No-Carb Diet

Divya Bhakt
3 min readMar 9, 2021

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A no-carb diet is an extreme version of low-carb dieting. It eliminates almost all carbs, including whole grains, fruits, and most vegetables.

While studies show that decreasing your carb intake can help you shed pounds and may have health benefits, completely eliminating carbs is highly restrictive and most likely unnecessary.

This article provides a detailed overview of a no-carb diet, including its potential benefits, downsides, and foods to eat and avoid.

A no-carb diet is a way of eating that eliminates digestible carbs as much as possible.

Carbs are your body’s primary source of energy. They’re found in grains, beans, legumes, fruits, vegetables, milk, yogurt, pasta, bread, and baked goods.

Therefore, someone on a no-carb diet must avoid most of these foods and instead eat foods that contain primarily protein or fat, such as meats, fish, eggs, cheese, oils, and butter.

There is no strict rubric for a no-carb diet. Some people who follow it eat nuts and seeds, non-starchy vegetables, and high-fat fruits like avocado and coconut.

Even though these foods have some carbs, they’re high in fiber. Therefore, they have only a minuscule number of digestible or net carbs, which is calculated by subtracting the amount of fiber from the total number of carbs .

A no-carb diet resembles a ketogenic diet, which limits your carb intake to fewer than 30 grams per day and encourages you to get 70% or more of your daily calories from fat .

Foods to be avoided during a no-carb diet:

A person who is undergoing no carbs diet must evade grains, beans, legumes, fruits, vegetables, milk, yogurt, pasta, bread, and baked goods as all of these comprises a high amount of sucrose and as a substitute of these, they must consume food which is rich in protein and fats, some of which are, meats, cheese, and cheese. and eggs, butter, and cheese. Whole dairy products are best with no carbs diet plan.

Folks who follow a no-carb diet can have a high intake of fiber in their diet, although fibrous foods can have carbohydrate content in them, the fiber content will take over the part, and some of the foods related to this group are nuts and seeds, non-starchy vegetables, and high-lipid fruits like avocado and coconut.

How to follow a no-carb diet

Simply put, when you follow a no-carb diet, you avoid all high-carb foods.

Specifically, you should eliminate whole and refined grains, baked goods, fruits, milk, yogurt, beans, legumes, pasta, bread, sugar-sweetened beverages, and starchy vegetables like peas and corn.

Food and drinks allowed on a no-carb diet include meat, fish, eggs, cheese, butter, oils, water, and plain coffee or tea.

If you’re less stringent, you can also eat nuts, seeds, non-starchy vegetables, and high-fat fruits like avocado and coconut since these foods are low in net carbs.

Since this diet focuses on restricting a specific macronutrient, there are no recommendations for daily calorie intake or portion sizes.

Effects of no carb diet are :

1. Constipation and low energy

For instance, in the diet chart of a no-carb diet, there is a minimal amount of fiber intake as it restricts fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains, which are rich in fiber. This could lead to digestive tract problems, and eventually, a no-carb diet may lead to constipation and digestive discomfort.

2. Nutrients deficiency

Consumption of vitamins and minerals is a vital part of the regular diet for human needs. But in the no-carb diet, it is mandatory to cut out some essential fruits and vegetables which are the sources of potassium, vitamin B, and vitamin C.

3. Highly restrictive with unknown long-term effects

There are still no proper studies or evidence on the long-term effects of the no-carb diet. But with a general view, it is for sure that a human body needs all sorts of biomolecules at the right amounts in its diet.

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