Excess weight in most cases is caused by an excessive supply of adipose tissue, deposited as a result of chemical transformations of carbohydrates entering the body. And although obesity is based on certain disorders of the endocrine and digestive systems, the most comfortable and painless solution to the problem remains to limit the source of excess calories in the daily eating process. By stopping or drastically reducing the access to the stomach of easily digestible carbohydrates through a carbohydrate-free diet, we automatically trigger the reaction of burning accumulated reserves.
What is a carbohydrate-free diet?
It is on the basis of a carbohydrate-free diet that athletes lose extra pounds before competitions, artists on the eve of filming, and public figures when they need to get in shape. Athletes even have a special term for this type of nutrition. It is called "drying": by eliminating carbohydrates from the diet, subcutaneous fat deposits are removed and the relief and elasticity of ligaments and muscles are improved. But life without carbohydrates is a difficult test for those with a sweet tooth, who are forced to radically change their taste preferences, and for a fairly long period of time. It requires not only determination, but also a lot of patience and willpower.
There is also the other side of the coin: the complete rejection of carbohydrates in favor of protein products causes a condition that nutritionists call by the not entirely correct term carbophobia (literally "fear of carbohydrates"). Avoiding the slightest crumb of bread or a piece of sugar like fire, not thinking about anything other than losing weight, sitting for months "on tortillas and cutlets", fans of a carbohydrate-free diet inevitably "earn" digestive problems and metabolic disorders, in some cases plagued by disorders of the higher nervous system, memory loss, depression and sociopathy.
Prolonged or constant rejection of carbohydrates causes a disorder of the acid-base balance in the direction of acidification of the body, which inevitably leads to a decrease in immunity and premature aging. A side effect of a prolonged low-carbohydrate diet is intestinal problems, kidney problems, arthritis, gout and other ailments.
Below we will look at several examples of a carbohydrate-free diet and a scheme for its use, which allows you to normalize metabolic processes, get rid of excess weight and at the same time not go to extremes, pumping the body to the maximum with proteins. of animal origin with its far from harmless chemistry and energy.
Biochemical and anatomical bases of a low carbohydrate diet.
The decisive argument in favor of a low-carbohydrate diet is the peculiarity of the body's reaction to the entry of even a small amount of sugar into the stomach. The pancreas immediately begins to reflexively release insulin into the blood and digestive enzymes into the stomach, instantly increasing appetite (that's why they say appetite comes with food). As a result, when we eat carbohydrate-rich foods, we almost always eat more than we objectively need. Protein foods do not have such a seductive effect on the "pancreas", the production of hormones and enzymes occurs in good condition, saturation occurs gradually and completely. Proteins are broken down in the gastrointestinal tract much longer than carbohydrates, so the feeling of satiety lasts for several hours, and the need for snacks simply does not arise if you eat three or four protein meals a day.
Beginning 250 kcal
Most likely, it will not be possible to completely abandon carbohydrates, simply because they are included even in completely protein dishes, albeit in minimal quantities. But this is not scary, the main thing is that the specified number of kilocalories from "carbohydrates" is not exceeded.
A low-carb diet certainly requires willpower, but its use can be very disciplined. It is enough to remember a single number: 250. This is the number of energy units, calories, that are contained in the daily volume of carbohydrates entering the body. Of course, we will have to carefully weigh all dishes and calculate their energy value using special tables or notes in the restaurant menu, but this is an almost inevitable cost of any strict diet.
Carbohydrate monodiet: effective, but monotonous
An ideal low-carb diet for guaranteed rapid weight loss involves separate daily meals: on the first day of the diet eat only chicken, on the second only eggs, and on the third only cheese or cottage cheese. This is the fastest, but also the most "tasteless" and monotonous way to lose weight. Not everyone is ready for such sacrifices, so we will lose weight without fanaticism and combine business with pleasure: a healing effect with the gastronomic pleasures promised by tasty and healthy products based on animal and vegetable proteins.
By the way, the aforementioned notorious 250 kilocalories of carbohydrates per day should also be obtained not from buns and sweets, but by harmoniously including complex (long-digested) carbohydrates in the diet: non-starchy vegetables, cereals, whole unleavened ones. wholemeal bread.
Basic ingredients of a carbohydrate-free menu
Here is a list of protein foods intended for a protein diet:
- lean meat: chicken, turkey, rabbit, beef;
- offal: stewed heart and liver;
- duck, chicken, quail egg;
- sea fish fillets, crabs, shrimp, lobsters, sea cephalopods;
- dairy products: kefir, yogurt, cereal cottage cheese, low-fat sour cream and hard cheese;
- leafy vegetables (cabbage), artichokes, peas, beans, zucchini, onions, garlic, garden herbs. You can eat mushrooms, but with caution, since the proteins in mushrooms are different from those in animals;
- sour berries and fruits, as well as avocados;
- Nuts and seeds.
Meat and fish should be steamed, baked or at most grilled, but in no case pan-fried or fried.
