Sirloin Steak
Do not be afraid of carbohydrates and forget all these demanding diets such as Dukan, South-Beach or Atkins.
Today, if you only say the word “carbohydrate” and many people recoil with horror. Everything related to the carbohydrates as pasta, bread and potatoes are as good as poison to them.
Most people try to reduce their carbs intake resorting to these diets mentioned above. More than that, some people want to completely cut their carbs intake, blaming them for all diseases and allergies.
Yes indeed carbs have gotten a scary word and also a scapegoat for all diets.
But back to the diets mentioned above, it should be noted that all have something in common. They are all focused on reducing the intake of carbohydrates.
DUKAN DIET: This diet is the creation of a great French nutritionist, Pierre Dukan. It is divided in four stages:
1) Dieters consume only foods rich in protein.
2) Protein-rich foods plus several specific vegetables.
3) The third stage reintroduces bread, fruit, starchy foods and cheese.
4) Dieters come back to a normal diet, where dieters can consume proteins only once a week.
South-Beach Diet: This diet was designed by a cardiologist Arthur Agatson and a dietician Marie Almon and is intended to prevent heart diseases.
The principle is simple, the replacing of bad carbohydrates and fats (red meat, sugar and cheese) with good carbohydrates and fats (vegetables, wholegrain, fruits and specific proteins).
However, carbohydrates are completely restricted in the first two weeks of the diet and then progressively reintroduced.
Atkins Diet: This diet is the creation of Dr. Robert Atkins and it is focused on severely carbohydrates restriction and living off fats and proteins.
This diet can help you lose weight but it has several serious side effects such as constipation, bad breath, nausea, premature ageing and heart disease.
So, all these diets tell you that carbohydrates (carbs) are bad for your body and you need to avoid them, but it is no scientific evidence to sustain that.
Statistically, only one person in a hundred has wheat or gluten intolerance, so the chance to have this intolerance is extremely small. So think about it!
If you remove gluten or wheat from your alimentation, you will remove an entire major food group, which means you will eliminate an important source of minerals and vitamins from your diet. In fact, you are putting your health at great risk by reducing or eliminating carbohydrates.
Carbohydrates there are a great source of fibers and energy. They have a great role in regulating the blood sugar levels and keeping healthy your digestive system.
You can find carbohydrates in sweet potatoes, carrots, wholegrain cereals, parsnips, brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, bread, etc. They are a great source of minerals and vitamins such as iron, calcium and vitamin B.
However, you should be careful with sugar consumption. Sugar is a carbohydrate and can be found naturally in vegetables, fruit and milk, which are great components for a balanced and healthy diet, but you need to be very cautious with the consumption of refined sugar from cakes, cookies or biscuits. In fact, all carbs form glucose that is used by your body to release energy, but the more refined the sugar, the faster this glucose will be released into the blood. This will create irregularities in the blood sugar levels.
A lack of carbohydrates means you need to eat other kinds of foods to replace them and you will replace them with things such as butter, cheese, eggs or bacon like in Atkins Diet. This means saturated fats (bad fats), which will increase a lot your cholesterol level, not to mention that without carbohydrates you will become grumpy.
