Can low carbohydrate diet make you slim?

Obesity research is basically an attempt to explain attitude of slim people towards obese. Some doctors don’t want to deal with obese patients because they think; they are dealing with someone non sensitive towards his/her own health. Obesity is beyond control of obese person. There could be genetic, hormonal or metabolic reasons behind altered physiology.

Intake of carbohydrates (sugar and starches) and fat generally blamed for getting obese or overweight. My great grandfather died at the age of 105 year and his diet was always rich in fat and protein with optimal amount of carbohydrates, but he remained slim and active throughout his life. The narrative that dietary fat causes heart attack is an absurd idea. I wonder to learn that Dr. Atkin’s New Diet Revolution also suggested high-fat diet to minimize the risk of heart disease. On the contrary low-fat and low-carbohydrate (low calorie) diet being recommended by the physicians could be more harmful for your heart. Diet rich in fat and low in carbohydrates improves the level of HDL and reduces the level of LDL in our blood, which is said to be healthy environment for our heart. Fat rich and low-carb diet also controls blood pressure and insulin level. The low-fat diet which people have been eating with hopes of protecting heart has been bad for heart ‘actually’ as it is rich in carbohydrates.

Our bodies burn carbohydrates along with fat to generate energy. Carbohydrates are burned first and fat later by our bodies. So, by drastically reducing carbohydrates and eating more fat and proteins, our bodies would ‘definitely’ reduce weight by burning stored body fat more efficiently for fuel and energy. When your body changes from carbohydrate burning engine to fat burning engine, our fat storing spots (belly, hips and thighs) become a source of energy; and we lose weight in spite of eating fat rich food with little or no carbohydrates. When this happens, we feel less hungry and tend to eat less.

Low carbohydrate diet would ‘definitely’ make you slim.

Obesity: Cause, Consequences and Implications

There are many causes and health implications of obesity. Many people are in illusion about the quantitative parameters of obesity. The obesity can be defined in terms of Weight/Height (^W/_H) ratio or index: where weight is in kilograms (kg) and height is in meters (m). This index should be 25 to 30 normally. If your weight is 47 kg and your height is 1.60 m (160 cm); your ^W/_H index will be 29.375. An ideal weight of an individual with reference to sex, age, height and body build has already been documented somewhere else. The cause of obesity may be genetic, metabolic, physiological, lifestyle or pathological (as in cases of hypothyroidism). Take your weight on the same scale daily for a week. If you are overweight or your ^W/_H index is considerably more than 30, then plan to loose your weight through dieting and exercise. Never starve yourself. You can eat as desired from the unrestricted food items' list but remain within limits on restricted food items' list and keep away from prohibited food items' list:

Unrestricted Food Items' List
Unrestricted food items for the obese are fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, chicken, fish, poached eggs, boiled eggs (do not eat yellows), tea, coffee, skimmed milk and products made from skimmed milk.

Restricted Food Items' List
Restricted food items for the obese are all cereals and products made from cereals. Obese person should avoid eating more than 100 gm cereal products in a day. Fat consumption should not be more than 15 gm in 24 hours.

Prohibited Food Items' List
Prohibited food items for the obese are jams, honey, ice cream, dry fruits, nuts, cold drinks, alcohol, sugar and products containing sugar.


Obesity is associated with hyperlipidemia (elevated level of cholesterol and triglyrerides in blood), hypertension (high blood pressure), non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) and high prevalence of some cancers. Other serious implications of obesity are coronary heart disease and renal disease. Abdominal fat has been documented as major risk factor for coronary heart disease. The risk of NIDDM is more in overweight men aged between 25-50 years of age. The patient is said to have severe obesity if his ^W/_H index is more than 40. Natural history and consequences of obesity in children are not well understood till date. Strict dietary control and weight reduction would definitely help patients with severe obesity to overcome its serious implications like - NIDDM, hyperlipidemia, hypertension and coronary heart disease.

