People with overweight and obesity problem need proper diet. One of top choices is low carbohydrate diet. In fact, this is diet that everyone refers with less calorie intake.
Well, before trying this diet, you should do preliminary examination. Overweight body uses more calories to fulfill nutrient need. However, it gives bad side in long run because most of calories come from carbohydrate foods. Fats and protein are forgotten that accumulate without useful function.
The Low-carb Diet Definition
So, what is low-carb diet? In simple definition, it is diet to control carbohydrate intake as energy source. Most of foods contain carb, but in different level. As you know, foods like pasta, bread, rice, beans, and potato have high carbohydrate compound.
There are two ways for this diet, which are reducing and balancing. In reducing, you do not eat any foods containing sugar and carb. For your information, carbohydrate will turn into sugar to let body absorb it easily. Therefore, sugar is the real treat in this diet.
Second way is balancing that means you consume carbohydrate based on what body needs. People with high activity will use much energy. If the calorie is not balance, the rest will be stored as fats. That’s why more fats come to body because what you eat is far more than what you spend.
Foods For Low Carbohydrate Diet
Several foods are eligible to be low carbohydrate diet. You just pick foods with high protein, vitamins, minerals, and natural fats. Below list gives general view about that subject.
- Fruits: apple, lemon, orange
- Vegetables: tomato, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage
- Meats and chicken
- Fish and seafood
- Dairy product, milk, and cheese
You do not have to choose one of them as primary foods, but just combine them. Eat enough fruits and vegetables while adding meat and chicken. That’s similar to milk, cheese, yogurt, and seafood.
What to Drink
You can drink anything as long as not with sweetener, artificial or natural one. Water is the best drink at all for this diet. It is capable to neutralize body metabolism and prevent dehydration. When your body uses calorie, the water consumption becomes high.
Other choices are tea and coffee. Tea contains natural compound and antioxidant that’s good for health. Coffee is what you can drink in this diet. However, keep both in natural taste without sweetener or cream.
What To Avoid In Low-Carb Diet
It is important to know what to avoid in low-carb diet. Some foods look healthy, but not for this diet. You cannot eat or drink any fruits with high sweet flavor. Sugar is the reason why they are prohibited. Sugar from fruits is different, but has similar effect to body.
Majority of foods come from grains, such as cereal, bread, oatmeal, etc. Nowadays, there are refined grains with low-carb level to fulfill this diet. You may have them, but it is better to avoid at all. Beside, any drinks contain sweeter are extremely not eligible for low carbohydrate diet.