Low-carb diets are very famous among people who are willing to maintain a healthy diet and get rid of the extra calories off their bodies. Just like every other famous trend, lots of myths about low-carb diets are surfacing here and there.
If you are looking forward to adopting a low-carb diet, then you should make yourself well informed. That’s why it is very important you know about these myths and plan your diet accordingly.
1. Low-carb Diets Are Hard to Maintain
This is the most common myth about low-carb diets. Many people believe that it is near impossible to maintain a low-carb diet because common food groups are restricted.
This is not the case by any means. Such a diet plan restricts only those kinds of food that are high in calories and fat.
If you continue to follow a low-carb diet, your appetite will gradually decrease. As a result, you will still be able to feel satisfied after having a meal and lose weight. [1]
Also, there is no scientific evidence that supports low-carb diets being tough to maintain.
2. The Majority of Weight Lost Comes from Water Weight
Our bodies store a lot of carbs in muscles and liver. A storage form of glucose known as glycogen is used by the body to supply the glucose between meals. As cutting carbs makes sure that glycogen stores are down, you lose a lot of water weight. [2]
That’s why many think that water weight loss is the main reason behind low-carb diets being effective. But studies have shown that low-carb diets also reduce body fat quite substantially. [3]
It is indeed true that a low carb diet removes a lot of water weight from your body, but that doesn’t mean it is the only way the process helps you to lose weight.
3. Low-carb Diets are Bad for Health
As low-carb diets contain high amounts of cholesterol and fat, some people claim that blood cholesterol is increased by such diets. If blood cholesterol increases, it causes a problem in your heart.
But studies have found out that dietary cholesterol and saturated fat don’t have any significant negative impact on your heart. [4]
Rather low-carb diets might even improve your cardiac health by decreasing risk factors. By significantly decreasing blood triglycerides, a low-carb diet actually lowers blood pressure. [5]
4. They Reduce Daily Intake of Healthy Plants
People have a misconception that a low-carb diet is akin to a no-carb diet. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll have to eat fewer plants in order to cut the carbs from your diet.
Rather, you can eat a good amount of vegetables, nuts, seeds, and berries without having to extend 50 grams of carbs per day.
If that seems tough for you, it doesn’t matter too much. 100-150 grams of carbs a day is also considered low-carb. That means you are allowed even to eat several pieces of food every day while maintaining a low-carb diet.
Even vegans and vegetarians can sustain a low-carb diet.
5. Such Diets Only Work Because of Eating Fewer Calories
While the low-carb diet does include consuming fewer calories, it is anything but the whole story. The main reason behind the low-carb diet being effective in weight loss is the mechanism of the human body.
Most of the low-carb diets are high in protein, which boosts your body’s metabolism and increases the number of calories you burn.
Such diets are not always about losing weight as well. In conditions like metabolic syndrome, epilepsy, and type-2 diabetes, low-carb diets are really effective. [6]
6. Low-carb Diets Hampers Brain Functions
So many people believe that your brain needs dietary carbs to function properly. They think that carbs are fuels for the brain cells, and without 130 grams of carbs a day, the brain doesn’t function right.
While some cells in the brain need carbs in the form of glucose as fuel, it doesn’t mean your brain won’t function without carbs.
Brain cells can use ketones as fuel to function. Even if the cells need carbs, your liver can still produce glucose out of byproducts of fat metabolism. So, not taking dietary carbs doesn’t have any negative impact on your brain.
7. Physical Performance is Hampered by Low-carb Diets
As most of the athletes maintain diets with high amounts of carbs, people think that carbs are necessary for physical performances. This is partially true as performance can be reduced at the initial stage as the body takes a bit of time to adapt to your new diet.
This is a temporary process as the body gets used to burning fat instead of carbs after a few days. In fact, your physical performance gradually starts to increase. Just give the diet a few weeks, and you’ll see the desired results. [7]
The powerful health benefits of low-carb diets are quite amazing, but still, some people think that such diets are not convenient for their bodies due to these myths. Before believing a public perception of a diet plan, you should ask a nutrition expert.
