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Low Carbohydrate Diets

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Nutrition: Low Carbohydrate Diets

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Nutrition: Low Carbohydrate Diets

Low-carbohydrate dieting has and continues to generate varied interpretations across various settings all around the world. This can be accredited to the fact that such a diet has been postulated to help in the management of overweight and obesity, which have become significantly prevalent in the recent past. Speaking of low-carbohydrate dieting, this connotes to a diet that comprises of a limited amount of carbohydrates, but is high in fats and proteins. Arguably, low-carbohydrate dieting works because it offers a viable platform in which people, particularly obese and overweight individuals can shed excess body weight. Notably, carbohydrates occur as the major source of energy in the body (Weinblatt, 2011). During periods of excess carbohydrate intake, the body converts carbohydrates into glucose for use as an energy supply, and the surplus is converted into fats and stored in within the body.

For this purpose, low-carbohydrate dieting results in shortage of energy supply; hence, prompting the body to break down fats to provide energy; thus, resulting in the reduction of excess body fats. This is perhaps the rationale as to why low-carbohydrate dieting works in curbing overweight and obesity. However, low-carbohydrate dieting poses certain adverse health effects on the body. This aligns to the fact that carbohydrates should have a sparing effect on proteins. Speaking of sparing effect, this refers to the need for the body to use carbohydrates as the main source of energy; hence, allow the body to use of proteins for the sole purpose of growth and building of body tissues (DeVault, 2011). Low-carbohydrate dieting reduces the amount of readily accessible source of energy in the

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