Low Carb Diets

[Puggle_kicker]

Hey Dr Steve,

I am a 23 year old who is probably carrying more weight than would be best.

Im thinking about a low/no carb diet. Eating mainly chicken and vegetables. What do you think of a diet like this. Are carbs really necessary? What would you suggest in a diet?

[Dr Steve]

Hey Dr Steve,

I am a 23 year old who is probably carrying more weight than would be best.

Im thinking about a low/no carb diet. Eating mainly chicken and vegetables. What do you think of a diet like this. Are carbs really necessary? What would you suggest in a diet?


Think of it this way...if you were living in the central US 1000 years ago, what would your diet be? Animal protein and green leafy vegetables for the most part...carbohydrates when you could get them (in season...like berries, etc). One of the reasons our bodies are so good at storing carbs is because (in my opinion) when we found these quick energy bursts in our environment before agriculture, etc., we had to store them as soon as possible and as efficiently as possible. The storage system still works, but we have carbs within easy reach everywhere we go...and we're a nation of overweight individuals now, too. So my opinion is that we were "designed" to eat a diet much lower in carbohydrates than we now enjoy.

A true "low carb" diet is not a "nothing but meat and fat" diet, however. A "perfect" low carb meal (for an omnivore) would be, for example, a grilled chicken salad...lots of green leafy low carb vegetables and some lean animal protein. I always explained to my patients that a good low carb diet will end up being heavy in fresh vegetables, with some protein thrown in to get the amino acids you need to build muscle and stay healthy. If you're a vegetarian, you can get protein from cheese (and eggs, if you're "ovo-lacto"), soy and other places.

Check out this link to the "Sugarbusters" lifestyle thread, as well: http://www.ronfez.net/forums/showthread.php?t=73044 it's a nice alternative to a strict low carb diet.

Now, having said all this, don't embark on any of this without talking to your regular medical provider. And in the end, you want to adopt a healthy lifestyle that will allow you to attain your ideal body weight and stay there. Hopping on and off "diets" is a bad technique (and I'm speaking generally, here, I'm not saying you would do this) that causes a Yo-Yo effect to one's weight that always, ALWAYS ends up with the person weighing more in the end than they started out weighing.

Good luck with it, and hope this helps.


your friend,



steve