The Skinny on the Low-Carb Diet

Are they really worth trying?
Cathy Lau
The Peak, Simon Fraser University

BURNABY, B.C. (CUP)—It seems difficult to enter any major super-
market or eating establishment without being bombarded by
“low-carb” alternatives. People used to count calories. Nowadays, they
ate far more likely to be counting carbohydrates.

Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution, the South Beach Diet, the
Protein Power Plan, whatever the name, low-carb diets all essentially
advocate the same thing: limit carbohydrate intake, watch the pounds
melt off. The irony with all the talk about carbs and how “bad” they
are for people who are trying to lose weight is that most people are not
even aware of what carbs really are.

 

Carbohydrates are organic compounds that consist of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen, providing four calories per gram. As essential

nutrients, carbs are found in such foods as vegetables, fruits, rice, pasta,
grains, nuts and legumes. Since it would be impossible to go into detail
about each and every carb-limiting diet in so small a space, the focus
here is on a diet so popular that is has Subway marketing its wraps
under its name. Giving dieters free reign to gorge on high fat, high-
kilocalorie foods and lose weight (guilt-free) while doing it, the Atkins
diet is a dieter’s dream come true. But good things rarely come with-
out a catch, and this diet is no exception. In terms of its effects on
health, the Atkins diet hardly lives up to its claims of revolution, caus-
ing equal or more harm than its predecessors.

The Atkins diet is based on a high-protein, high-fat and low-carbo-
hydrate intake with no calorie restriction. For the first 14 days, termed
the “induction” phase, Atkins followers are restricted to eating no
more than 20 grams of carbs a day to adapt their bodies to burning fat
rather than carbs. They may eat liberally from a list of “acceptable
foods,” which includes all types of fish, fowl, shellfish, meat, eggs,
cheese, fats and oils, herbs, and some vegetables. Absolutely restricted
are all types of fruits, bread, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables, caf-
feinated beverages, and all dairy products other than cream, or butter.
Nuts, seeds and legumes are also not permitted during the induction
phase.

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After the first phase, dieters can move on to phase two, “ongoing
weight loss.” During this phase, dieters can personalize their carbohy-
drate choices as they gradually increase their carb intake by five grams
a week, continuing until they go beyond their “critical carbohydrate
level for losing” (the number of daily grams of carbohydrate intake at
which weight loss occurs) and stop losing weight. These added carbs
may include nuts, seeds, fruits and juices.

In phase three, pre-maintenance, dieters are allowed to increase
their carb intake by 10 grams each week, for as long as they continue
to lose weight. This phase is reached when no more than 10 pounds
remain to be lost. Weight loss is deliberately slowed to a crawl.

The final phase of the Atkins diet, maintenance, is reached when the
dieter has achieved their weight goal. The dieter chooses a lifetime
weight range of five pounds, and is expected to maintain the lower
number of the range for life, re-entering previous phases if necessary.

So, after reading about how the diet works, the question that most
people probably want answered is: “Does it really work?” The answer
depends largely on the form of weight one is looking to lose. While
low-carb dieters often lose more weight overall during the dieting
process than low-fat dieters, consider where the weight loss is coming
from.

Low-carbohydrate intake causes the body to have low levels of
blood glucose (the form of carbs the body uses), which, in turn, pro-
motes the depletion of glycogen (the body’s storage form of carbs).
Glycogen is made of branched chains of glucose and is stored in asso-
ciation with water. Loss of glycogen thus leads to loss of water,
causing an initial drop in weight to occur from water loss. The body’s
brain and red blood cells need glucose to function. Without carbs to
provide it, the body kicks into action, breaking down the protein that
comprises both muscles and other body structures to provide the
much-needed glucose. Some dietary protein is used to make glucose,
but since the diet provides insufficient energy to begin with, body pro-
tein must also be broken down to supply sufficient glucose to the
nervous tissue. Since muscle weighs more than fat, and muscle is lost,
more weight is lost.

Eventually, the body will hit the stage of “benign dietary ketosis,”
the fat-burning stage, and the core principle of the whole diet. Ketosis,
which suppresses one’s appetite and helps to burn fat, works primati-
ly through the mechanisms of the “ketone.” The diet refers to the
ketone as a “fat mobilization substance,” discussing how it helps to
burn fat without going into detail about what ketones really are.
Ketones are the product of incomplete fat metabolism, brought on by
insufficient glucose intake. Some ketones are acidic and are referred to
as keto-acids. These acids are produced from fat to provide an alter-
native energy source to the body’s nervous system. As any biologist
should know, human blood has an optimal pH of between 7.35 and
7.45—a higher or lower pH is sure to wreak havoc on the body’s inter-
nal systems. Essentially, someone undergoing the Atkins diet is
lowering their blood pH and increasing the potential risks to their
health.

The final mechanism by which the body loses weight is a factor
common to all diets: on the Atkins diet, one is likely to eat less, and any
meal plan involving a decrease in caloric intake will result in weight
loss. This decrease in food consumption is due to the increase in pro-
tein intake (as protein is the most appetite satiating of the nutrients),
as well as the appetite-suppressing actions of ketosis and the lack of