Low Carb Diet and Other Diets
There are a number of diets that involve reducing your carbohydrate intake
There is not one specific low carb diet and a number of different diets share the quality of being relatively low in carbohydrate.
A low carb diet need not be a crash diet. Low carb diets can either have reduced calories or not.
Low carb diets
A number of diets exist that involve (or necessitate) a reduction in carbohydrates, compared with Department of Health recommendations.
Amongst these are:
- The Atkins Diet
- The Dukan Diet
- The Zone Diet
- The South Beach Diet
- The Raw Food Diet
People with diabetes may wish to modify one or more of these diets to work within their own requirements.
Benefits of low carb diets
By reducing or removing carbohydrates with a high glyceamic index from a diet, the changes in blood sugar levels after eating, logically decreases and therefore lower levels of insulin or medication may be needed to normalise blood glucose levels and prevent them going too low.
Particularly if glucose lowering medication is being taken, significantly reducing carbohydrates should be applied with the advice of the diabetic team or GP.
It has been reported that on a low carbohydrate diet, patients with type 2 diabetes can experience a decrease in HbA1C (glycosylated haemoglobin) as well as levels being more stable and predictable.
In addition to helping to stabilise blood glucose levels, reducing carbohydrate from the diet may also have other health benefits including increasing HDL (also known as good cholesterol), lowering blood pressure, increasing energy levels and reducing cravings for foods high in sugar.
Disadvantages of low carb diets
Low carb diets, by their nature, involve a certain amount of restriction of foods. Some people may therefore find the diet more difficult to follow than others.
The safety of low carb diets has often been raised but conclusive agreement has yet to be reached amongst the medical community. Safety has been one of the most discussed aspects of low carbs diets.
