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arzoo
12-06-2007, 07:09 AM
Eating low carb, low fat, and low sodium meals are good keeping diabetes away, not to mention good for the body.

However, doing so, especially the carbs, makes you lose weight. I was wondering, does this mean if you follow a low carb diet in order to keep blood sugar low or maintained, do you usually end up underweight?

How can you keep weight up or even gain weight (assuming you are underweight) and yet stay with low carb (to manage blood sugar), knowing it is not good to be underweight since you'll be weaker and your immune system and other things will also be on the lower end.

Thanks.

Cyborg
12-06-2007, 01:44 PM
Last I heard, protein had the same amount of calories as carbs, gram per gram. It's the calories that cause weight gain or loss...

BlueSky
12-06-2007, 01:49 PM
Eating low-carb doesn't make you lose weight. People who eat low carb lose weight more easily only because they don't get as hungry as they used to. Eating low-carb and low-fat results in weight loss because calories are insufficient. If you want to eat low carb and maintain your weight, you simply have to ensure that the reduction of calories from carbohydrate is matched by an increase in calories from fat. Protein usually doesn't change much when switching to low-carb eating, but you should monitor it too. You need 0.8-1.2 grams of protein a day per Kg of body weight, depending on your level of activity.