How Many Carbs Do You Need To Eat A Day To Lose Weight?

2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29

Reducing the amount of carbohydratesEating is one of the best ways to lose weight.

This will reduce your appetite and trigger automatic weight loss without having to count calories.

Why should you eat less carbohydrates?

Dietary guidelines recommend that carbohydrates provide 45 to 65% of your daily calorie intake. So, if you eat 2,000 calories, you should aim for about 225 to 325 grams of carbohydrates per day.

But if you want to lose weight, you will get much faster results by consuming about 50 to 150 grams of carbohydrates.

In fact, a low carb diet is much more effective for weight loss than a high carb diet. This diet restricts carbohydrate intake such as sugars and starches (bread, pasta, etc.) and replace them with protein, fat and healthy vegetables.

Studies show that diets with reduced carbohydrate intake reduce your appetite and make you eat fewer calories and lose weight very easily.

A low carb diet also has benefits that go beyond weight loss. It lowers blood sugar, blood pressure and triglycerides.

How to assess your need for carbohydrates

There is no clear definition of exactly what a low carb diet is, and what is "low" for one person may not be "low" for another.

The optimal carbohydrate intake depends on age, gender, body composition, activity levels, personal preferences, diet and metabolic health.

People who are physically active and have more muscle mass can tolerate much more carbohydrates than people who lead a less active lifestyle.

Metabolic health is also a very important factor. When people have impaired metabolism, the rules change. People who fall into this category cannot tolerate the same amount of carbohydrates as those who do not have such a disorder.

Determine your daily carbohydrate intake

If you simply eliminate the most unhealthy sources of carbohydrates from your diet, refined wheat and added sugars, then you will be on the right track to improving your health.

However, to enjoy the full metabolic benefits of low-carb diets, you need to limit other sources.

Although there is no scientific paper that explains exactly how to adjust carbohydrate intake for individual needs, there are some guidelines for amounts that are very effective.

- 100-150 grams per day

This is more than a "moderate" carbohydrate intake and very suitable for people who are moderately active and trying to stay healthy and maintain their weight.

Carbohydrates you can eat:

- All vegetables;

- Three or four fruits a day;

- Moderate amounts of healthy starchy foods such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, rice and oats.

- 50-100 grams per day

This range is great if you want to lose weight effortlessly while allowing yourself a little carbs in your diet.

Carbohydrates you can eat:

- Lots of vegetables;

- 2-3 fruits a day;

- Minimum amounts of starchy carbohydrates

- 20-50 grams per day

This is the variant in which the metabolic benefits are really beginning to be felt. Ideal for people who need to lose weight fast or have obesity or diabetes.

When you eat less than 50 grams of carbohydrates a day, your body will enter ketosis, supplying energy to the brain through so-called ketones. This will probably kill your appetite and make you lose weight automatically.

Carbohydrates you can eat:

- Many low-carbohydrate vegetables;

- Berries, maybe with a little cream (delicious);

Watch out for carbs from other foods such as avocados, nuts and seeds.

note that the low carb diet It is NOT without carbohydrates. There is room for many low-carbohydrate vegetables such as cabbage, spinach, broccoli, peppers and more.

It is important to experiment

We are all unique, and what works for one person may not be effective for another. It is important to do some stand-alone experiments and find out what works for you.

If you have a medical condition, be sure to consult your doctor before making any changes, because this diet can drastically reduce your need for medication.

Good carbs, bad carbs

Low carb diet Not only is it for weight loss, it also needs to improve your health. For this reason, it should be based on natural and unprocessed foods and healthy sources of carbohydrates.

If you want to improve your health, choose unprocessed foods: meat, fish, eggs, vegetables, nuts, avocados, healthy fats and whole milk products.

Choose sources of carbohydrates that include fiber. If you prefer a "moderate" carbohydrate intake, try to choose unrefined sources such as potatoes, oats and brown rice.

Added sugar and refined wheat are always bad options and should be limited or avoided.

You will burn fat much easier

Low carb diets significantly reduce blood levels of insulin, a hormone that transports glucose (from carbohydrates) to cells.

One of the functions of insulin is to store fat. Many experts believe that the reason why low-carb diets work so well is that they reduce the levels of this hormone.

Another thing that insulin does is "tell" the kidneys to store sodium. This is why high carb diets cause excessive water retention.

When reduce carbohydrates, you reduce insulin and the kidneys begin to release excess water. Usually people lose more weight in the first few days on a low carb diet.

Weight loss will slow down after the first week, but this time the fat will start to decrease and the lost weight will be from them.

If you are starting a low carb diet for the first time, you will probably need to go through an adaptation phase where your body will get used to burning fat instead of carbs.

This is called "low carb flu" and usually ends within a few days. Once this initial phase is over, many people report having more energy than before, without the "afternoon drops" in energy that are common in high-carbohydrate diets.

Finally, one of the great advantages of low carb diets is that they are absurdly easy.