Excess weight in most cases is caused by an excessive supply of adipose tissue, deposited as a result of the chemical transformations of carbohydrates entering the body. And although obesity is based on certain disorders in the endocrine and digestive system, the most comfortable and painless solution to the problem remains the restriction of the source of excess calories in the process of daily nutrition. By stopping or critically reducing the access to the stomach of easily digestible carbohydrates using a no-carbohydrate diet, we automatically activate the reaction of burning the stored reserves.
What is a no carb diet?
Based on a diet without carbohydrates, athletes lose extra pounds before competitions, artists on the eve of filming and public figures when they need to get in shape. Athletes even have a special condition for such nutrition. It is called "drying" - by eliminating carbohydrates from the diet, subcutaneous fat is removed and relief and elasticity of ligaments and muscles are improved. But life without carbohydrates is a difficult test for those with a sweet tooth, who are forced to radically change their taste preferences and for quite a long time. It requires not only determination, but also enough patience and will.
There is also the other side of the coin - the complete rejection of carbohydrates in favor of protein products causes a condition that nutritionists call the not entirely correct term carbophobia (literally "fear of carbohydrates"). Avoiding the slightest crumb of bread or a piece of sugar like fire, thinking about nothing but losing weight, sitting for months "on omelettes and cutlets", lovers of a diet without carbohydrates inevitably "win" digestive and metabolic problems. some cases fraught with disorders of the upper nervous system activities, memory loss, depression and sociopathy.
The long-term or continuous refusal of carbohydrates causes a disturbance of the acid-base balance in the direction of acidification of the body, which inevitably leads to a decrease in immunity and premature aging. A side effect of a prolonged low-carb diet is problems with the intestines, kidneys, arthritis, gout and other conditions.
Below we will look at several examples of a diet without carbohydrates and a plan for its use, which allows you to normalize metabolic processes, get rid of excess weight and at the same time not reach extremes, pumping the body to capacity with proteins of animal origin withanything but harmless chemistry and energy.
Biochemical and anatomical basis of a low-carbohydrate diet
The decisive argument for a low-carbohydrate diet is the peculiarity of the body's reaction to the entry of even a small amount of sugar into the stomach. The pancreas immediately begins to reflexively release insulin into the blood and digestive enzymes into the stomach, which immediately increase appetite (that's why they say appetite comes with food). As a result, when we eat foods rich in carbohydrates, we almost always eat more than we objectively need. Protein foods do not have such a seductive effect on the "pancreas", the production of hormones and enzymes proceeds to a working state, satiety occurs gradually and completely. Proteins are broken down in the gastrointestinal tract much more than carbohydrates, so the feeling of fullness lasts for several hours, and the need for snacks simply does not arise if you eat three or four protein meals a day.
Beginning 250 kcal
Most likely, it will not be possible to completely give up carbohydrates - simply because they are included even in completely protein dishes, albeit in minimal quantities. But this is not scary, the main thing is that the specified number of kilocalories "carbohydrates" is not exceeded.
A low-carb diet certainly requires willpower, but using it can be very disciplined. It is enough to remember only one number - 250. This is the number of energy units - calories, contained in the daily volume of carbohydrates that enter the body. Of course, we should carefully weigh all the dishes and calculate their energy value using special tables or notes on the restaurant menu, but this is an almost unavoidable cost of any strict diet.
Monocarb diet: effective, but monotonous
An ideal low-carb diet for guaranteed and fast weight loss includes separate daily meals - on the first day of the diet you eat only chicken, on the second - only eggs, on the third - only cheese or cottage cheese. This is the fastest, but also the most "tasteless" and monotonous way to lose weight. Not everyone is ready for such sacrifices, so we will lose weight without fanaticism and combine business with pleasure - a therapeutic effect with culinary delights, promising delicious and healthy products based on animal and vegetable proteins.
By the way, the above-mentioned critical 250 notorious kilocalories of carbohydrates per day should also be taken not from breads and sweets, but with the harmonious inclusion of complex carbohydrates (with a long time to digest) in the diet - vegetables not rich in starch, cereals, whole grains without yeastgrain bread.
Basic ingredients of a no-carb menu
Here is a list of protein foods for a protein diet:
- lean meat - chicken, turkey, rabbit, beef.
- giblets – cooked heart and liver.
- duck, chicken, quail egg;
- fillets of marine fish, crabs, shrimps, lobsters, marine cephalopods.
- dairy products - kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, low-fat sour cream and hard cheese.
- leafy vegetables (cabbage), artichokes, peas, beans, zucchini, onions, garlic, garden herbs. You can eat mushrooms, but with caution, as mushroom proteins are different from animals.
- sour berries and fruits, as well as avocado.
- nuts and seeds.
Meat and fish should be cooked in steam, in the oven or at most on the grill, but in no case in a pan or frying.
A proper diet excludes sausages, sausages and pates that contain many dubious additives based on carbohydrates and trans fats.
