If you want to build muscle and/or lose weight, you might be the perfect candidate for a high-protein, low carbohydrate diet. That’s because while carbohydrates are good to an extent and the body uses them as energy, if you consume too many of them, they are stored as fat. One of the most popular high-protein diets, called the Atkins diet, is a good example of how you can eat right and lose weight, with enough energy to do what you want to do.
There are so-called “good” and “bad” carbohydrates. Good carbohydrates are those like pinto beans, cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, apples, carrots, artichokes, whole grains, pears, peaches, whole wheat pasta, and so on. Bad carbohydrates are mostly processed foods and highly refined white flour-based products like cakes, cookies, potato chips, white noodles, white bread, and white rice.
With a high-protein, low carbohydrate diet, you focus on consuming good carbohydrates and lean meats. As with eating too much sugar, eating too many bad carbohydrates is also not healthy. That’s true even though people are always going to crave these types of foods that are high in sugar and other types of snack foods, because they taste good.
In reality, too many bad carbohydrates ruin your appetite by causing you to eat more. They spike your insulin levels just as quick as you consumed them, then they send your insulin levels crashing back down twice as hard and in a short amount of time. The end result is that you feel hungry for more food. You may even experience intense hunger pangs during this time as well.
That’s why a good way to lose weight is to consume a high-protein, low carbohydrate diet. If you have a diet like this, you’re going to be eating plenty of protein and good carbohydrates so that your hunger is satisfied and you won’t keep eating trying to satisfy a hunger that just can’t be satisfied. After you eat, you won’t become hungry after just an hour, but instead will be able to stay satisfied for up to five hours. And this is a real fullness that’s not going to go away for several hours.
You become full like this because you eat a lot of fiber and protein. Protein comes from sources like eggs, milk, chicken, fish, pork, beef and turkey. You get your fiber from the vegetables and fruits you consume. This is very much what the Atkins diet is like; several other diets also take a similar approach to food choices.
The Atkins diet and other high-protein low carbohydrate diets focus on helping you stay full on fewer calories even as you have enough energy to do what you need to do. Because you’re getting a lot of protein and a lot of fiber found in good carbohydrates, your appetite is satisfied. The carbohydrates you get in a high-protein low carbohydrate diet like Atkins give you the right amount of fiber every day so that you get the recommended daily requirements you need. And because it’s also high in nutrition, you’re going to get enough energy from your diet to deal easily with just sailing on through to your next meal — and best of all, nothing of what you eat is going to be stored as fat.
That said, eating a high-protein, low carbohydrate diet certainly isn’t for everyone. There are lots of success stories about this type of diet, including the Atkins diet, but some people don’t do well on a high-protein, low carbohydrate diet. Talk to your doctor before you start a new diet program just to be safe.
Most importantly, you need to know what and how to eat when you’re on a diet. One of the biggest misconceptions about dieting is that you should eat little to nothing. However, that’s inaccurate. You should opt to get the nutrition you need from the foods you eat, and that’s true of diets like the Atkins diet. The best thing about this type of diet, though, is that it’s not only safe, but it keeps you satisfied while you lose weight.
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