Excess weight, in most cases, is caused by an excessive supply of adipose tissue, deposited as a result of chemical transformations of carbohydrates entering the body. And although obesity is based on certain disruptions in the endocrine and digestive systems, the most comfortable and painless solution to the problem remains to limit the source of excess calories in the process of daily nutrition. By stopping or critically reducing access to the stomach of easily digestible carbohydrates using a carbohydrate-free diet, we automatically trigger the reaction of burning accumulated reserves.
What is a no carb diet
It is on the basis of a carbohydrate-free diet that 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 term for this nutrition. It is called "drying" - by eliminating carbohydrates from the diet, subcutaneous fat deposits are removed and the 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 a rather long period of time. It requires not only determination, but also a lot of patience and willpower.
There is also another side of the coin - a 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 smallest crumb of bread or a piece of sugar like fire, not thinking about anything other than losing weight, sitting for months "on omelets and cutlets", fans of a carbohydrate-free diet inevitably "win" digestive and metabolic problems, in some cases fraught with disorders of the higher nervous system, activities, memory loss, depression and sociopathy.
Prolonged or constant refusal of carbohydrates causes a disorder of the acid-base balance towards 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 intestinal problems, kidney problems, arthritis, gout and other illnesses.
Below we will look at several examples of a carbohydrate-free diet and a scheme for its use, which allows you to normalize metabolic processes, get rid of excess weight and at the same time not go to extremes, pumping the body to capacity with proteins of animal origin with its far from harmless chemistry and energy.
Biochemical and anatomical bases of a low-carbohydrate diet
The decisive argument for a low-carb diet is the peculiarity of the body's reaction to the ingress 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 instantly increases appetite (that's why they say appetite comes with eating). As a result, when we eat foods high 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 continues to function well, saturation occurs gradually and completely. Proteins are broken down in the gastrointestinal tract much longer than carbohydrates, so the feeling of satiety lasts for several hours, and the need for snacks simply does not arise if you eat three or four protein meals a day.
Principle 250 kcal
Most likely, it will not be possible to completely abandon 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 amount of "carbohydrate" kilocalories is not exceeded.
A low-carb diet certainly requires willpower, but its use can be very disciplined. Just remember a single number - 250. This is the number of energy units - calories, which are contained in the daily amount of carbohydrates entering the body. Of course, we will have to carefully weigh all the dishes and calculate their energy value using special tables or notes on the restaurant menu, but this is an almost inevitable cost of any strict diet.
Mono-carbohydrate diet: effective but monotonous
An ideal low-carb diet for quick and guaranteed weight loss involves 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 let's lose weight without fanaticism and combine usefulness with pleasure - a healing effect with gastronomic pleasures, which are promised by tasty and healthy products based on animal and vegetable proteins.
By the way, the already mentioned 250 kilocalories of carbohydrates per day should also be obtained not with bread and sweets, but by harmoniously including complex (long-digested) carbohydrates in the diet - non-starchy vegetables, cereals, whole grain unleavened wholemeal bread.
Basic ingredients of a carbohydrate-free menu
Here is a list of protein foods intended for a protein diet:
- lean meat - chicken, turkey, rabbit, veal;
- offal – cooked heart and liver;
- duck, chicken, quail egg;
- fillets of marine fish, crabs, shrimp, 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 the proteins in mushrooms are different from those in animals;
- sour berries and fruits, as well as avocados;
- nuts and seeds.
Meat and fish should be cooked by steaming, in the oven or, at most, on the grill, but never in a frying pan or frying pan.
A proper diet excludes sausages, sausages and pâtés that contain many dubious additives based on carbohydrates and transgenic fats.
When choosing food suppliers, it is necessary to give preference to farms where meat and dairy animals are kept in comfortable conditions and do not receive various growth hormones and antibiotics in their food. You should not trust supermarket price tags - if you are on a diet, carefully read the instructions on the packaging and study the list of food additives in advance, many of which are harmful to health, but are used in the manufacture of notorious "healthy" products ".
