Low Carb Diet: Weight Loss and Other Health Benefits

Low-carbohydrate diets are often used to accelerate weight loss, but are they safe and sustainable long-term? Though the low-carb diet movement may seem like a trend, it's been around for a while, continuously repackaged with slight variations. While each version may differ in its restrictions, they share the same goal: to reduce overall carbohydrate intake.

For some people, a low-carb diet can be a game-changer for better blood sugar control, but how you follow it matters most. Research has shown that simply reducing the amount of carbs you eat may not be as effective for healthy weight loss as following a balanced carbohydrate diet.¹

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What is a Low-Carb Diet?

Carbohydrates are essential to our overall health, as the body breaks them down into glucose to raise blood sugar levels and produce energy. So, what is a low-carb diet, and is it safe? There are several types of low-carb diets, such as the Atkins diet, Whole30, and Keto. However, a low-carb diet simply limits how many carbs you eat daily.

Carbs are categorized as simple or complex:

• Simple carbs rapidly raise blood sugar levels because they are digested quickly. This includes high-carb foods like white flour, rice, sweets, sodas, and pasta.
• Complex carbs are digested more slowly, so blood sugar levels are less likely to spike (although a higher blood sugar response is still possible, depending on your metabolism). They include whole grains, beans, fruits, and vegetables.

Learn about slow-digesting (complex) carbs from a registered dietitian.

Since carbs raise blood sugar, low-carb diets are often used to support better health by reducing insulin. Insulin is the hormone responsible for lowering your blood sugar. It stimulates cells to take glucose out of the blood and into the cells to use for energy or store as fat. 

But too much circulating insulin isn’t a good thing, and it’s also associated with inflammation, weight gain, and fat storage.²

On the other hand, what does a no-carb diet look like? Is a no-carb diet healthy? A no-carb diet is typically frowned upon, as the body requires a certain amount of carbs to function and survive.

How Many Carbs in a Low-Carb Diet?

There isn’t one standard definition of a low-carb diet, although they all focus on replacing refined carbs with protein, healthy fat, and vegetables. Still, some are more restrictive than others.

What is considered a low-carb diet? General recommendations are that 45 to 65% of total calories come from carbs, so technically, anything less than this can be considered low-carb. However, most low-carb diets are less than 130 grams a day, and very low-carb diets are less than 10% of total intake from carbs or below 50 grams a day.³

The ketogenic diet is the most popular very low-carb diet, but it doesn’t just focus on lowering carbs. It also prioritizes high-fat foods. When carbs are scarce, the body can enter ketosis, a condition in which the body breaks down fat into ketones to use as an energy source. Since carbs are so low, many people find the keto diet more challenging to follow long-term. 

But aside from keto, many low-carb diets leave room for carb-containing foods, especially fruits and vegetables.

<div class="pro-tip"><strong>Also Read: </strong><a href=carbs-vs-calories>Carbs vs Calories: Which Should You Count for Weight Loss?</a></a>.</div>

What Are the Benefits of a Low-Carb Diet?

Following a low-carb, low-sugar diet was once the first line of treatment for epilepsy. Now, some evidence supports the short-term benefits of a low-carb diet for weight loss and other health parameters. Is a low-carb diet healthy? Some research suggests that low-carbohydrate intake may help control blood sugar levels and protect against heart disease. Still, it’s important to note that more research is needed regarding its safety and potential long-term side effects.

