Low-carb diets have long been known as a great way to lose weight, because of their ability to improve insulin resistance and reduce the intake of fattening fructose. But which low-carb foods are best for weight loss? Do you automatically lose weight when you are on a low-carb diet, regardless of what specifically you eat? The answer is both yest and no.
The Atkins diet is a popular diet that makes you lose weight fast. On it, you only look at macro-nutrients – you eat anything that is high-protein and low-carb, with little regard to the quality of the actual food. People often get great results on this diet, but they find that it is not sustainable and the common rubber band effect often occurs. We don’t know why exactly that is.
On the other hand, eating foods that are high in quality and still low in carbs seems to produce results that stick for much longer. A proper low-carb diet consists of meat, eggs and whole foods, including vegetables. Technically speaking, you can follow a low-carb diet and still eat garbage.
Calories
The total amount of calories is also important. If you eat a ton of high-calorie nuts, you may still have trouble losing weight, despite your intake of carbs being low. The magic happens when you are at a slight caloric deficit and keep your carbs low at the same time. Combining that with intermittent fasting works even better.
What is the best low-carb food for weight loss?
If I had to pick one, I’d have to say meat. Remember however, that the way you cook meat is very important. Properly cooked, meat is one of the best low-carb foods for losing weight. But if you eat a ton of meat that is fried, you are putting a lot of oxidative stress on your arteries, which will eventually backfire. Meat cooked at lower temperatures(<100 C or 212 F) is still fine. Combining the meat with vegetables makes it more digestible and the antioxidants from the vegetables combat any free radicals that may still form during cooking.
The best weight-loss results are achieved with a cheat-day once a week or once every two weeks. Many experts on nutrition have talked about this – if your diet is extremely low in carbs and you stick to it for a long time, your body down-regulates insulin, which makes you plateau. A cheat day is a counter-intuitive way of boosting your weight-loss results and satisfying any sugar cravings you may experience.
Remember that fruit and vegetables are not low-carb foods. In fact, they are high-carb and very low in fat and protein. However, eating them in moderation will ultimately help you lose more weight.
Low-carb breakfast
Many people have reported good results with the egg white and spinach breakfast – you basically mix some egg whites with spinach and that is all you have for breakfast. After several hours you can continue eating normally, but still low-carb. This shoots your metabolism through the roof and gives you stable energy throughout the day.
Other good options for breakfast include nut smoothies and yogurt smoothies – just remember to not go overboard with the fruit, especially if you like bananas. Bananas are very high in sucrose, which is basically table sugar. Although they are very nutritious, eating too many of them will not help you lose weight and will hinder your progress.
Angelina