How Many Carbs Do You Need For A Low Carb Diet?
Any individual who chooses to take part in a low carbohydrate diet will soon come to ask the question of just how many carbs can be consumed in order to maintain the low carb status of the diet. Invariably, there is no exact answer, though keeping the number of carbs consumed to a minimum seems to be the standard answer that most experts will give.
The reason for the answers regarding the number of carbs that a low carb diet allows being so vague is fairly simple: different low carb diets have different levels of carbs that they allow. In fact, though most people think of Atkins as the only low carb diet around, there are actually several low carb diets to choose from.
Since a variety of choices exist, there are a variety of answers to the question of how many carbs help constitute a low carb diet. According to the Atkins diet, an individual participating in the plan should consume no more than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. This 20 gram limit on the part of the Atkins diet is actually the lowest amount allowed by any of the existing low carb diets.
Other low carb diets determine the amount of carbohydrates that they allow to be consumed as a percentage of the overall number of calories that they allow. For example the Zone diet recommends that participants consume no more carbs than are equal to 30% of the calories they consume.
The idea behind the low carb concept that is part of the Atkins diet is based on the fact that the human body burns certain biochemical in a certain order. Initially, the human body will burn carbohydrates first in order to obtain the energy needed to carry out basic biological functions. After burning carbohydrates, the body will next begin to burn lipids, which are also known as fats. By limiting the number of carbohydrates that an individual consumes, the Atkins diet assumes that the body will next begin to burn fats.
Under non-dieting conditions, an average individual should consume somewhere between 200 and 300 carbohydrates per day, in order for the body to be able to obtain the necessary energy to carry out the day’s activities. Individuals who are more active can typically consume more carbs. The opposite is true of individuals who are less active.
According to the Atkins diet, a participant should first begin by consuming no more than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. Over the course of several weeks, a dieter can gradually increase the amount of carbohydrates consumed to around 30 grams. Over time, the dieter can slowly begin to increase the number of carbs consumed by 10 grams on a regular basis. Essentially, the number of carbs can be maintained if certain levels and goals have been met. They can be increased if a person desires not to lose too much weight, or they can be decreased if there is a need to lose more weight.
Since each individual is different, it is natural to state that the individual carbohydrate needs of a particular person will be related to his or her level of activity. Though Atkins does recommend low levels of carbs in the range of 15 to 20 per day in order to encourage weight loss, it also allows for the levels of carbs to be adjusted to the individual needs of the dieter. As the dietary needs of an individual change over the course of a low carb diet, the amount that can be consumed will also change.
This then leads us to answer the question of just how many carbs can and should be consumed by an individual participating in a low carb diet. Atkins says it very simply: 15 to 20 per day, unless your needs and activity levels should change.
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