The potential benefits of a low-carb diet include:

• Support for Heart Health: Low-carb diets emphasize increasing the intake of fresh foods to replace refined carbs and processed foods that contribute to inflammation and cardiovascular disease. While more long-term research is needed, current evidence suggests that a low-carb diet can improve blood pressure, triglycerides, and HDL cholesterol. Foods that replace refined, simple carbs are usually behind these positive changes. When sugars and starches are replaced with fruits, vegetables, or protein, they can positively affect these markers by lowering the glycemic response.
• Improved Blood Sugar Control: Low-carb diets' positive effect on blood sugar can be a significant benefit. Since carbohydrates are the reason behind elevated blood glucose levels, cutting down on carbs can lower blood sugar and insulin levels. A systematic review that examined the safety of following low-carb diets for 12 weeks found that the diets significantly improved blood sugar control for people with diabetes. Interestingly, the researchers found that the less restrictive low-carb diet (less than 130 grams a day) was more successful than the very low-carb diet that matched a keto pattern simply because participants were more adherent to a plan that allowed more food choices. In other words, finding a plan that feels sustainable and easy to follow is likely to be the most successful for blood sugar control.⁴‍
• Appetite and Craving Control: Your body has a physiological switch that acts as a protective mechanism and turns on when you lose weight. Diets that significantly cut calories or rapid weight loss can increase the production of hormones that make you feel hungry, which is part of the reason these diets often don’t work. On the other hand, low-carb diets don’t seem to have this impact and could even slightly increase how many calories you burn during the day.²

Low-Carb Diet and Weight Loss

Since weight loss is usually the first reason someone starts a low-carb diet, we will begin here, too. There are several ways low-carb diets can support weight loss. To start, a low-carb diet could simply reduce your added sugar intake, which has been linked to increased weight gain.⁵

A low-carb diet for weight loss may also help reduce adipose tissue around the midsection. Abdominal fat has been linked to metabolic syndrome risk factors, such as inflammation, insulin resistance, and obesity. Eating fewer carbs could support visceral weight loss and reduce the associated risk factors. However, lowering blood sugar spikes with other methods, like increasing fiber or protein intake, could also work.⁶

Studies on low-carb diets have shown that they could be better at helping you lose weight than low-calorie or low-fat, at least in the short term. Still, the trick is to examine if the initial weight losses last. Some clinical evidence suggests that initial weight loss effects appear even out over time.^{7, 8}

Low-Carb Foods

Navigating a low-carb eating plan can be challenging, especially when trying to meet your other macronutrient needs. It’s essential to include nutrient-dense foods rich in vitamins, minerals, lean protein, and healthy fats.

Examples of healthy low-carb foods include:

• Meat
• Fish
• Poultry
• Non-starchy vegetables
• Fruit
• Nuts
• Seeds
• Healthy oil like olive or avocado
• Butter or ghee
• Cheese 

The amount of each type of food may vary depending on the type of low-carb plan you follow. For example, fruit or starchy vegetables would be much more limited on keto, while dairy products are usually limited on a Whole 30 plan.

Foods to Avoid on a Low-Carb Diet

• Pasta
• Bread
• Beans
• Lentils
• Soda
• Juice
• Sweets
• Baked goods
• Potatoes
• Rice
• Oats

Even though some of these carbs are considered complex, they don’t fit into a low-carb plan because they impact blood sugar and insulin response. That said, some people may eat small amounts of complex carbs on their low-carb diet to increase fiber intake but keep carbs limited in other areas.

Many low-carb diets still leave room for plenty of healthy carb options. For example, if you were trying to keep carbs under 100 grams, you could include the following foods and still have a bit of wiggle room for extras:

• 1 small apple (17 grams of carbs)⁹ 
• 1/2 cup blueberries (11 grams of carbs)¹⁰
• 1/2 cup lentils (20 grams of carbs)¹¹
• 1/2 cup garbanzo beans (22 grams of carbs)¹²
• 1 medium sweet potato (24 grams of carbs)¹³

There’s really no one way to approach a low-carb diet. Some people choose a carb number to stay under and track it alongside protein and fat. Others don’t track at all and just select what carbs to include in the diet. It’s highly customizable, depending on how you want to do it.

Get more information about weight loss, glucose monitors, and living a healthier life.

5 Low Carb Meals

Exploring low-carb meal options can inspire a range of delicious and nutritious eating patterns that support your health goals. Whether you’re following recommendations to better manage your type 2 diabetes or trying to limit your intake in pursuit of weight loss, low-carb meals can fit your dietary preferences.

