Is Cutting Carbs a Sustainable Solution to Losing Weight?

Everyone wants to lose weight. We all want to shed the fats in our body to achieve a healthy and fitter body. But with back-to-back weight loss programs and diet plans emerging in the market, finding the most effective weight loss method that works on us can be overwhelming. Do you really have to give up eating carbs to lose weight? Here’s what the experts have to say.

The Recommended Carb Intake

According to health experts, the recommended carb intake should only comprise around 45-65% of your daily calorie requirement. For example, if you’re in a 2000-calorie diet, your recommended carb intake should only be around 225-325 grams per day. However, if your goal is to lose weight, then you should cut down your carbs down to 150 grams every day. This weight loss plan is known as the low-carb diet.

Studies show you need to focus on eating whole grains and simple carbs to be healthier.

According to health experts, low-carb diet is more effective for weight loss because you’re not only restricting yourself in eating complex carbs like bread and pasta, but you’re also cutting down your sugar intake too.

Lowering your carb and sugar intake helps stabilize your blood sugar levels. Furthermore, you will still feel fuller longer because the diet plan replaces carbs with protein, nutritious foods and vegetables, and healthy fats.

The Study

Other studies show that low-carb diets also help suppress your appetite – making you less prone to binge eating or eating more calories. Its benefits also go way beyond weight loss. Eating fewer carbs help lower not only your blood sugar but also your blood pressure and LDL, or bad cholesterol. In return, it raises your HDL (good) cholesterol levels.

How to Determine Your Carb Intake?

While having a low-carb diet helps in losing your weight, the health experts say this diet plan is not for everyone. According to them, one person’s carb intake isn’t the same for the other one. For example, if you’re not active and are living a sedentary lifestyle with processed foods here and there, then low-carb diet works for you best.

According to health experts, an individual’s recommended carb intake depends on the person’s age, body composition, gender, activity levels, preferences, metabolic health, and food culture.

Restricting your carb intake will help you lose weight faster and more effectively. But if you’re living a healthy lifestyle and are engaging in a high-intensity exercise like running, sprinting, or lifting weights, then you need more carbs to fuel yourself. This is just for healthy people, too. Those who are suffering from metabolic syndromes like obesity or type II diabetes will also have a different carb intake program compared to those healthy people.

Deciding Your Daily Carb Requirement

The health experts recommend you remove the unhealthiest carbs from your diet, like starches, refined wheat, and sugar to improve your overall health and wellbeing.

While there is no scientific paper that explains how much carbohydrate, you need to take for individual’s needs, this guideline will help you estimate and assess your daily carb intake depending on your activity levels, lifestyle, and preferences.

The Moderate Carb Intake

According to health experts, those people who are active, lean, and trying to lose weight or maintain a healthy lifestyle should aim for 100-150 grams of carbs every day. You can eat cruciferous veggies, fruits, and healthy starches like sweet potatoes, potatoes, rice, and oats as your source of healthy carbs.

50-100 Grams Per Day

For those who want to lose weight faster and restrict their carb intake due to sensitivity, you can aim for this range instead. The health experts recommend you eat plenty of veggies, about 2-3 pieces of fruit every day, as well as minimal amounts of starchy carbs.

20-50 Grams Per Day

For those people who are suffering from metabolic syndromes like obesity or diabetes, the health experts recommend you restrict your carb intake to only 50 grams of carb per day. It will activate and put your body into ketosis, where it will access the fats stored in your body to burn and convert it into energy.

You can eat plenty of vegetables, berries with some whipped cream. Aside from that, make sure to up your healthy fats (e.g. avocados, seeds, and nuts) to boost the ketosis process in your body.