There are a lot of different opinions about what it takes to make healthy diets for human beings. It is easy for the average person to become confused about what to eat and what not to eat. Here are the facts about some of the popular dieting options for people that need to lose weight.
Cut the Carbohydrates
Low carbohydrates diets have been around for over 50 years. The popularity waxes and wanes. One of the recent offering was the Adkins version of the diet. It consisted of a number of different steps and weekly adjustments. So, it could not have been a good long-term eating plan.
There are many problems with low carbohydrates diets. First, the lack of fruits and vegetables will lead to nutritional deficiencies if a person is not taking a good vitamin.
Most of the vitamins on the market contain artificial ingredients, including what I call “plastic” vitamins. They are synthetic versions of what appears in nature. No one has any idea what effect they have on a person long-term health. So, when you buy vitamins, choose an all-natural version.
Second, fruits and vegetables contain unique antioxidants that may lower a person risk of heart disease and various kinds of cancer. Third, unless a person is very selective about the protein and fat sources they choose, low-carbohydrates are not healthy diets, because they contain too much saturated fat.
Cut the Fat
Low fat dieting has been popular for over 20 years, but people are still overweight and obese. Despite the huge number of low fat foods on the market, which people are buying up by the cartload, they still cannot lose weight. There are several reasons for that.
First, the body needs fats to make cellular membranes and hormones. In healthy diets, about a third of the daily caloric intake comes from fat.
Second, certain vitamins, such as vitamin E, are only soluble in fat. If foods containing vitamin E are not eaten along side of a food containing fat, you will get no benefit from the vitamin.
Third, most of the low fat foods are processed and unnatural. The fats are removed through heating or straining that also reduces the foods nutritional value.
Fourth, there are good fats and bad fats. Eating the good ones contributes to fat burn, rather than storage, lower blood triglycerides and healthier cholesterol levels. Eating the bad ones causes heart disease, obesity and unhealthy cholesterol levels.
Cut the Calories
Low-calorie options can be included in healthy diets. But, if you continue to deprive your body of the energy that it needs in order to function, you will have problems.
A better solution is to cut out the empty calories. There may be lots of those in your diet. We usually refer to them as junk food, but they include many of the so-called health foods that you find on convenience store shelves.
Take the time to learn more about healthy diets, appropriate food combining and timing your meals. It will help you reach your diet goals, faster.