What is a low carb high protein diet? It sounds simple enough, but there are so many varieties of these diets around today, it can be quite confusing. The best known high protein diet is probably Atkins. The Atkins Diet is based on the premise that when you restrict carbohydrates in your diet, your body starts to burn calories much more efficiently. This allows you to eat what may seem like unlikely diet foods, such as steak, eggs and cream.

Then there is the South Beach diet, which is also a low carb diet, with some differences. The South Beach Diet is even more restrictive about carbs, and you are not allowed to eat bread, potatoes, pasta, rice or cereal for the first two weeks of the diet. After that, you are still encouraged to severely restrict these foods. The philosophy behind this is that after these two weeks, your body will lose its addiction to carbs and it will be easier to reduce your intake of them for the rest of your life. South Beach also incorporates contemporary knowledge about healthy vs. unhealthy fats.

Still another diet that might be put in the low carb high protein category is the Paleo or Caveman Diet. This is an attempt to recreate the pre-Agricultural Revolution, hunter-gatherer diet of paleolithic humans. This turns out to have many similarities with the South Beach Diet, though the names of the two diets would seem to suggest that they are complete opposites! The paleo diet also discourages most commonly eaten carbs and even grains. In this way, it’s the most restrictive, as in this case you aren’t supposed to ever return to eating carbs or grains. This means no bread, pasta, corn, potatoes or rice. What’s left? For protein, you can eat natural meat, fish and eggs. Technically, if you are on the paleo diet, you should not eat factory farmed meat, as this is not only full of artificial ingredients, but the cattle are corn-fed, which eventually finds its way into your body. The paleo diet is also big on fruits and nuts –the “gatherer” part of the hunter-gatherer formula.

Are these (and many other) low carb, high protein diets good for losing weight? We can cautiously say, probably, for most people. In most cases, you are doing your body good by giving up, or at least reducing, highly processed, sugar-rich carbs. When it comes to protein, there are differences of opinion. People with kidney diseases should not go on a high protein diet without consulting a doctor. The RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance) of protein is 56 grams per day for men and 46 for women. Most high protein diets suggest aiming for 120 grams.

If you want to try a low carb high protein diet you may want to try one of the above-mentioned diets, or simply move in that direction at your own pace. Also keep in mind that any diet will be much more effective when combined with regular exercise.

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