The History Of Low Carb Diets

You might think that the low carb diet phase is an invention of the twentieth century, but believe or not, these types of diets have quite a lengthy history!

William Banting is thought to be one of the first, if not the first person to suggest a diet that restricted the intake of pastries, sugar, beer, bread and all other forms of carbohydrates while embracing the protein found in vast quantities of meat. Banting published a short pamphlet about his proposed diet in 1869 and it wasn't long before it became a popular diet among those trying to lose weight. Then, in the twentieth century, Banting's diet was followed by other fad diets like the Atkins diet and the Scarsdale diet.

The major question revolving around low carb diets is this: if these diets are so perfect and work as well as people think they do, why are most people still battling with weight loss? According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, almost sixty five percent of the American population is either overweight or obese.

The reason that low carb diets are popular is that, like most diets, they actually do help you lose weight in the beginning. It is in the long term that these diets fail and can do quite a bit of damage to your health.

When you first begin a low carb diet, your body is forced to burn its stores of fat. This causes your body to burn glycogen, which is one kind of carbohydrate. Glycogen bonds to water, which is released into the body when the glycogen is burned. So, really, when you begin a low carb diet, what you are really losing is water weight and that is mainly due to the frequent urinating you are forced to endure as your body gets rid of all of the extra water it now has in its system.

This rapid loss of your water weight makes it look like the low carb diet is a good one. Who doesn't want to lose a lot of weight very quickly? It is this initial weight drop that allows the diet industry to keep churning out and promoting low carb diets as the best way to lose weight. If it weren't for this initial weight loss, the low carb diet fads wouldn't sell so many different products!

The truth is, however, that it is difficult to stick to a low carb diet for longer periods of time. This is because low carb diets come with a number of unpleasant side effects that include but are not limited to constant hunger, constant cravings for junk food, bad breath, low energy levels, mood swings and constipation.

What's more, as soon as you start eating normally, you will immediately re-gain your water weight and probably put on a few extra pounds as well. The sad thing is that most people blame themselves for the recurrence of their former weight instead of the shoddy diet they've been following.

The truth is that low carb diets can cause serious health problems and are sometimes even life threatening and become more dangerous the longer you follow them. Steer clear of low carb diets. There are healthier ways to lose weight and keep it off!