When choosing food suppliers, you should prefer farms where meat and dairy animals are kept in comfortable conditions and do not receive various growth hormones and antibiotics in their feed. You should not trust price tags in supermarkets - if you are on a diet, carefully read the instructions on the package and study in advance the list of food additives, many of which are harmful to health, but are used in the manufacture of notorious " healthy products.
Forbidden carbohydrates
Now for the main thing about any diet - what is prohibited. On a low-carb diet, the following are prohibited:
- bread, except unleavened whole grains.
- everything made from flour - pasta, pizza, pies, khachapuri, cakes, pastries.
- chocolate and confectionery;
- sweet and sour fruits and berries.
- vegetables rich in starch (potatoes, carrots, corn, beets).
- semi-finished industrial products. No matter what manufacturers write on the package, they almost always contain added carbohydrates and preservatives, and even genetically modified fats.
- fruit juices and carbonated drinks.
- alcohol in any form.
Die-hard carnivores will find it hard to resist a glass of red wine with their favorite steak, but here you have to choose: health or pleasure. Alcohol, in addition to its direct toxic effect on the body, is also a strong appetite stimulant and a fairly high-calorie product - the calories obtained with it can be safely added to the 250 kcal that is the daily limit for a proteindiet.
Menu for 7 days
Monday
- Breakfast - Low-fat cottage cheese cheesecakes with bran.
- Lunch - Vegetable salad with herbs, 200 g chicken breast with herbs.
- Snack - Orange.
- Dinner - Turkey 100 g with boiled vegetables.
Tuesday
- Breakfast - Omelet with vegetable salad or boiled vegetables. Black tea without sugar.
- Lunch - Cream of vegetable soup with pieces of turkey or chicken.
- Snack - Green apple.
- Dinner - Salmon baked in the oven.
Wednesday
- Breakfast - Sugar-free muesli with milk and dried apricots or other dried fruit.
- Lunch - Lentil soup with chicken breast.
- Snack - Almonds or other nuts (a handful).
- Dinner - Salad of cherry tomatoes, arugula, canned tuna (1 box) and mozzarella.
Thursday
- Breakfast - Oatmeal with sugar-free water. One banana (can be sliced and added to oatmeal).
- Lunch - Vegetable soup with beef meatballs.
- Snack - Orange or grapefruit, a glass of citrus juice.
- Dinner - Low-fat steamed fish.
Friday
- Breakfast - A mixture of 1 banana, a glass of fresh or thawed pitted cherries and a glass of milk. Mix in a blender.
- Lunch - Chicken pilaf 200 g.
- Snack - Green tea with a piece of hard cheese.
- Dinner - Chicken or turkey with vegetable salad.
Saturday
- Breakfast - Egg white omelette. Tea without sugar. 1 banana.
- Lunch - Boiled chicken breast 100 g with brown rice.
- Snack - Unleavened bread sandwich, soft cheese, ham, lettuce and sliced tomatoes.
- Dinner - Sautéed vegetables with meat. A glass of kefir or unsweetened yogurt.
Sunday
- Breakfast - 1 boiled egg. Diet bread with hard cheese.
- Lunch - Cream soup with mushrooms or wild mushrooms. You can add chopped turkey or chicken to the soup.
- Snack - Orange, green apple or a handful of nuts.
- Dinner - Vegetable salad, 100 grams of meat or fish in the oven.
Porridge for a low-carb diet
Porridges in water occupy a marginal position. When you follow a diet without carbohydrates, it is recommended to include four types of cereals in the menu:
| No. | Name | Protein content | Carbohydrate content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buckwheat | eleven% | 68% |
| 2 | Pea | 21% | 50% |
| 3 | Oatmeal | 12% | 65% |
| 4 | quinoa | 14% | 64% |
Porridge is especially useful in the intervals between periods of active weight loss, when you need to restore the balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates in the body.
A dubious alternative: the keto diet In the United States, with its notorious fast food culture, a very popular type of low-carb diet is the ketogenic diet, which allows you to eat large amounts of not only protein, but also animal fats. This scheme has supporters and detractors. The main argument of the latter is the damage of fatty foods to the cardiovascular system, due to the deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels. It's hard to argue with that.
Diet schedule and precautions
The effect of the diet begins to appear after two to three weeks; with strict daily separate meals, you can lose weight within a week after switching to proteins. Limitation of rapidly digestible food will almost inevitably cause intestinal disorders - constipation, flatulence, caused by a decrease in the fiber content of food. When eating a meat menu or eating fish and seafood, you should drink at least two liters of fluids a day, eat soups and if you have persistent constipation, take mild laxatives. After a month, to avoid the development of persistent carbophobia, you should take a break - from two to four weeks. It will restore the disturbed protein-carbohydrate balance and intestinal motility. While taking a break from the diet, you should not make great efforts: the diet should be balanced and strict, otherwise you will not only lose all your gains, but you will gain additional fat deposits and you will have to start the fight against excessweight again.