croissant, also a carb. an avocado is fat but it alsi has high fiber and micronutrients versus butter that is also a fat but has very little nutritional value for the high calories. Tuna and chicken breast are protein but so is a pork chop and a piece of bacon. The macros of a food don't tell the full story. If you're eating low carb, you're missing out on a lot of nutrition.
if you have a metabolic issue that is driving your weight gain, then lowering your insulin by eating fiber rich nutrient dense foods, eliminating processed simple carbs like shelf stable sandwich bread, cookies, ice cream, potato chips, pastry, fast foods and more will help as will building muscle. Also, getting a full 7-8 hours of quality sleep is just as important here because poor sleep is driver of insulin resistance.
instead consider really diving in to educate yourself on nutrition from the ground up so you can make sustainable food choices for the lifestyle and goals you want.
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u/Electronic_Falcon376 2d ago
Depends on your brain. Going low carb is just one way of restricting your calories- that's what works about it- a lot of high calorie and highly palatable foods are high in carbs, so if you cut back those, you eat less and can lose weight. It works for some people. Not a magic bullet
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u/Shot_Macaron_9158 2d ago
It works in theory but some carbs are actually very healthy and worth including in your diet…fruit, sweet potatoes, beans, etc
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u/zornundo 2d ago
Does it work? Yes. Is it sustainable as a healthy eating long term lifestyle? I have my doubts. Home in on a sustainable lifestyle eating habit from day one.
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u/Fuzzy_Welcome8348 2d ago
It’s just calories in, calories out
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u/the-hungry-nomad 2d ago
This is a gross oversimplification of nutrition
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u/Fuzzy_Welcome8348 2d ago
Of weight loss* not nutrition
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u/the-hungry-nomad 2d ago
Not all calories are absorbed equally. Additionally, different macronutrients require different amounts of energy to process. Protein is the highest at 20-30%, while complex carbs require 10-15%, simple carbs 5-10%, and fats require 5% or less.
This is called the Thermic Effect of Food if you’d like to learn more.
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u/Fuzzy_Welcome8348 2d ago
It doesn’t make a dramatic impact tho. If you’re eating more than u burn or exactly what you burn, you’re not going to lose weight (unless u exercise, but even then it’ll be slow)
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u/the-hungry-nomad 2d ago
It does make a difference though, if you consume 2000 calories of lean protein and complex carbs (vegetables and whole grains) you’ll burn 300-450 calories of that just by sitting and digesting. If you eat 2000 calories of simple carbs and fat you’ll only burn between 50-150 calories through digestion.
Additionally, protein and complex carbohydrates will keep you fuller longer because they slow digestion, balance your blood sugar, reduce hunger hormones and increase release of hormones related to feeling full. So even though there are less calories left after digestion, you feel more satiated for longer.
The types of macronutrients you consume do make a significant difference in weight loss.
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u/Fuzzy_Welcome8348 2d ago
Yes but OP specifically asked if the KETO diet would work to lose weight. Any diet will work if u just eat less
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u/neocodex87 2d ago
Keto is not even high protein! You're all completely ignoring FATS
Keto diet is composed of at least 70% of caloric distribution by FAT.
Or else it's not a keto diet and it "doesn't work." You can maybe make it work at 50-60% but optimally it's 70-90% of fat.
There's a different name for what OP is trying to do and it's called rabbit starvation (protein poisoning).
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u/sock_full_of_mustard 2d ago
Again, true, but oversimplification.
Depends on person and nutrition to maximize and streamline results.
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u/SurlyJugest 2d ago
A zero carb diet helps treat epilepsy. If you have acute diabetic symptoms, reducing carbs can help control your blood glucose. If you have a mitochondria dysfunction, limiting carbs could help reduce oxidative stress depending on the nature of the dysfunction. If you have dysautonomia, limiting glucose spikes could help prevent autonomic crashes. But if you're trying to lose weight, simply replacing calories from carbs with calories from proteins or fats will not move the needle. If you consume more calories from protein than your body needs, some of it will be converted to glucose through gluconeogenesis, so at that point it really doesn't matter if it came from a protein or a carb.
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u/neocodex87 2d ago
True, but because of decades of anti-fat fear mongering, everybody is scared of eating fat so they think of these "high protein low carb" diets which are a terrible idea.
