Everybody has heard of "low carb" diets, since they are emerging as the newest trend in dieting. But do they really work? And if so, are they the solution to weight loss that everybody is looking for? I don't think so, because most low carb diets have several problems which make losing weight very difficult for the "average" dieter.
For example, if you follow the Atkins diet (a popular low carb program) then the restriction on carbs for the first couple weeks is very severe (by almost any standards). The Atkins program allows just 20 grams of "net carbs" per day during the first phase of the diet (which usually lasts for 2 weeks).
Just to give you an idea of how few carbs that really is even a large apple has more than 20 grams of "net carbs". This low level of carbs is often too severe for the "average" dieter to tolerate for 2 weeks straight, and in fact eating such a low level of carbs can make a person feel "weak" and "miserable" all day lon g (because your body needs more carbs than that for energy).
Other low carb diets (such as the South Beach Diet) are not quite as severe as the Atkins Plan, but in our opinion even the South Beach Diet is not as easy to follow as it could be.
A successful diet needs to be easy to follow because that's the only way that people will stick to the diet and lose weight. Diets should not make average people feel "miserable" and "weak" all day long, because if a diet makes people feel miserable and weak then it's not going to help very many people succeed in their weight loss goals.
If people are miserable and hungry all day long then they're not going to follow the diet for very long and they won't lose weight. I'm not saying that all low carb diets are as restrictive as the Atkins Diet is, but I am saying that most low carb diets are so hard to follow that "average dieters" will probably wind up feeling hungry and weak all day long (which is not a good thing for dieting success).
I believe that "low carbs" is not the answer to losing weight, since the truth is that your body needs all 3 types of calories to lose weight (protein, carbs, and fat). The truth is that your body needs protein, carbs and fat calories too.
To lose weight quickly you must eat all 3 types of calories in the right proportions, and that's why most dieters fail. They fail because nobody knows what the right proportions of calories should be.