How a Low Carb Diet Works

– There are diet options with smaller carbohydrate restrictions, which can be 50 g, 70 g or 100 g per day, which are moderate restrictions. But the most common is the restriction of 20 g of carbohydrates per day – he teaches.

The nutritionist highlights the most famous low-carb diet: the Atkins diet, launched in the 1970s by American doctor Robert Atkins, which currently has millions of followers around the world. More recently, the Dukan diet emerged, launched by French doctor Pierre Dukan, after an adaptation of the Atkins method. There are others that come and go from fashion, such as Stillman, Whole30, Hyperproteic, Paleolithic and Keto or Ketogenic, one of the most radical, which reduces carbohydrate consumption to 5% and increases fat consumption to more than 60%. The main objective of all of them is to force the body to use fat as its main source of energy in the form of ketone bodies that will replace the glucose obtained through carbohydrates.

Ethel Souza lists a series of benefits of the low-carb diet, but the most significant one has to do with controlling blood glucose. This is because carbohydrates are the nutrient that are most quickly converted to glucose, which ends up leading to hunger shortly after a meal.

– Our cells need insulin to be able to absorb glucose. When this happens, our brain receives a signal that it needs more glucose, and you soon start to feel hungry – he says, explaining why a reduction in the amount of carbohydrates causes this glucose control.

This also has a direct impact on the main goal of many people who seek this method: weight loss. This happens because the low-carb diet controls blood sugar fluctuations, stimulating greater burning of body fat to provide energy to the body. In addition, there is hunger control associated with the reduction in calorie intake. What's more, low carbohydrate consumption leads to a drastic reduction in insulin release, which means greater mobilization of fat stores to be used as an energy source.

The nutritionist points out that with less insulin in the bloodstream, another positive effect is greater appetite control, especially for sweets, since blood glucose levels tend to vary less intensely. This benefit extends to the reduction of blood triglycerides and improvement in HDL levels.

– And once again, proteins help control appetite, as they do not cause insulin spikes and, on top of that, they delay gastric emptying – adds the nutritionist.

Indication and contraindications

Nutritionist Ethel Souza recommends the low-carb diet for individuals with insulin resistance and/or glucose intolerance, as well as those who consume excessive amounts of sweets, are overweight, and have a high calorie and carbohydrate intake. On the other hand, individuals with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, gallstones, and hypercholesterolemia should not adopt the method.

– This is because fat consumption, even if of good quality, increases above what is recommended for these cases – he explains.

Even those who have no contraindications should first seek guidance from a nutritionist and only then start any diet, whether low carb or not. But for those who want to understand how to start a diet like this, Ethel recommends adopting low-carb fruits in your diet – which does not exclude the possibility of consuming other fruits, depending on the stage of the diet – and legumes that contain a type of carbohydrate, oligosaccharides, which are not absorbed by the body.

Below, we have prepared a one-week menu, seeking a good combination between reducing carbohydrates and balancing nutrients.

• First day

Breakfast: boiled eggs with slices of Minas cheese, green tea.

Dinner: Minas cheese and cucumber strips in cream cheese.

Lunch: fish (tuna, sardines) or chicken breast with broccoli, cabbage or arugula.

Snack: whey protein isolate pancake (egg, whey and golden flaxseed flour), strawberry with cream.

Dinner: scrambled eggs with spinach.

Supper: sunflower seeds.

• Second day

Breakfast: omelet with golden flaxseed, coffee with sweetener.

Dinner: natural yogurt with strawberries.

Lunch: grilled chicken breast, black-eyed pea salad, arugula salad, tomato and boiled eggs.

Snack: kiwi and nuts.

Dinner: garlic shrimp with lettuce and avocado salad.

Supper: pumpkin seeds.

• Third day

Breakfast: egg white omelet with sardines, lemonade.

Collation: boiled egg.

Lunch: chicken breast, lettuce salad, tomato, chickpeas and mango slices.

Snack: grapes and slices of Minas cheese.

Dinner: pancake (egg, banana and almond flour), pineapple juice with mint.

Supper: natural yogurt.

• Fourth day

Breakfast: boiled eggs drizzled with coconut oil, slices of Minas cheese, hibiscus tea.

Lunch: natural yogurt with chia and nuts.

Lunch: omelet with Minas cheese, tomato and oregano, lettuce salad, arugula, tomato and onion.

Snack: boiled eggs and kiwi.

Dinner: carrot soup with cauliflower and cream, cashew juice.

Supper: almonds and chamomile tea.

• Fifth day

Breakfast: egg white omelet with sardines, green tea.

Collation: slices of Minas cheese.

Lunch: sardines, watercress salad, tomatoes, lentils and grapes.

Snack: strawberries with cream.

Dinner: pumpkin cream soup with watercress and mint.

Supper: natural yogurt.

• Sixth day

Breakfast: omelette (eggs with chia), coffee.

Collation: natural yogurt.

Lunch: fish fillet (tilapia) with tomato sauce, bean broth, chayote, zucchini and cherry tomato salad.

Snack: slices of Minas cheese and chestnuts.

Dinner: pancake (egg, banana and almond flour), pineapple juice with mint.

Supper: pumpkin seeds.

• Seventh day

Breakfast: slices of Minas cheese with golden flaxseed, chamomile tea, chestnuts.

Collation: boiled egg.

Lunch: chicken breast, lettuce, tomato and chickpea salad and mango slices.

Snack: grapes and slices of Minas cheese.

Dinner: vegetable soup (zucchini, cabbage, cauliflower, chayote and chicken breast).