A low-carb diet means that you eat fewer carbohydrates and a higher proportion of fat. This can also be called a low-carb, high-fat diet (LCHF) or a ketogenic diet. Why Ketogenic? Your body gets its energy from either fats or carbohydrates like glucose and glycogen. In people eating normally, at rest, 60% of the energy comes from fats. In a ketogenic diet, the carbohydrate content of the diet is so low that the body has to break down even more of its fat to supply the energy needed by most tissues. Fat breakdown produces ketone bodies in the bloodstream. Hence, “ketogenic diet.” Also called “very low-carb diets,” ketogenic diets have been around for over a hundred years.
Why Low Carb High Fats Mediterranean Diet Better Than Just LCHF
So why “Mediterranean”? Perhaps the world’s healthiest diet, the Mediterranean Diet is abundant in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and olive oil. It features fish and poultry—lean sources of protein—over red meat. Many of its components are compatible with low-carbohydrate eating.
The Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet is specifically for people who have one or more of the conditions such as Type-2 Diabetes, Prediabetes, Metabolic Syndrome or Excess Body Weight. Diabetes and prediabetes always involve impaired carbohydrate metabolism; metabolic syndrome and simple excess weight often do, too. Over time, excessive carbohydrate consumption can turn overweight and metabolic syndrome into prediabetes, then type 2 diabetes. The key feature of the Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet is carbohydrate restriction, which directly addresses impaired carbohydrate metabolism naturally.
There is extensive evidence for the benefit of the Mediterranean style low carbohydrate diet, including cutting your risk of heart disease and diabetes. It has even been found to reduce risk the risk of breast cancer, compared with those on a low-fat diet. Consuming extra virgin olive oil (the freshly squeezed juice of olives) seems to be particularly beneficial when it comes to cancer, perhaps because it contains compounds such as polyphenols which are known to be anti-inflammatory.
So how we can cut carbs in the regular Mediterranean diet. Follow the following guidelines to achieve that:
- Cut right down on sugar, sugary treats, drinks, and desserts
- Avoid sweet fruits
- Minimise or avoid the starchy “white stuff” bread, pasta, potatoes, rice
- Avoid most breakfast cereals
- Avoid snacking if possible find healthy snacks if you must
- Start the day with eggs
- Full-fat yogurt is also good
- Eat more healthy fats and oil
- Use butter instead of margarine
- Have high-quality proteins
- Eat plenty of different color vegetables
- Add sauces and flavoring to your vegetables
- Have a drink, but not too many