Excess weight in most cases is caused by an excessive amount of adipose tissue deposited as a result of chemical transformations of carbohydrates entering the body. And although obesity is based on certain disorders of the endocrine and digestive system, the most convenient and painless solution to the problem remains to limit excess calories in the process of daily nutrition. By stopping or critically reducing the entry of easily digestible carbohydrates into the stomach during a low-carb diet, we automatically activate the reaction to burn the stored reserves.
What is a no carb diet
It is on the basis of a carbohydrate-free diet that athletes get rid of extra pounds before competitions, artists - on the eve of filming, and public figures - when they need to exercise. Athletes even have a special term for such a diet. This is called "drying" - removing carbohydrates from the diet removes subcutaneous fat deposits, improves the relief and elasticity of ligaments and muscles. However, life without carbohydrates is a difficult test for those with a sweet tooth, who are forced to change their taste preferences drastically and for quite a long time. This requires not only determination, but also considerable patience and will.
There is also the other side of the coin - the complete rejection of carbohydrates in favor of protein products leads to a condition that nutritionists call the not entirely correct term carbophobia (literally "fear of carbohydrates"). Avoiding the slightest bread crumb or piece of sugar like fire, thinking of nothing else butabout weight loss, sitting "on omelets and meatballs" for months, fans of a no-carb diet inevitably "earn" digestive and metabolic problems. In some cases, disorders of the higher nervous system, activity, memory loss, depression and sociopathy may occur.
A long-term or permanent refusal of carbohydrates causes a disturbance in the acid-alkaline balance in the direction of acidification of the body, which inevitably leads to a decrease in immunity and premature aging. Side effects of long-term low-carb diets include intestinal problems, kidney problems, arthritis, gout and other ailments.
Below we will look at several examples of a carbohydrate-free diet and the scheme of its use, which allows you to normalize metabolic processes, get rid of excess weight and at the same time not go to extremes, filling the body to the brim with proteins. animal origin with its 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 body's reaction to even a small amount of sugar in the stomach. The pancreas immediately begins to reflexively secrete insulin into the blood and digestive enzymes into the stomach, which instantly increase appetite (hence the saying that appetite occurs when eating). Therefore, when we eat foods rich in carbohydrates, we almost always eat more than we objectively need. Protein food does not have such a tempting effect on the "pancreas", the production of hormones and enzymes occurs in an orderly manner, satiety occurs gradually and completely. Proteins are broken down in the digestive 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 meals a dayor four protein meals.
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 terrible, the most important thing is not to exceed the specified number of "carbohydrate" kilocalories.
A low-carb diet certainly takes willpower, but it can be very disciplined. It is enough to remember one single number - 250. This is the number of energy units - calories, which are 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 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 day - only eggs, on the third day - 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 - the therapeutic effect with gastronomic pleasures, which are promised by tasty and healthy proteins of animal and vegetable originproducts.
By the way, the already mentioned critical 250 infamous carbohydrate kilocalories per day should also not be obtained from buns and sweets, but by harmoniously including complex carbohydrates (long digestible) in the diet - vegetables that do not contain a lot of starch, grains, and whole grains. grain bread.
Basic ingredients for a no-carb menu
Here is a list of protein foods for a protein diet:
- lean meat - chicken, turkey, rabbit, veal;
- offal - stewed heart and liver;
- duck, chicken, quail egg;
- sea fish fillets, crabs, shrimps, lobsters, marine cephalopods;
- dairy products - kefir, yogurt, grain cottage cheese, low-fat sour cream and hard cheese;
- leafy vegetables (cabbage), artichokes, green peas, beans, zucchini, onions, garlic, garden herbs. You can eat mushrooms, but be careful, because mushroom proteins are different from animal proteins;
- sour berries and fruits, as well as avocados;
- nuts and seeds.
Meat and fish should be cooked in steam, in the oven or as much as possible on the grill, but in no case in a pan or deep-fried.