Bioenergy Conservation and Diabetes mellitus

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is related to common metabolic disorders and is expressed by hyperglycemia (i.e. elevated level of glucose in blood). There are a variety of DM and are caused by complex interactions of genetics and environmental factors. In fact DM is a sort of lifestyle associated metabolic disorder. Sedentary lifestyle, over indulgence in alcohol and excessive consumption of fatty fast-food laced with preservatives are the cause of excessive conservation of bioenergy in human body. One should be calorie conscious and take balanced diet to avoid getting obese and over weight. Obesity is an invitation to metabolic disorders.
Non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) is also known as diabetes-II (or Type-II Diabetes, where as Diabetes-I is insulin dependant) and is characterized by variable degree of insulin resistance and pancreatic beta cell dysfunction. Loss of metabolic control is probably associated with neuroendocrine control system that effect hepatic glucose output. Computerization and automation in industrial units is the cause of bioenergy conservation in workers, leading to metabolic disorders like diabetes mellitus. Low energy expenditure due to leisure-way lifestyle and reduced sensitivity to peripheral insulin further complicate the case. Vascular complications associated with DM lead to morbidity and mortality in patients with diabetes mellitus. Energy expenditure needs to be increased in diabetics by way of exercise; brisk walking and cycling.  Optimum energy expenditure in diabetics can act as adjunct to reduce the level of hyperglycemia.

Understanding Obesity

Basically the term obesity means excess of body weight due to increase in adipose tissue-mass. It is important to understand the cause of obesity for its effective management. Weight measures in excess of 'ideal body weight' with reference to normal range ideal for age, sex, height and body built. To define obesity we should measure the adiposity by measuring the skinfold thickness at triceps (normal: 23mm in males and 27mm in females) or at inter scapular region (normal: 35mm in males and 42mm in females). In most of the cases the obesity is due to overeating while in minority it could be associated with the metabolic and endocrine disorders. Beyond certain degree, obesity may increase the state of morbidity and cause associated diseases like diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary artery disease (CAD), gall stones, osteoarthritis etc.

Understanding patient's eating habits, likes & dislikes, temperaments, lifestyle, work schedules and adaptability to environment are important to decide a course of treatment. Compliance of doctor's advice is important for effective treatment of obesity. Dietary measurements, exercise and slimming pills are always helpful in controlling the obesity. Treatment of associated metabolic or endocrine disorders should be pursued effectively.

Dietary management:

A variety of dietary schedules ranging from zero calorie to isocaloric high protein diets are available for the treatment of obesity. Diet should be adjusted in such a way that weight loss is not in excess of one kg/week. For the success of diet regime it is important to keep a balance between 'forbidden' and 'permitted' items. Too much recommendation of low carbohydrate diet sometimes leads to a notion that non-carbohydrate diets are absolutely harmless. Rapid weight loss through zero calorie diet or fasting may sometimes be non productive as the weight lost due to loss of water would be regained quickly. The 'ad lib' items should be salads and leafy vegetables.

Exercise:

Exercise is known to increase calorie expenditure and thus leads to loss of adiposity. Exercise also increases our metabolic rate and thus supports the weight loss. In practice, however, exercise alone cannot be sufficient way to try to reduce weight. Exercise along with dietary control is good for both the general fitness and weight loss.

Anti-obesity drugs:

There are a variety of drugs for combating the food-obesity axis. There are drugs for decreasing appetite, digestion, absorption and inhibiting lipogenesis. There drugs for increasing heat production or thermogenesis. The drug treatment of obesity is not very promising, as the majority of drugs at effective therapeutic level have been found toxic.

Benefits of Eating Pistachio Nuts

Dry fruits are a rich source of antioxidants and high density lipid (HDL). Pistachio nuts (pale-green nuts) have been found to be having beneficial effect on our lipid profile. Regular daily intake of 45g to 75g of pistachio nuts (pista) could reduce overall cholesterol level with an increase in HDL-C, a good lipid. In fact obesity and its related problems are a big concern for all developing countries. High level of low density lipid (LDL) or bad cholesterol is a major cause of coronary artery disease (CAD). Especially for women HDL is more important than LDL and total cholesterol level. So, women should be encouraged to eat pistachio nuts. About 30 to 45 per cent population in majority of the countries is overweight. There is a simple method to assess your fitness through body mass index (BMI) evaluation as highlighted in my previous article. Non-salted pistachio nuts are a very nutritious food item since it contains antioxidants, phytosterols and fibre. Intake of pistachio nuts stimulates and corrects metabolism.