Summer is just around the corner and already retail shops are filled with latest fashion trends of the season. For some women, spring is the time when you start to think about shedding any weight you may have gained over the cold winter months, as you will soon be unable to hide under the comfort of a bulky sweater.
Before you throw yourself onto a low-carb diet in search of quick results, consider that your quick fix may not be the best long term choice for your body.
Reduced Ability to Think
Brain cells are very unique relative to other cells in the human body. Not only do they require twice the energy of any other cell in the body, but their only fuel source is a carbohydrate building block known as glucose. Low-carb diets not only starve the brain, but studies have shown that carb restriction can have a negative affect on your memory.
Bad Breath
When your body does not have carbohydrates to use as a primary source of fuel, it starts digesting your body’s own fat and muscle. It is very common for a low-carb dieter to have breath that smells like a cross between nail polish and over-ripe pineapple. Because it is a result of the body’s own metabolic processes, no amount of brushing, rinsing or gum chewing will improve it.
Poor Digestive Health and Constipation
In order to maintain healthy bowel function, you need to include an adequate amount of fibre. Without it, the body cannot eliminate wastes properly increasing your risk for colon cancer, diverticulitis, hemorrhoids and other diseases.
Heart Disease Risk Increases
Despite the short-term weight loss, studies have shown that people on a low-carb diet actually develop higher LDL or “bad” cholesterol levels relative to their high carb diet counterparts. Higher meat and lower fibre intake dramatically increases homocysteine levels, which can increase the risk of heart disease.
Long Term Weight Gain
You may shed a few extra pounds the first few weeks, but the reality is that weight loss over time is the result of reducing your caloric intake. It actually throws your body into starvation mode making you more likely to gain weight later when you re-introduce carbohydrates.
Realistically speaking, it is difficult to maintain for a lifetime and makes you much more likely to binge on high sugar and high fat foods later.
A wise woman once said, “If you go on a diet to lose weight, you are likely to find it again later”. Choose to simply balance and maintain a healthy lifestyle and you’ll have long term success in dropping those unwanted pounds for good.
At Bronte Wellness Boutique, our team of Naturopathic Doctors can help you maintain a healthy weight through nutrition and lifestyle counselling.
To learn more, please contact our Oakville clinic, located in the heart of Bronte Village, for details.