Read about various low-carb diets, or zero in on one. Ideally, read one of the books and become familiar with the principles. Above all, don’t fall for the common myths about eating low carb – such as that there are no vegetables or fruit, that it can’t be healthy, that it has to be boring, etc. Like other ways of eating, low-carb eating can be healthy or not, balanced or not, and there is certainly no reason for it to be boring. Rest assured that science is on the side of cutting carbs – perhaps not for everyone, but for many of us.
This misconception is the idea that a “low”-carb diet must be really really low in carbohydrates. You will read that low carb diets attempt to “eliminate carbohydrates,” for example.
Fact: Not one low-carb diet author advocates this. Even Atkins Induction, which is very low in carbohydrates, is not “no carb,” is only meant to last two weeks, and actually can be skipped altogether, according to the Atkins Web site.
Fact: Diet authors who recommend reducing carbs have all sorts of different ideas about carb levels.
Fact: The carbohydrate level should be adjusted to the individual.
Fact: Over the years, the “nutritional establishment” has been gradually lowering the range of recommended carbohydrate in the diet, at the same time condemning reduced-carb diets, some of which may be recommending the lower end of the new “accepted range,” or close to it. Example: Dr. Dean Edell, a prominent media physician, once stated that the Zone Diet, a 40% carbohydrate, low saturated fat diet, “could be dangerous” because it is too low in carbohydrates. The National Academy of Sciences recommends that 45% to 65% of the diet be carbohydrate, depending upon the individual.
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