A proper diet excludes sausages, sausages and pâtés that contain many dubious additives based on carbohydrates and transgenic fats.
When choosing feed suppliers, it is necessary to give preference to farms where meat and dairy animals are kept in comfortable conditions and do not receive various growth hormones and antibiotics in their feed. Do not trust supermarket price labels: if you are on a diet, carefully read the instructions on the package and study in advance the list of food additives, many of which are harmful to health, but are used in the manufacture of famous "healthy" products.
Banned carbohydrates
Now about the main thing for each diet: what is prohibited. On a low carbohydrate diet, the following are prohibited:
- bread, except whole wheat without yeast;
- everything made from flour: pasta, pizza, pies, khachapuri, pies, pastries;
- chocolate and confectionery;
- sweet and sour fruits and berries;
- starchy vegetables (potatoes, carrots, corn, beets);
- semi-finished industrial products. No matter what manufacturers write on the packaging, they almost always contain carbohydrate additives and preservatives, and even genetically modified fats;
- fruit juices and carbonated drinks;
- alcohol in any form.
Convinced carnivores will find it difficult to resist a glass of red wine with their favorite steak, but here you have to choose: health or pleasure. Alcohol, in addition to its direct toxic effect on the body, is also a powerful appetite stimulant and a fairly high-calorie product: the calories obtained from it can be safely added to the 250 kcal, which is the daily limit for a protein diet.
Menu for 7 days
Monday
- Breakfast: cheesecakes made with low-fat cottage cheese and bran.
- Lunch: vegetable salad with herbs, 200 g chicken breast with herbs.
- Snack - Orange.
- Dinner: turkey 100 g with stewed vegetables.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: omelet with vegetable salad or stewed vegetables. Black tea without sugar.
- Lunch: cream of vegetables with pieces of turkey or chicken.
- Snack - Green apple.
- Dinner: baked salmon.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: sugar-free muesli with milk and dried apricots or other nuts.
- Lunch: lentil soup with chicken breast.
- Snack - Almonds or other nuts (a handful).
- Dinner - Salad with cherry tomatoes, arugula, canned tuna (1 can) and mozzarella.
Thursday
- Breakfast - Oatmeal with water without sugar. A banana (can be chopped and added to oatmeal).
- Lunch: vegetable soup with beef meatballs.
- Snack: orange or grapefruit, a glass of citrus juice.
- Dinner: low-fat steamed fish.
Friday
- Breakfast - Mixture of 1 banana, a glass of fresh or thawed pitted cherries and a glass of milk. Mix in a blender.
- Lunch - Chicken Pilaf 200 g.
- Snack: green tea with a piece of hard cheese.
- Dinner: chicken or turkey with vegetable salad.
Saturday
- Breakfast - Egg white omelet. Unsweetened tea. 1 banana.
- Lunch: boiled chicken breast 100 g with brown rice.
- Snack - Sandwich made with flatbread, soft cheese, ham, lettuce and sliced tomatoes.
- Dinner - Stir-fried vegetables with meat. A glass of kefir or yogurt to drink without sugar.
Sunday
- Breakfast: 1 hard-boiled egg. Diet bread with hard cheese.
- Lunch: creamy mushroom or wild mushroom soup. You can add turkey or minced chicken to the soup.
- Snack: orange, green apple or a handful of walnuts.
- Dinner: vegetable salad, 100 g of baked meat or fish.
Porridge for a low carbohydrate diet
Porridge with water occupies a borderline position. When following a carbohydrate-free diet, it is recommended to include four types of cereals in the menu:
| No. | Name | Protein content | carbohydrate content |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buckwheat | eleven% | 68% |
| 2 | Pea | twenty-one% | fifty% |
| 3 | Oatmeal | 12% | Sixty-five% |
| 4 | Quinoa | 14% | 64% |
Porridge is especially useful in the intervals between periods of active weight loss, when it is necessary to restore the balance of fats, proteins and carbohydrates in the body.
A dubious alternative: the keto diet In the United States, with its famous fast food culture, a very popular type of carbohydrate-free diet is the ketogenic diet, which allows you to eat large amounts of not only protein, but also animal fats. This scheme has both supporters and opponents. The main argument of the latter is the harm of fatty foods to the cardiovascular system, due to the deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels. It's hard to disagree with this.
Diet calendar and precautions.
The effect of the diet begins to appear after two or three weeks, with strict and separate daily meals you can lose weight a week after switching to proteins. Limiting quickly digestible foods will almost inevitably lead to intestinal disorders: constipation, flatulence, caused by a decrease in the content of plant fiber in food. When consuming a meat menu or eating fish and seafood, you should drink at least two liters of liquid a day, eat soups and, if you have constant constipation, take mild laxatives. After a month, to avoid the development of persistent carbophobia, it is advisable to take a break, two to four weeks. It will restore the disturbed protein-carbohydrate balance and intestinal motility. When taking a break from the diet, you should not try too hard: the diet must be balanced and strict, otherwise you will not only lose all your gains, but also accumulate additional fat deposits and have to start the fight. against excess weight again.