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- "What lies behind us and what lies
before us are small matters compared to what lies within us."
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Ralph Waldo Emerson
Low-carb Mistakes
Those low-carb diets are still going strong. According to the research
firm ACNielsen, more than 17 percent of households in the United States
include someone who is on a low-carb diet. Another study shows 40
percent of Americans are "watching their carbs." Everywhere you look,
there are new, low-carb chocolates, ice creams, cereals, beverages ...
even beers! But not all is perfect in the low-carb world. Mistakes on
these strict diets can curtail even the most well intended dieter's
success.
MOST COMMON MISTAKES: Registered Dietician Molly Kimball, from the
Ochsner Clinic Foundation in New Orleans says one mistake people make
when it comes to low-carb living is an "all-or-nothing mentality." She
says: "They're either on low carbs, or they're not, so they're picking
the croutons and carrots out of their salad, or they just say, 'The heck
with it,' and they're going to have the bread basket itself. It doesn't
have to be that way. If they're having a little bit of carbs throughout
the day, that can make it a lot easier to stick to in the long run."
Another mistake? Not counting sugar alcohols in the total intake of
carbohydrates from foods. Sugar alcohols are a type of carbohydrate that
is not completely broken down and not completely digested. "Legally," on
food labels, manufacturers are able to say that you can subtract it from
the total carbohydrates, and it's not included in net carbs. But it's
still causing your body to produce insulin. What's important to note,
says Kimball, is that you can subtract the grams of fiber from the total
carb count in every food. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate, but the body
does not digest it.
A
third mistake is simply eating too much. Many times, people on low-carb
diets will consume more calories just because a food has the words "low-carb"
on it. Kimball says it's a dangerous trap to fall into. She says: "All
they look at is carbohydrates, so if you have a smaller person, and
they're eating tons of cheese, tons of nuts, a lot of butter, blue
cheese dressing, steaks ... If they're a smaller person to begin with,
they're simply going to take in more calories than they need to in order
to burn body fat." Instead, she says, "Chose lean proteins. Go with
grilled fish, lean pork, lean beef or chicken. If you're doing fats,
choose healthier fats like nuts, avocadoes and olive oil."
THE
BIG NO-NO: One of the biggest, and most misunderstood, mistakes comes
from the land of low-carb treats. More than 1,000 low-carb foods have
hit the shelves in the last five years, and many of them fall into the
"treats" category. Kimball says, "The calories that they had initially
cut out, they're putting right back in with these low-carb versions of
the traditional foods. So, again getting back to the idea that the
calories do still matter. People often do stop losing weight when
they're adding in these low-carb treats." For example, one serving of a
low-carb ice cream often has nearly twice the fat as a serving of many
regular ice creams.
Source: worldhealth.net
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