Excess weight in most cases is caused by excessive intake of adipose tissue, deposited as a result of chemical transformations of carbohydrates entering the body. And although obesity is based on certain dysfunctions 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 process of daily eating. By stopping or significantly reducing access to the stomach of easily digestible carbohydrates using a carbohydrate-free diet, we automatically trigger the reaction of burning accumulated reserves.
What is a no-carb 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 such nutrition. This is called "drying": by eliminating carbohydrates from the diet, subcutaneous fat deposits are eliminated and the relief and elasticity of ligaments and muscles are improved. But life without carbohydrates is a difficult test for gourmands, who are forced to radically change their taste preferences, and for a fairly long period of time. This requires not only determination, but also a lot of patience and willpower.
There is also the other side of the coin: a complete rejection of carbohydrates in favor of protein products causes a condition that nutritionists call the not entirely correct term carbophobia (literally "fear of carbohydrates"). Avoiding like fire the slightest crumb of bread or a piece of sugar, thinking about nothing other than losing weight, sitting for months "on omelets and cutlets", adherents of a diet without carbohydrates "win» inevitably digestive and metabolic problems, in some cases are fraught with disorders of the higher nervous system, activities, memory loss, depression and sociopathy.
Long-term or constant refusal of carbohydrates causes a disorder of 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-carb diet is problems with the intestines, kidneys, arthritis, gout and other diseases.
Below we will consider 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 capacity with protein. of animal origin with their chemistry and energy far from harmless.
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, which instantly increases appetite (this is why it is said that appetite comes with eating). As a result, when we eat foods high in carbohydrates, 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 proceeds in good condition, saturation occurs gradually and fully. Proteins are broken down in the gastrointestinal tract much longer than carbohydrates, so the feeling of fullness lasts for several hours, and the need for snacks simply does not arise if you eat three or four protein meals a day.
Principle 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 "carbohydrate" kilocalories is not exceeded.
A low-carb diet certainly requires willpower, but its use can be very disciplined. It is enough to memorize just one number - 250. This is the number of energy units - calories 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 on the restaurant menu, but this is an almost inevitable cost of any strict diet.
Mono-carbohydrate diet: effective, but monotonous
An ideal low-carbohydrate diet for guaranteed and rapid weight loss involves separate daily meals - on the first day of the diet you eat only chicken, on the second - only eggs, 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 gastronomic pleasures, promised by tasty and healthy protein productsanimal and plant.
By the way, the aforementioned 250 kilocalories of carbohydrates per day should also be obtained not from buns and sweets, but by harmoniously including complex (long to digest) carbohydrates in the diet - non-starchy vegetables, cereals, whole foods without yeast. Grain bread.
Basic ingredients of a no-carb menu
Here is a list of protein foods for a protein diet:
- lean meat - chicken, turkey, rabbit, veal;
- offal – cooked heart and liver;
- duck, chicken, quail egg;
- fillets of sea fish, crabs, shrimps, lobsters, marine cephalopods;
- dairy products - kefir, yogurt, cottage cheese with cereals, 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, because the proteins in mushrooms are different from those in animals;
- sour berries and fruits, as well as avocados;
- nuts and seeds.
Meat and fish must be cooked by steam, in the oven, or on the grill, but under no circumstances in the pan or deep fryer.
A good diet excludes sausages, sausages and pâtés that contain many dubious additives based on carbohydrates and transgenic fats.
When choosing suppliers of food products, you should give preference to farms where meat and dairy animals are raised in comfortable conditions and do not receive various growth hormones and antibiotics in their diet. You should not trust price tags in supermarkets - 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 areused in the manufacture of the famous "healthy" products.
Prohibited carbohydrates
Now let's talk about the essentials of any diet: what is prohibited. On a low-carb diet, the following is prohibited:
- bread, except whole grain without yeast;
- everything from flour - pasta, pizza, pies, khachapuri, cakes, pastries;
- chocolate and confectionery;
- sweet and sour fruits and berries;
- vegetables rich in starch (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 soft drinks;
- alcohol in any form.
Convinced meat eaters will find it hard 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 with it can be safely added to the 250 kcal that constitute thedaily limit of a protein diet.
Menu for 7 days
Monday
- Breakfast - Cheesecakes made from low-fat cottage cheese with bran.
- Lunch - Vegetable salad with herbs, 200 g chicken breast with herbs.
- Snack - Orange.
- Dinner - Turkey 100 g with stewed vegetables.
Tuesday
- Breakfast - Omelette with vegetable salad or vegetable compote. Black tea without sugar.
- Lunch - Vegetable soup with pieces of turkey or chicken.
- Snack - Green apple.
- Dinner – Baked salmon.
Wednesday
- Breakfast - Unsweetened muesli with milk and dried apricots or other dried fruits.
- 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 the oatmeal).
- Lunch - Vegetable soup with veal 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 omelette. Unsweetened tea. 1 banana.
- Lunch - Boiled chicken breast 100 g with brown rice.
- Snack - Sandwich made from unleavened bread, soft cheese, ham, lettuce and tomato slices.
- Dinner - Vegetable stir-fry with meat. A glass of unsweetened drinking kefir or yogurt.
Sunday
- Breakfast - 1 hard-boiled egg. Diet bread with hard cheese.
- Lunch - Mushroom or wild mushroom soup. You can add ground turkey or chicken to the soup.
- Snack – Orange, green apple or a handful of nuts.
- Dinner - Vegetable salad, 100 g of baked meat or fish.
Porridge for a low-carb diet
Porridges on water occupy a limiting position. During a carbohydrate-free diet, it is recommended to include four types of cereals in the menu:
| No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Buckwheat | eleven% | 68% |
| 2 | Peas | 21% | 50% |
| 3 | groats | 12% | 65% |
| 4 | quinoa | 14% | 64% |
Porridges are especially useful between periods of active weight loss, when you need 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 no-carb diet is the ketogenic diet, which allows eating large amounts of not only protein, but also animal fats. This project has both supporters and opponents. The main argument of the latter is the harm of fatty foods for the cardiovascular system, due to the deposition of cholesterol on the walls of blood vessels. It's hard to disagree with this.
Diet Timing and Precautions
The effect of the diet begins to appear after two to three weeks: with strictly separate daily meals, you can lose weight within a week after switching to protein. Limiting quickly digestible foods will almost inevitably cause intestinal disorders - constipation, flatulence, caused by a decrease in the content of plant fiber in foods. When eating a meat menu or fish and seafood, you should drink at least two liters of fluid per day, eat soups and, if you suffer from constant constipation, take mild laxatives. After a month, to avoid the development of persistent carbophobia, you should take a break - from two to four weeks. It will restore the disturbed protein-carbohydrate balance and intestinal motility. Taking a break from a diet, you should not make great efforts: the diet must be balanced and strict, otherwise you will not only lose all your gains, but also gain additional fat deposits, and you will have to start the fight againstoverweight.