Low Carb Veggie-Based Diet Assists Weight Loss, Improves Health
All low carb diets are not created equal. Many people understand the importance of losing weight to improve health markers and lower risk from heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer, but the type of diet they choose is just as important as the weight loss itself. There’s no shortage of diet plans and pills which promise to trim excess pounds quickly and efficiently. But at what cost to your health?
Low Carb, Animal Protein Diet Increases Disease Risk
One of the most popular diet programs over the past quarter century is the Atkins plan, which severely limits vegetables and fruits in favor of plenty of beef, processed meats and dairy. Initially people lose weight because of the drastically limited carbohydrates, but in the long run most people find the diet difficult to maintain for a lifetime.
Research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine indicates that a low carb diet high in animal protein and low in fresh vegetables contributes to increased risk for cancer and death, though they didn’t specifically name any particular plans. Further, the study indicated that eating a vegetable-based low carb diet had just the opposite effect, lowering the risk for heart disease and death rate. Whether your goal is weight loss or improved health, making the switch to a veggie-based diet will have a profound effect on longevity.
Kicking the Sugar Habit
Regardless of which low carb variant diet you choose, vegetable or animal based, sugar and refined carbohydrates are minimized or eliminated which is an important benefit of both plans. Sugar wreaks havoc in the body, disrupting metabolism and causing insulin resistance and blood sugar spikes. Additional damage results when the sticky sugar molecules bind with proteins, causing them to become non-functional.
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