Excess weight in most cases is due to the 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 disturbances in the endocrine and digestive system, the most convenient and painless solution to the problem remains the limitation of the source of excess calories in the process of daily eating. By stopping or critically reducing the access to the stomach of easily digestible carbohydrates with the help of a carbohydrate-free diet, we automatically trigger the reaction of burning the accumulated reserves.
What is a no carb diet
It is on the basis of a diet without carbohydrates 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 such nutrition. It is called "drying" - by removing 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 sweet lovers, who are forced to radically change their taste preferences andthat for quite a long period of time. This requires not only determination but also a lot of patience and willpower.
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 quite correct term carbophobia (literally "fear of carbohydrates"). Avoiding even the smallest crumb of bread or piece of sugar like fire, notthinking about nothing but losing weight, sitting for months "on omelettes and cutlets", fans of a diet without carbohydrates inevitably "win" problems with digestion and metabolism, in some cases they are fraught with disorders of the higher nervous system, activities, memory loss, depression and sociopathy.
Long-term or permanent refusal of carbohydrates causes a disorder of the acid-alkaline 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 long-term low-carb diet is problems with the intestines, kidneys, arthritis, gout and other diseases.
Below we will consider 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 originwith their far from 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 instantly increase appetite (that's why they say appetite comes with eating). 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 takes place in a working state, saturation becomes gradual and complete. Proteins are broken down in the gastrointestinal tract much longer than carbohydrates, so the feeling of satiety lasts for several hoursand the need for snacks simply does not arise if you have three or four protein meals a day.
Principle 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 "carbohydrate" kilocalories is not exceeded.
A low-carb diet certainly takes willpower, but using it can be very disciplined. It is enough to remember a single number - 250. This is the number of energy units - calories that are contained in the daily volume 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 in the restaurant menu, but this is an almost inevitable price of any strict diet.
Carbohydrate monodiet: effective but monotonous
The 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 healing effect with gastronomic pleasures that promise delicious andhealthy products based on animal and vegetable proteins.
By the way, the above-mentioned critical 250 notorious carbohydrate kilocalories per day should also be obtained not from buns and sweets, but through the harmonious inclusion of complex carbohydrates (long digestible) in the diet - vegetables that are not rich in starch, cereals, whole grains withoutyeast grain bread.
Main ingredients of a carb-free menu
Here is a list of protein foods designed for a protein diet:
- lean meat - chicken, turkey, rabbit, beef;
- offal - stewed heart and liver;
- duck, chicken, quail eggs;
- fillets of marine fish, crabs, shrimps, lobsters, marine cephalopods;
- dairy products - kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese, low-fat sour cream and hard cheese;
- leafy greens (cabbage), artichokes, green peas, beans, zucchini, onions, garlic, garden herbs. You can eat mushrooms, but with caution, because mushroom proteins are different from animal proteins;
- sour fruits and berries, as well as avocados;
- nuts and seeds.
Meat and fish should be steamed, in the oven or, at most, grilled, but never in a pan or deep fried.
The correct diet excludes sausages, sausages and pates, which contain many questionable additives based on carbohydrates and transgenic fats.
When choosing food suppliers, you should give preference to farms where meat and dairy animals are raised in comfortable conditions and do not receive various growth hormones and antibiotics in feed. You should not trust the 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 production of the notorious "healthy" products.
Forbidden carbohydrates
Now for the main thing about any diet - what is prohibited. The following are prohibited on a low-carb diet:
- bread, except whole wheat without yeast;
- everything from flour - pasta, pizza, pies, khachapuri, cakes, sweets;
- chocolate and confectionery;
- sweet and sour-sweet fruits and berries;
- vegetables rich in starch (potatoes, carrots, corn, beets);
- semi-finished industrial products. No matter what the manufacturers write on the packaging, they almost always contain carbohydrate additives and preservatives and even genetically modified fats;
- fruit juices and carbonated drinks;
- alcohol in any form.
Committed 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 powerful appetite stimulant and a rather high-calorie product - the calories obtained with it can easily be added to the 250 kcal, which is the daily limit for a protein diet.
Menu for 7 days
Monday
- Breakfast - Cheesecake 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 stewed vegetables.
Tuesday
- Breakfast - Omelet with vegetable salad or stewed vegetables. Black tea without sugar.
- Lunch - Vegetable cream soup with pieces of turkey or chicken meat.
- Snack - Green apple.
- Dinner - Salmon baked in the oven.
Wednesday
- Breakfast - Unsweetened muesli with milk and dried apricots or other dried fruit.
- Lunch - Lentil soup with chicken breast.
- Snack – Almonds or other nuts (handful).
- Dinner - Salad of cherry tomatoes, arugula, can of tuna (1 can) and mozzarella.
Thursday
- Breakfast - oatmeal with water without sugar. 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 mix of 1 banana, a cup of fresh or thawed pitted cherries and a cup of milk. Mix in a blender.
- Lunch - Chicken pilaf 200g.
- Snack - Green tea with a piece of hard cheese.
- Dinner - Chicken or turkey with vegetable salad.
Saturday
- Breakfast - Egg white omelette. Unsweetened tea. 1 banana.
- Lunch - Boiled chicken breast 100 g with brown rice.
- Snack - Sandwich of unleavened bread, soft cheese, ham, green salad and tomato slices.
- Dinner - Vegetable saute with meat. A glass of kefir or unsweetened yogurt to drink.
Sunday
- Breakfast - 1 hard boiled egg. Diet bread with hard cheese.
- Lunch - Cream soup of champignons or forest mushrooms. You can add chopped turkey or chicken to the soup.
- Snack – Orange, green apple or handful of nuts.
- Dinner - vegetable salad, 100 g of meat or fish in the oven.
Porridge for a low-carb diet
Porridges on water occupy a borderline position. With 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 | peas | 21% | 50% |
| 3 | Oatmeal | 12% | 65% |
| 4 | Quinoa | 14% | 64% |
Porridges are 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.
Questionable alternative: keto diet In the United States, with its notorious fast food culture, a very popular type of carb-free diet is the ketogenic diet, which allows you to eat large amounts of not only protein, but also animal fat. This scheme has both supporters and detractors. 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.
Time to diet and take precautions
The effect of the diet begins to manifest itself after two to three weeks, with strict daily separate feeding, you can lose weight within a week after switching to proteins. Limitation of quickly digestible food will almost inevitably cause intestinal disorders - constipation, flatulence, caused by a decrease in the content of plant fiber in food. With a meat menu or consumption of fish and seafood, you should drink at least two liters of liquid per day, eat soups, and in case of persistent constipation, take mild laxatives. After a month, to avoid the development of permanent carbophobia, you need to take a break - from two to four weeks. It will restore disturbed protein-carbohydrate balance and intestinal motility. While taking a break from the diet, you should not overdo it: the diet should be balanced and strict, otherwise you will not only lose all your gains, but also accumulate extra fat and have to start the fight against excess weight again.