No Carb Diets

It is a matter for debate among diet experts and the industry that drives the commercial diets whether removing carbohydrates from the diet is a good thing or a bad thing.

From a weight loss standpoint, it would seem to be a good thing, at least in the short term.

But from a whole body heath perspective, it cannot be good for a person to omit a whole food group from what they eat.

However, regardless of who is right or wrong, there are some diet programs that exist and have a huge following of mostly satisfied dieters who have lost weight and continue to keep weight from returning by continuing to follow this kind of nutritional regime.

Atkins Diet

One of the first of the really popular diets was the Atkins Diet, which was immensely popular among dieters but which also stirred up a hornet's nest among diet and nutrition experts who were horrified that people should be omitting carbohydrate rich fruits and vegetables from their daily intake.

It was not so much the need to remove carbs in order to force the body to burn fat for energy to make up the shortfall left by the omission of those carbs that got experts up in arms.

It was the glaring gap left in dieters' nutritional intake by the lack of fresh fruit and vegetables that are so necessary for the well running and health of the body.

Despite protestations, dieters flocked to Atkins like moths to a flame and created the diet world's equivalent of a best seller. As time moved on, the popularity of this program waned as more experts joined the fray in attacking the health issues it was stirring up.

Many dieters who had initially lost weight stayed on the diet and became ill through lack of certain nutrients not available in the diet. Others gained weight as their bodies grew accustomed to the altered eating regime, while still others developed gastric and colon problems from eating so much red meat without enough fiber in the diet that would normally be provided by fresh fruits and veggies.

The author of the diet, Robert Atkins died obese. It was a sad testament to such a popular diet program, which is still available and surprisingly popular today.

Dukan Diet

In a similar vein to the Atkins, the Dukan Diet has emerged from Europe thanks to its author, Dr Pierre Dukan MD devising a more robust diet that has evolved in a way that benefits from the omission of carbs as with Atkins, but it holds that regimen for only several days before allowing fruits and vegetables back into the diet gradually in a series of phases.

The first phase is known as the "Attack Phase" and it is in the first week or so that you are severely restricted on what you can eat. It is designed to jumpstart the body's metabolism by forcing it to burn fat for energy while increasing the metabolic rate in preparation for the return of fresh produce based carbohydrates.

It takes you though the phases gradually adding more foods to the list of allowed items until your build up to a fully nutritious menu that is designed to maintain the new weight you have achieved over the long term. See https://loseweight.intervalinc.com/diet/dukan-diet/ for a fuller, more detailed review of the program.

South Beach Diet

This is another diet set out in a number of "phases" that starts with a short highly restrictive period where all carbs are omitted from the menu. It is followed by a longer term, more relaxed menu that re-introduces some carbs.

And that is followed by the long term maintenance phase which is designed around a lifestyle and diet program to keep the weight away that has been lost during the program.

This course has been around for a good number of years and has stood the test of time well. However, it's popularity has waned in the wake of newer, more popular programs such as Dukan.

This is just small selection of what is available for people who are willing to lose weight by taking relatively drastic action.

Of course, like any weight loss method, these diets are only as good as the people on are willing to maintain their regime and not stray back to their old eating habits.