What is Low Carb?
Our body runs on energy (calories) and energy comes in the form of carbohydrates, fats, and protein. However, not all energy forms are equal and our body prefers to prioritize in this order:
- Simple Carbohydrates
- Complex Carbohydrates
- Fat
- Protein
Your body looks for simple carbohydrates first, if it doesn’t find any, it’ll look for complex carbohydrates, next fat and then protein. For many people though, the intake of carbohydrates exceeds the amount of energy your body needs so it never gets around to using the fat, and actually, your body will convert any leftover carbs to fat and stores it on your body.
So the simple idea of low carb is to reduce the simple carbohydrates intake, so now your body can efficiently burn through carbohydrates calories without having to store them onto your body in the form of body fat.
Fun Fact – did you know that the typical American diet consists of 42% simple carbohydrates?
What are the Benefits of Low Carb?
Supporting research suggests using healthy calories as your source of energy will:
- Increased Energy Levels
- Heightened Mental Focus
- Improved Blood Sugar Control
- Lower Cholesterol (after a couple of months)
- Increase Efficiency in Metabolism
What Food Groups Can I Eat from to be Healthy and Low Carb?
Low carb is not focused on ‘starving yourself’, rather it’s to eat and attain calories from a balanced selection of food groups for your body. If you reduce the simple carbohydrates, you are already on your way to a balanced healthier lifestyle!
How Many Carbs is Low Carb?
The next question everyone wonders is exactly how many carbs is low carb to consume in a day. Truth be told, there’s no one answer and will depend on the individual. But some popular ranges are under 100-180 net carbs.
What is a Net Carb?
A net carb is the total carb minus any fiber & alcohol sugar. So for example, if the recipe states 20g carbs, 10g fiber, 2g sugar alcohol, the net carbs would be 20g carbs minus 10g fiber minus 2g sugar alcohol, so 8 net carbs.
We only count the net carbs because that’s what your body absorbs. The rest is flushed from your system.
What’s the Difference between Keto & Low Carb?
Low carb is a more relaxed balanced lifestyle compared to keto. People that follow keto are under 20 net carbs a day whereas low carb is under 100-180g net carbs.
Our Low Carb Philosophy
A low carb lifestyle is going to be different for everyone, so do what you are comfortable with. Our humble suggestion for people starting out is to be mindful of your carb intake, but keep it simple and balanced, and try to cut what you can. Listen to your body and see what works for you!
Have any other questions about the Low Carb Lifestyle?
If you ever have a question or just want to say hi – please send us a message as we love hearing from our visitors!
We wish you a very warm welcome to LCA and hope our recipes help you reach your goals!
Disclosure – the way our bodies operates is much more complicated than what is summarized above, however for the purpose of this page, we provided a very simple explanation. We’re not nutritionists or licensed professionals by any means.
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