Is A Low-carb, High Protein Diet Really Effective For Weight Loss?

From what I have seen (upwards of six cases I have been able to observe among friends, family and co-workers) it will be safe to answer the question heading this article with a simple No! Not only is a diet high in protein NOT the best at all for weight loss, according to many naturopaths, such a diet may even be detrimental to ones overall health.

Because of its complexity, excessive protein along with fatty foods are the most difficult foods to digest and tend to leave one tired all the time. Moreover the common putrefaction of protein while being digested creates many acids in the body and has been known to lay the foundation for cancer.

This is not to say that proteins and fats must be avoided, quite the contrary, what should be the goal in consuming these foods should be taking in exactly what the body needs and no more. The Max Planck institute has proven that, considering that the body recycles most of its protein for its own needs, 25g of protein a day is more than enough.

According to T.C. Fry, a well known Naturopath and pioneer in drugless healing, there are several cultures such as the Caribbeans, who subsist on a Manioc-based (root-vegetable) diet and get about 12 g of protein a day. Quite similarly, an aboriginal tribe living in the Mountains of Hagen was discovered to live on about 80-90% of their diet being Sweet Potatoes, the rest mostly leafy veggies, bananas and the like.

While I lived in Nigeria for 17 plus years, most people hardly ever even consumed milk or cheese (they were too expensive) and families strictly rationed the consumption of animal flesh to about the size of medium size lemon per person every other day. All these groups of people, with their root vegetable diets are obviously in great health, accomplishing great physical work.

Moreover, Mother’s milk, which for a time is a baby’s perfect food, has about 1-2 % protein content. (Only fruits and veggies resemble it in their composition) Any reasonable person will be able to deduce that a growing baby needs more protein than a full-grown adult, yet human babies, just like with our distant cousins: the Apes in the wild, do just fine on breast milk and on the subject of apes who share about 98% of our DNA, do you know the Gorilla, the strongest primate, has been known to bench press upwards of about 4000 pounds! What does this creature live on? According to Dr. George Schaller and Dian Fossey, two great primatologists, this powerful relative lives on mostly fruits and leaves.

Now, considering all the factors above, when it comes to the right diet for weight loss, I would recommend a Mucus-less or Mucus-poor (raw and cooked fruits and veggies) over any other mere fad in the quest of attaining fitness and health. Of course, if the consumption of animal flesh must be continued, I would also advise that it be done at a minimal quantity and only one kind of animal flesh every so often.

Keep The Healthy Snacks Lose The Guilt

Snacking performs a very important role in our lives. Some times we snack because we are bored. We eat because we are bored. There is no reason to cut out snacking all together. Snacking is also a great way to avoid things that we do as a pick me up some days - a kind of motivation. For example, we can eat a piece of fruit instead of that cola to get some energy.

The key thing to do is, to know what to eat and what not to eat. Here we will give you some snacking ideas that will help you choose what's better. It doesn't require a genius to figure it out, but you might be surprised at some of the suggestions. This might sound a bit strange, but I would suggest that you get a food dehydrator. You can get one for next to nothing and they are easy to use. I know that learning how to use something new isn't always as easy as it sounds, but believe me, these things are a snap to use.

You can dry all kinds of things in your dehydrator. The key is to cut fruits and veggies thin. The thinner it's cut, the faster they will dry. Fruits are a great thing to dry. You can dry whatever is in season that you can find. You can also dry canned items. I would suggest that you start out with a few easy things. Start out with strawberries that are easy to dry.

Not only are strawberries easy, but when they are dried, they carry a punch of sweetness that only sugar can match. The great thing is, these are sweet, but they don't have the calories of candy. You can also dry veggies as well. Are you like me, do you love the instant soup mixes they sell at the store? Well, I love them but hate all the added salt. If you dry your own veggies, you can make your own soup and you can control how much salt you add.

Here is something you might like to do as a snack. Take a handful of banana chips, strawberry chips, and about two apple chips. I take them and put them in some low fat yogurt. That makes for a snack that is good for you and you could grow to love it. You can eat the dried food plain as well. Just eat some fruit chips instead of potato chips or candy. You really can't go wrong with dried fruits. They will last a very long time if you keep them in an airtight bag or box as well.

Fish jerky, turkey jerky and beef jerky are easy to make. Making jerky will also save money so you wont have to pay over ten dollars a pound for jerky. Use what ever cut of meat that is on sale at the store for beef jerky. And you can always eat a veggie platter for a snack. Veggies are always good, but some people get bored with them. So mix dried fruits and veggies to break the boredom.

A great veggie plate can be made up of any type of veggies. Suggestion; make yours with what ever is in season. Also try putting a little oil and vinegar dressing on them. Not too much, but just enough to taste. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper to taste. Squeeze half a lemon over them for an extra zing. Make sure to keep a healthy diet and try not to snack on foods that aren't good for you. I know tons of people who have a very good diet, but their problem is that they eat all kinds of junk when they snack. This doesn't serve any purpose at all.

If you must have carbs, don't do anything stupid. Don't go running for the potato chips. Instead, eat some sliced potatoes and add some seasoning to them. The next time you feel guilty because you ate the wrong snack food, come back and read this article again. This will help you curb those hunger cravings and allow you to
snack without the guilt.

Weight Loss Diets

Studies in recent years about obesity and overweight tendencies in human beings have shown that people who are obese and over-weight are consuming food, which is more than their actual energy requirements.

One needs to have a balanced caloric intake in order to balance the energy proportion in his/her body. People who are very eagerly trying for weight loss need to make wiser choices while consuming food and be more active. Weight loss cannot be achieved without calorie control.

Here are few weight loss diet tips for you:

• You can adopt for yourself the weight loss diet of calorie control intake by consuming measures of food that have low calories such as most of the vegetables, fruits or fresh vegetable soups.

• You would also need to reduce your intake of alcohol, added sugars and fatty foods. You need not stop eating food with calories all together.

• You can pick fat-free or low fat products, whole grains, fruits and vegetables to ensure that your body is not deprived of the vital nutrients in your zeal for a weight loss diet. An ideal weight loss diet would be one that would have an item from each food group such as fiber, vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates and other nutrients that have lesser amount of calories.

You need to strictly reduce your sodium, cholesterol, saturated fats and trans fats intake to achieve a healthy weight loss. Diet control is always the first and best option for weight loss. The weight loss diet, which you should follow, should include fat, carbohydrates and protein, each containing 25-30% calories, 45-65% calories and 10-35% calories respectively.

All those weight loss diets, which have very low or very high amount of fat; carbohydrates or proteins, are not advisable.