A good diet does not include sausages, sausages and pates, which contain many questionable additives based on carbohydrates and transgenic fats.
When choosing food suppliers, preference should be given to 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 the price tags in supermarkets - if you follow 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 infamous "healthy" products.
Carbohydrates are prohibited
Now about the main thing of every diet - what is forbidden. Following a low-carb diet is prohibited:
- bread other than whole grains without yeast;
- everything made from flour - pasta, pizza, pies, khachapuri, cakes, pastries;
- chocolate and confectionery;
- sweet and sour-sweet fruits and berries;
- vegetables rich in starch (potatoes, carrots, corn, beets);
- industrial semi-finished 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 carbonated drinks;
- alcohol in any form.
Committed meat eaters will find it hard to resist a glass of red wine with their favorite steak, but it's a choice between health and pleasure. Alcohol, in addition to having a direct toxic effect on the body, is also a powerful appetite stimulant and a relatively high-calorie product - the calories obtained with it can be safely added to the 250 kcal, which is the daily norm of a protein diet.
Menu for 7 days
monday
- Breakfast - Cheesecakes 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 - Omelette with vegetable salad or stewed vegetables. Black tea without sugar.
- Lunch - Creamy vegetable soup with pieces of turkey or chicken.
- Snack - green apple.
- Dinner - oven-baked salmon.
on Wednesday
- Breakfast - unsweetened muesli with milk and dried apricots or other dried fruits.
- Lunch - Lentil soup with chicken breast.
- Snack - almonds or other nuts (handful).
- Dinner - salad of cherry tomatoes, arugula, canned tuna (1 can) and mozzarella.
thursday
- Breakfast - oatmeal with sugar-free water. One banana (can be chopped and added to oatmeal).
- Lunch - Vegetable soup with veal dumplings.
- Snack - Orange or grapefruit, a glass of citrus fruit juice.
- Dinner - low-fat steamed fish.
friday
- Breakfast - mix 1 banana, a glass of fresh or thawed pitted cherries and a glass of milk. Mix with 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. Unsweetened tea. 1 banana.
- Lunch - Boiled chicken breast 100 g with brown rice.
- Appetizer - Sandwich made of unleavened bread, soft cheese, ham, salad and sliced tomatoes.
- Dinner - Vegetable stew with meat. A glass of kefir or unsweetened drinking yogurt.
sunday
- Breakfast - 1 hard-boiled egg. Diet bread with hard cheese.
- Lunch - Creamy champignon or forest mushroom soup. You can add chopped turkey or chicken to the soup.
- Snack - an orange, green apple or a handful of nuts.
- Dinner - Vegetable salad, 100 g of oven-baked meat or fish.
Porridge for a low-carb diet
Porridge on water occupies a marginal position. Following a carbohydrate-free diet, it is recommended to include four types of cereal 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 between periods of active slimming, when it is necessary to restore the balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates in the body.
A questionable alternative: the keto diet In the United States, where the fast food culture is famous, a very popular 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 damage of fatty food to the cardiovascular system due to the deposition of cholesterol on the vessel walls. It's hard to disagree with that.
Diet timing and precautions
The effect of the diet appears after two or three weeks, strictly eating every day separately, you can lose weight within a week after switching to protein. Limiting fast-digesting food will almost inevitably lead to intestinal problems - constipation, flatulence, caused by a decrease in the amount of plant fiber in food. When eating a meat menu or eating fish and seafood, you need to drink at least two liters of liquid a day, eat soups, and if you are constantly constipated, take mild laxatives. After a month, to avoid the development of permanent carbophobia, you should take a break - from two to four weeks. It will restore disturbed protein-carbohydrate balance and intestinal motility. When taking a break from diets, you should not overdo it: the diet must be balanced and strict, otherwise you will not only lose all the gains, but also gain additional fat deposits and have to start a fight. fight overweight again.