The Most Effective Weight Loss Diets

Low-carb diets are increasingly popular among the thousands of diets out there. This is because low-carb diets target what energy your metabolism burns, resulting in quicker and more effective weight loss. The Atkins Diet, The South Beach Diet and The Zone Diet are all popular and effective low-carb diets that promise to help you shed those unwanted pounds.

The Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet is a diet that is concentrated on eliminating bad carbohydrates, like sugar and flour, from your diet. This diet works because instead of your metabolism burning glucose, it is burning stored fat. The Atkins Diet has four phases, including induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance, where you make the diet part of your lifestyle habits. Exercise is a major part of The Atkins Diet. It is suggested that you engage is moderate physical activity in combination with eating good carbs, fruits, vegetables, nuts, high-fiber foods and whole grains. The Atkins Diet will make you healthy and energized.

The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is a lot like The Atkins diet, although there are some differences. The idea of this diet is to replace bad fats and carbs with good fats and carbs. Carbohydrates create a boost in blood sugar, and The South Beach Diet eliminates these processes and sugary foods from your daily intake, replacing them with healthy foods like vegetables and whole grains. As for bad fats, The South Beach Diet reinstates them with foods abundant in unsaturated fats and Omega-3 acids, like those found in lean meats and fish. This diet is divided into three phases that eliminate unhealthy and unnecessary food from your diet. The last phase of the diet expects you to make the diet your lifestyle. There are no prohibited foods in The South Beach Diet.

The Zone Diet

The Zone Diet is a very effective diet where no food is forbidden, which is why many people enjoy this diet and lose a lot of weight from it. This diet is made up of a ratio of 30 percent proteins, 40 percent carbohydrates and 30 percent fat. This ratio controls your body's insulin production. Insulin is a hormone that tells the body to hold on to nutrients, so having control over this allows you to have control over what nutrients stay and go. Too much insulin will convert carbs into fat, then store those carbs around various areas of your body. The Zone Diet specifically allows your body to target carbs and use those as energy, instead of using fats or protein as energy. On the Zone Diet, you have to count calories. Meals shouldn't be over 500 calories and snacks shouldn't exceed 100 calories. On the Zone Diet, you should consume lots of fruits, vegetables, nuts and protein. You should also consume eight glasses or more of water each day, and avoid any processed foods or foods containing a lot of salt.