Prohibited carbohydrates
Now about the main thing in each diet - what is prohibited. On a low-carb diet, it is prohibited:
- bread, other than unleavened whole grain;
- everything made from flour - pasta, pizza, pies, khachapuri, cakes, pastries;
- chocolate and confectionery;
- sweet and sour fruits and berries;
- starchy vegetables (potatoes, carrots, corn, beets);
- semi-finished industrial products. No matter what manufacturers write on the packaging, they almost always contain carbohydrate additives and preservatives and even genetically modified fats;
- fruit juices and soft drinks;
- alcohol in any form.
Convinced carnivores will have difficulty resisting 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 powerful appetite stimulant and a very high-calorie product - the calories obtained from it can be safely added to the 250 kcal that is the daily limit for a protein diet.
Menu for 7 days
Monday
- Breakfast - Cheesecakes made from low-fat cottage cheese with bran.
- Lunch - Vegetable salad with herbs, 200 g of chicken breast with herbs.
- Snack - Orange.
- Dinner - Turkey 100 g with boiled vegetables.
Tuesday
- Breakfast - Omelet with vegetable salad or cooked vegetables. Unsweetened black tea.
- Lunch - Creamy vegetable soup with pieces of turkey or chicken.
- Snack – Green apple.
- Dinner - Oven-roasted salmon.
Wednesday
- Breakfast – Unsweetened muesli with milk and dried apricots or other dried fruits.
- Lunch – Lentil soup with chicken breast.
- Snack – Almonds or other nuts (a handful).
- Dinner - Cherry tomato salad, arugula, canned tuna (1 can) and mozzarella.
Thursday
- Breakfast – Oatmeal with unsweetened water. One banana (can be chopped and added to oatmeal).
- Lunch - Vegetable soup with veal meatballs.
- Snack – Orange or grapefruit, a glass of citrus juice.
- Dinner – Low-fat steamed fish.
Friday
- Breakfast - Mixture of 1 banana, a glass of fresh or thawed pitted cherries and a glass of milk. Mix in the 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 omelet. Tea without sugar. 1 banana.
- Lunch - Cooked chicken breast 100 g with brown rice.
- Snack - Sandwich made with flatbread, soft cheese, ham, lettuce and sliced tomato.
- Dinner – Vegetable stew with meat. A glass of kefir or unsweetened yogurt.
Sunday
- Breakfast - 1 boiled egg. Diet bread with hard cheese.
- Lunch - Creamy champignon or wild mushroom soup. You can add minced turkey or chicken to the soup.
- Snack – Orange, green apple or a handful of nuts.
- Dinner - Vegetable salad, 100 g of meat or fish baked in the oven.
Porridge for a low-carb diet
Porridge on the water occupies a borderline position. When following a carbohydrate-free diet, it is recommended to include four types of cereals in your menu:
| No. | Name | Protein content | Carbohydrate content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buckwheat | eleven% | 68% |
| two | Pea | 21% | 50% |
| 3 | Oat | 12% | 65% |
| 4 | Quinoa | 14% | 64% |
Porridges are especially useful in the intervals between periods of active weight loss, when it is necessary to restore the balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates in the body.
A dubious alternative: the ketogenic diet In the United States, with its notorious fast food culture, a very popular type of carbohydrate-free diet is the ketogenic diet, which allows you to consume large amounts of not only proteins but also animal fats. This scheme has supporters and opponents. The main argument of the latter is the harm of fatty foods to the cardiovascular system, due to the deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels. It's hard to disagree with that.
Diet timing and precautions
The effect of the diet begins to appear after two to three weeks: with separate and strict daily meals, you can lose weight within a week after switching to proteins. Limiting quickly digestible foods will almost inevitably cause intestinal disorders - constipation, flatulence, caused by a decrease in the content of plant fiber in food. When eating a meat menu or eating fish and seafood, you should drink at least two liters of fluids a day, drink soups and, if you are constantly constipated, take mild laxatives. After a month, to avoid developing persistent carbophobia, you should take a break - two to four weeks. It will restore the disturbed balance between proteins and carbohydrates and intestinal motility. When taking a break from the diet, you should not try too hard: the diet must be balanced and strict, otherwise you will not only lose all your gains, but also gain additional fat deposits, and you will have to start the fight against excess weight again.