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During the 1980s and 1990s the world became carb-phobic, and with this fear of carbs, protein became the dieter's best friend.
 | Low-carb diets work in the short-term, but have unpleasant effects. You can lose weight on a low-carb diet because of a phenomenon called ketosis — the breakdown of your body's own protein and some fat to provide glucose for energy. When your liver and muscles have used all their stored glucose for energy, your body starts to melt down its own tissues to keep functioning — sounds gruesome, eh? When you're on a low-carb diet, these empty glucose stores never get a chance to fill up. |
Ketosis is hard work for your body and this condition is not the ideal way for your system to function. Although you eat plenty of protein on a low-carb diet, your body still attacks itself to make energy when carbs are lacking in your diet. Those 7 or 8 pounds you're so proud to have lost in just seven days are actually, at best, 1 or 2 pounds of fat, and 5 or 6 pounds of your own lean-muscle tissue, water, and valuable minerals. In fact, one of the main by-products of ketosis is water so most of your weight loss has gone, well, down the toilet!
When you return to eating a more balanced diet including more carbs, your body devours and retains those needed materials and the weight zooms straight back on, quite often to a greater degree than before you started the diet.
 | As well as putting your body into a state of ketosis, the effects of a high-protein, high-fat diet on your heart and kidneys is of concern. Your kidneys are critical for removing excess protein from the body, and can become overloaded on a high-protein diet, making them less efficient at removing waste products from the blood, which can be fatal. If you consume a diet high in saturated fats from animal products, you may suffer from high cholesterol, which can cause arteries to fur up and put stress on your heart. |
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