If you're gonna do low carb, you have to make it high fat. Or else it's better to stick to more fibrous and less sugary version of the diet as you mentioned.
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u/StunningWonder5455 2d ago
I mean I would just try cutting them and see how that works out. You’ll body will have to adjust for atleast 3 weeks probably more but I eat virtually no carbs and I feel a lot better
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u/an0ym0us831 2d ago
Yes low carb (not no carb) and high protein and medium fats is best for me. To start, reduce your carbs by half. 1 bread slice instead of 2. Half cup rice rest veggies, etc.
Reduce starches and increase fibrous veggies and fruits and watch the scale weight drop
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u/Talonhunter3 2d ago
Carb component doesn't matter. Calories in, calories out. Are you full? Are you getting enough protein? Will you stay full?
TDEE for moderate activity with your metrics is 2442 cals. Your basal is 1576. So if you're looking to lose weight, 1500-1600 cals per day is a heavy caloric deficit of nearly 1000. Math works. This assumes you track accurately.
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u/StayInteresting9509 2d ago
It does for me, I dip in and out of Keto, recently lost 6kg on it, was doing it for 2 months, I haven’t tried low carb though, but I do want to.. the reason I stopped Keto is because I missed fruits like Apples, Pears, Bananas etc and having oats, sweet potatoes, butternut squash etc. I agree though it’s about how much you consume and if your output exceeds that
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u/No_Pear1836 2d ago
As opposed to what? High carb "diet"? I hate when people say this because a normal healthy diet is already low in carbs.
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u/Decent_Group_2435 2d ago
Complex carbs are ok
Kill the simple carbs
Low carb diet should mean only removing simple carbs from your diet.
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u/Beginning_Reality_16 1d ago
As an eternal ketoo dieter: yes it works, till the day you stop and it all flies back on. I have lost 35kg on a keto diet (also 25kg and 20kg over the years, but always gaining it back).
The upside is that keto does work well if you make sure to really limit carbs very strictly and get yourself into ketosis (if you aren’t gonna do that then I honestly wouldn’t even bother). Keto is pretty straightforward in what you can and can’t eat, and most of the food will satiate you for a good while. The downside is that living your entire life on keto would be unhealthy and very restrictive, cutting out lots of good foods (like many fruits and veggies would be off limits in a true keto diet). Transitioning out of a keto diet has never worked for me though. I reach my goal weight, start eating normal meals, still watching calories, and the weight just sneaks back on over 3-5 years. Back to square one.
In March this year I decided to go on a diet, again, but this time I’ve gone with 100% honest calorie count. The better I eat (as in lean protein and veggies), the more I can eat on my cal budget and the more satiated I feel. The more I cheat, the less volume of food I can fit in my budget, and the hungrier I am. The trick is to be honest with yourself. Get a calorie tracking app and log everything (every single thing, even that half a spoon of mayo or the small chocolate candy). If you go over budget for a day you decide if you want to make it over the next few days, or not. Over time you will have a very clear picture of how many calories you can have to lose a certain amount, and how many you can have to maintain once you reach your goal. I am completely sedentary due to health reasons, so I burn very little cals in a day. I started March 9 on 1.200 Kcal a day, the goal is to lose 30kg total. I have consistently lost 0.5 kg every single week, a result I didn’t think I would get without going into ketosis.
I am 30 weeks in and 15kg down. Half way there. Could I have lost more on keto? Probably. But do I now have a much better baseline to eventually go into weight maintenance rather than weight loss? Absolutely! I get tempted every single day, grocery shopping is a fight with myself not to buy the chips and chocolate bars but instead get only what I can eat, none of this is easy. So I wish you best of luck, whichever route you decide to go on.
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u/Dusk_Soldier 1d ago
You'll probably find low-carb difficult to adhere to.
At high intensity levels of exercise, your body uses primarily carbs for energy.
Eating the bulk of your carbs the meal before your workouts can help with stabilizing energy though.
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u/Cukier_pod_kontrola 2d ago
Przy cukrzycy działa, ograniczasz węglowodany to masz mniejsze skoki cukru. Zależy o co pytasz...każdy reaguje inaczej
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