Thanks for the question. Certainly diet plays a significant role in weight management or reduction.
Essentially, it’s a matter of balance. If you put more calories in than you expend, you will be in a positive balance and hence this is stored by the body for a rainy day.
In the past, when your ancestors had a less predictable supply of food, it meant that over the good times, they stored fat and in harder times, our body used these fat stores. Interestingly, ketones are a byproduct of fat breakdown and also a metabolite for the brain.
In terms of the low carb diet, much of the “carbs” that we consume are actually hidden. Even things that have been labelled as “low fat” tend to be pumped full of sugar.
To be quite honest, if you are going to try a no/low carb diet, you need to really be mindful of what you eat.
I spoke to a dietician colleague who has a special interest in sports and her advice was:
1. Low carbohydrate diets, like most diets, can cause weight loss by creating a calorie deficit. One benefit of starting on a low carb diet is that you will become more aware of the nutrient content of the foods you’re eating. If your goal is to be below XXX grams of carbs a day, then you will need to start tracking your macros, and this may help reduce intake of simple/added sugars found in soft drinks, cakes, desserts, candy, pastries, which can also be high in fat, hence higher in calories.
2. In addition, the exercise you’re doing (whether competitive sports, or leisure, or just starting out on a regular exercise regime for weight loss) may affect your macronutrient requirements. Endurance sports generally require a higher carbohydrate intake, whereas resistance training for building muscles will require a high protein intake (take note though, most of us get more than enough protein in our daily diets so there’s no need to stock up on protein shakes).
3. To go into ketosis you’ll need to do <20g/day for about 3 days. Speaking to your sports dietitian will help you structure your nutrition plan for re-fueling wisely.”
So as you can see, low carb is an option but it’s only part of the solution. Getting up and exercising plays an important role in addition to one’s diet. Mostly it’s the hidden sugars that we need to be mindful of.
Finally, as Dr Ethan says, the likelihood of triggering acute liver/renal failure from a low carb diet is unlikely provided you don’t have any pre-existing medical conditions.
Good luck with your exercise and weight loss ambitions. Please let us know how you get on!
Bw