Here are some tasty examples that can align with a low-carb diet plan:

1. Grilled Chicken with Veggies

Grilled chicken with vegetables is a staple low-carb meal for many. It combines juicy and flavorful grilled chicken with nutrient-dense veggies to create a wholesome and nutritious meal. Start by marinating chicken breast in olive oil and various herbs and spices. Then, grill the meat until it’s cooked to temperature. Pair it with various non-starchy vegetables, such as bell peppers, broccoli, and zucchini.

A 3-ounce serving of chicken breast with 1 cup of chopped zucchini and 1 cup of chopped red bell peppers provides 10.9 grams of carbs.^{14, 15, 16}

2. Bunless Burger

A bunless burger is a versatile low-carb food that lets you enjoy the juicy flavors of a burger without the extra carbohydrates from a traditional wheat bun. After grilling or pan-searing your burger patty, pair it with various low-carb foods. For example, you can enjoy the burger wrapped in crisp lettuce leaves instead of a bun or on top of a bed of mixed greens.

A 3-ounce burger patty with four leaves of lettuce provides 0.9 grams of carbs, leaving room for carbohydrates from other sources. A veggie burger patty, made with legumes and beans, may contain more carbohydrates.^{17, 18, 19}

3. Baked Salmon with Salad

Salmon is known for its many potential health benefits. Topping a fresh salad with oven-baked salmon creates a satisfying and nutritious low-carb meal. To prepare, season the salmon fillet to your liking and bake it until tender and thoroughly cooked. Pair it with veggies like mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and carrots.

Baked Salmon with Salad, made with two cups of mixed greens, 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup of sliced cucumbers, 1/4 cup of chopped carrots, and 3 ounces of baked salmon, provides 12.6 grams of carbs.^{20, 21, 22, 23, 24}

Be mindful of your dressing choice and monitor your portion sizes to avoid added sugars and excessive carb intake.

4. Shrimp Garden Salad

A garden salad topped with shrimp can be a refreshing, low-carb meal. It combines crisp vegetables with tender, protein-rich shrimp to create a nutritious, well-balanced meal. To prepare this dish, season your shrimp and saute them until they’re cooked thoroughly. Then, toss them into a bed of leafy greens and other colorful veggies.

A Shrimp Garden Salad made with two cups of mixed greens, 1 cup of cherry tomatoes, 1/2 cup of sliced cucumbers, and 3 ounces of cooked shrimp provides 9.7 grams of carbs.^{20, 21, 22, 25}

Be mindful of the dressing and monitor your portion sizes to avoid added sugars and excessive carbohydrate intake.

5. Cheese Omelet

A nutrient-dense cheese omelet is an excellent breakfast choice for those following a high-protein, low-carb meal plan. Made by whisking eggs and cooking them in a skillet until soft and fluffy, it’s also very easy to prepare. Once the eggs are cooked thoroughly, add cheese to one side of the omelet and fold it over.

An omelet made with two large eggs and a 1/4 cup of shredded cheddar cheese provides 1.7 grams of carbs.^{26, 27}

Safely Embark on a Low-Carb Diet With Signos

Should you follow a low-carb, low-sugar diet? Unfortunately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer, as we all have unique nutrition needs.

Controlling your blood glucose levels with Signos and working with a registered dietitian can help you decide if a low-carb diet is right for you. Signos can help you understand your individual response to food so you can make informed and safe food choices that match your physiology. Maybe fruit and starchy veggies work well for you, but oatmeal spikes your blood sugar immediately. In this case, you could customize the types of carbs you avoid instead of cutting them out altogether.

Finding a food pattern that matches your lifestyle, makes you feel good, and is sustainable long-term is the ultimate goal, and learning how your body responds to food can help you get there.

<div class="pro-tip"><strong>Learn More: </strong><a href=how-many-carbs-should-i-eat-a-day-to-lose-weight>How Many Carbs Should I Eat a Day to Lose Weight?</a>.</div>