Low carb diets-a good idea?

First it was low fat diets with high carbohydrate intake. Now it's low carb diets with more fat. Can we learn anything from the differences in all the diets popularized in the media? Probably the best thing to take away from all the hype is to use a little common sense when evaluating any eating plan. It's obvious to most people that today's typical diet includes too much saturated fat and too many simple processed carbohydrates. So taking a page from the low fat diet, and decreasing one's intake of saturated fat, and also taking a cue from the low carb diet and cutting down on starchy carbohydrates should benefit one's health and fitness.

Slavish devotion to any regimented way of eating is most likely not a good idea. Being deathly afraid of ingesting any fat led to supermarket shelves full of "fat free" products that were loaded with sugar. Now, the pendulum has swung over to the low carb diet, as followers treat dietary carbohydrates like the plague and buy up products with low amounts of "net carbs", seemingly having forgotten all about limiting fat intake. These products use some fancy arithmetic to arrive at the final carbohydrate calculation and may substitute some questionable ingredients in the quest to be able to claim that they fit into a low carb diet.

There is a condition called "Syndrome X", also referred to as prediabetes, which can be caused or worsened by ingestion of too many simple carbohydrates. This condition can raise cholesterol, triglyceride, and insulin levels. Elevated insulin can promote obesity and high blood pressure. The former adherence to low fat, high carbohydrate nutrition programs may have promoted the development of this disorder in many people. A diet with lower amounts of simple carbohydrates is recommended to prevent or reverse the condition. So it seems that the low carb diet people must be right, then. Well, we won't know for a while. After twenty years or so, we'll have a better idea whether or not the higher protein, low carb diet causes a "syndrome Z" or some other malady.

Low carb diet? Maybe moderate carb and moderate healthy fats is the answer

One basic rule we can surmise from this diet roller coaster is to eat moderate amounts of healthy foods. Limit the amount of saturated fats you eat. Substitute healthy fats like nuts, seeds, olive oil, fatty fish, etc. Also limit the amount of empty calories from starchy carbohydrate foods, substituting non starchy vegetables like broccoli, leafy greens, carrots, cauliflower, etc. It's interesting to note that one place where most of the different nutrition plans agree is on the inclusion of copious amounts of these types of vegetables.

If you're competing in an Ironman Triathlon or the Tour de France, your nutrition plan probably should be to stuff yourself with as many carbohydrates as you can keep down. The rest of us, even if we're exercising daily, would do well to be much more selective