Obesity in most cases is caused by an excessive supply of adipose tissue, which is deposited as a result of chemical transformations of carbohydrates entering the body. And although obesity is due to certain disorders of the hormonal and digestive systems, the most convenient and painless solution to the problem remains limiting the source of excess calories in the daily diet. By stopping or significantly reducing the access of easily digestible carbohydrates to the stomach through a carbohydrate-free diet, we automatically trigger the reaction of burning accumulated reserves.
What is a no-carb diet?
On the basis of a carbohydrate-free diet, 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 their own term for such a diet. It is called "drying" - by eliminating carbohydrates from food, subcutaneous fat deposits are removed and the relief and elasticity of ligaments and muscles is 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 over a longer period of time. It requires not only determination, but also a good deal of patience and willpower.
There is also the other side of the coin: a complete rejection of carbohydrates in favor of protein products leads to a condition that nutritionists not entirely correctly call carbophobia (literally "fear of carbohydrates"). Avoiding the smallest crumb of bread or a piece of sugar like fireThinking nothing other than losing weight, sitting "on omelets and cutlets" for months, fans of a carbohydrate-free diet inevitably "earn" digestive and metabolic problems. Some cases are fraught with disorders of the higher nervous system, activities, memory loss, depression and sociopathy.
Long-term or constant avoidance of carbohydrates leads to a disruption of the acid-base balance in the direction of hyperacidification of the body, which inevitably leads to reduced immunity and premature aging. A side effect of a prolonged low-carb diet is problems with the intestines, kidneys, arthritis, gout and other ailments.
Below we will look at some examples of a carbohydrate-free diet and a scheme for their application, which allows you to normalize metabolic processes, get rid of excess weight and at the same time not fall into extremes, pumping the body full of proteins of animal origin with their everything elsethan harmless chemistry and energy.
Biochemical and anatomical basis of a low-carbohydrate diet
The decisive argument in favor of a low-carbohydrate diet is the peculiarity of the body's reaction to the entry of even small amounts of sugar into the stomach. The pancreas immediately begins to reflexively release insulin into the blood and digestive enzymes into the stomach, which immediately increases appetite (that's why appetite is said to accompany eating). Therefore, 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 is functioning properly, satiety 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 thatThe need for snacks simply doesn't exist when you eat three or four protein meals a day.
Principle 250 kcal
Completely avoiding carbohydrates will most likely not be possible - simply because they are contained even in completely protein dishes, albeit in minimal quantities. But that's not scary, the main thing is that the specified number of "carbohydrate" kilocalories is not exceeded.
Although a low-carb diet requires willpower, it can take a lot of discipline to implement. It is enough to remember a single number - 250. This is the number of energy units - calories contained in the daily amount of carbohydrates entering the body. Of course, we have to carefully weigh all dishes and calculate their energy value using special tables or instructions on the restaurant menu, but this is an almost inevitable cost factor in any strict diet.
Carbohydrate mono-diet: effective but monotonous
An ideal low-carbohydrate diet for guaranteed and rapid 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 to make such sacrifices, so we will lose weight without fanaticism, combining the pleasant with the pleasant - a healing effect with gastronomic pleasures, the tasty andpromise healthy products based on animal and plant proteins.
By the way, the above-mentioned critical 250 notorious carbohydrate kilocalories per day should not be obtained from rolls and sweets, but rather through the harmonious inclusion of complex carbohydrates (long digestible) in the diet - low-starch vegetables, grains, yeast-free whole grain 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 – stewed heart and liver;
- duck, chicken, quail egg;
- sea fish fillets, crabs, shrimps, lobsters, sea 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 with caution, as mushroom proteins are different from animal ones;
- sour berries and fruits such as avocados;
- Nuts and seeds.
Meat and fish should be steamed, cooked in the oven or, at best, on the grill, but under no circumstances in a pan or deep-fried.
Proper nutrition excludes sausages, sausages and pates, which contain many dubious additives based on carbohydrates and transgenic fats.
