Health and Well-Being(Supplement)-What about those low-carb diets?
With low-carbohydrate diets garnering headlines again, a nutrition columnist writing in the American College of Sports Medicine's (ACSM) September/ October ACSM's Health & Fitness Journal notes that we may be trying to lose weight and tone muscles with inadequate information.
Defining low-carbohydrate, low-calorie diets as 800-1,200 calories a day, Melinda Manore, PhD, RD, FACSM, looks into the history of such diets — such as the liquid protein diets that came on the market in the 1970s.
"Those products, usually consisting of poor-quality protein, hurt more people than they helped," writes Manore. Varia-tions keep popping up, she notes, but "nothing has offered the long-term solution we're all looking for."
Very low calories diets can be costly in terms of health, says Monroe, citing the following consequences:
• A diet low in protein may also be low in essential fatty acids.
• Limiting carbohydrate intake reduces glycogen replacement, which is necessary for the energy to exercise.
• Good nutrition habits are often ignored.
• Dehydration often results when food intake is inadequate.
Because carbohydrates are essential to maintenance of blood glucose, fuel to the brain, and for replacing muscle and glycogen stores, dieters should meet the recommended vitamin and mineral requirements with a supplement, especially if their intake is below 1,600 to 1,800 calories a day. In addition, because some protein is used for energy rather than building and repair of muscle tissue during restricted energy intake, high-quality protein should be consumed, says Manore.
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