When choosing food suppliers, you need to give preference to farms where meat and dairy animals are kept in comfortable conditions and whose feed does not contain various growth hormones and antibiotics. You should not trust the price tags in supermarkets - if you are on a diet, carefully read the instructions on the packaging and study in advance the list of food additives, many of which are harmful to health, but are used in the production of notorious products. "healthy" products.
Forbidden carbohydrates
Now to the main thing in any diet – what is forbidden. On a low-carbohydrate diet the following are prohibited:
- Bread, other than whole grain without yeast;
- anything made from flour – pasta, pizza, cakes, khachapuri, cakes, pastries;
- 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.
Convinced meat eaters will find it difficult to resist a glass of red wine with their favorite steak, but here you have to decide: health or pleasure. In addition to its direct toxic effect on the body, alcohol is also a strong appetite stimulant and a fairly high-calorie product - the calories obtained from it can safely be added to the 250 kcal, which is the daily limit for a protein diet.
Menu for 7 days
Monday
- Breakfast – cheesecake made from low-fat cottage cheese with bran.
- Lunch – vegetable salad with herbs, 200 g chicken breast with herbs.
- Snack - orange.
- Dinner - turkey 100 g with stewed vegetables.
Tuesday
- Breakfast – Omelette with vegetable salad or steamed vegetables. Black tea without sugar.
- Lunch – Vegetable cream soup with pieces of turkey or chicken.
- Snack - Green Apple.
- Dinner – Oven baked 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 – salad of cherry tomatoes, arugula, canned tuna (1 can) and mozzarella.
Thursday
- Breakfast – oatmeal with water without sugar. A 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. Blend in 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 omelet. Unsweetened tea. 1 banana.
- Lunch – Boiled chicken breast 100g with brown rice.
- Snack – sandwich made from unleavened bread, soft cheese, ham, lettuce and tomato slices.
- Dinner: Fry vegetables with meat. A glass of kefir or unsweetened drinking yogurt.
Sunday
- Breakfast – 1 hard-boiled egg. Diet bread with hard cheese.
- Lunch – cream soup of mushrooms or wild mushrooms. You can add chopped turkey or chicken to the soup.
- Snack – Orange, green apple or a handful of nuts.
- Dinner – vegetable salad, 100 g of oven-baked meat or fish.
Porridge for a low-carbohydrate diet
Porridge on water occupies a borderline position. On a carbohydrate-free diet, it is recommended to include four types of grains on the menu:
| NO. | Surname | Protein content | Carbohydrate content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | buckwheat | eleven% | 68% |
| 2 | pea | 21% | 50% |
| 3 | oatmeal | 12% | 65% |
| 4 | Quinoa | 14% | 64% |
Porridges are especially useful in the intervals between active weight loss phases, when you need to restore the balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates in the body.
A dubious alternative: the keto diet. In the USA, with its notorious fast food culture, the ketogenic diet is a very popular form of carbohydrate-free diet in which you can consume not only proteins but also animal fats in large quantities. This scheme has both supporters and opponents. The main argument of the latter is the damage to the cardiovascular system by fatty foods due to the deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels. It's hard to disagree with that.
Diet timing and precautions
The effects of the diet become apparent after two to three weeks; If you strictly eat a single meal every day, you can lose weight within a week after switching to proteins. Restriction of quickly digestible food almost inevitably leads to intestinal discomfort - constipation, flatulence, which are caused by a decrease in the content of plant fiber in food. If you eat a meat menu or eat fish and seafood, you need to drink at least two liters of fluids a day, eat soups and take mild laxatives if you are constantly constipated. To avoid the development of persistent carbophobia, you should take a break after a month - from two to four weeks. It restores the disturbed protein-carbohydrate balance and intestinal motility. During a break from dieting, you should not strain yourself too much: the diet should be balanced and strict, otherwise you will not only lose all the gains, but also build up additional fat deposits and have to start the fight against excess weight again.