Did applying this low-carb way of eating lead to health for Dr. Atkins? No. Robert Atkins continued to be overweight and suffered from a history of numerous heart attacks, congestive heart failure, and high blood pressure. He died in 2003 from an injury-induced blood clot in his brain.
That does not lead one to believe the Atkins Diet is the pathway to health. Yet the low-carb frenzy has continued to grow. Soon we had the Paleo diet, the South Beach diet, and the Keto diet. Each of these diets has a slightly different focus, but they have one thing in common: They are low-carb diets.
Carbohydrates were, and continue to be, portrayed as the villain—as the evil source of almost every health problem. Supporters of low-carb diets claim they will bring weight loss, especially the loss of belly fat, along with lower blood sugar and insulin levels. They claim low-carb eating will lower blood pressure, reverse metabolic syndrome, and bring many other health benefits. They say scientific studies back up these claims, but the results of these studies is ambivalent, particularly about the long-term consequences of a low-carb diet.
Many people lose weight rapidly when they first start a low-carb diet. But weight loss does not equal fat loss. When someone restricts carbs in their diet, their body quickly burns through its reserves of stored carbohydrates (glycogen).
Glycogen is a form of glucose, which is the main source of energy for our bodies’ cells, tissues, and organs. Our bodies store glycogen primarily in our liver and muscles. Our bodies create glycogen from glucose through a process called glycogenesis. Our bodies break down glycogen for use through a process called glycogenolysis.
When carbohydrate intake is limited, one’s body must tap into its glycogen stores for energy. Each gram of glycogen is stored with at least three grams of water. So as one’s body burns its reserve of carbs, that person is also losing pounds of water. This will cause weight loss, but it is a loss of water weight and not fat. This initial weight loss when beginning a low-carb diet gives one the illusion that the diet is “working.”
We have also been told that eating carbohydrates will cause your body to release insulin and this will make us fat. The truth is that eating many other foods, including meat causes a significant insulin release as well.
While high protein, virtually no-carb foods like meat and eggs are low on the glycemic index, they measure high on the insulin index. In other words, while the meat and eggs don’t cause a spike in blood sugar the way some carbohydrates do, they do result in a significant rise in insulin.
A low-carb diet puts your body into stress and survival mode. The body must have glucose to function and survive. When the body’s store of glycogen becomes depleted, the body is forced to turn non-glucose substrates (dietary protein, dietary fat, and our own precious muscle tissue) into glucose. This works, but the cost can be high.
Eating a low-carb diet for an extended time can disrupt the body’s metabolic pathways and hormone regulation. Prolonged carbohydrate restriction can lead to imbalances in thyroid hormones, cortisol levels, and insulin sensitivity. These disruptions not only impede weight loss but may also predispose individuals to metabolic disorders such as hypothyroidism and insulin resistance (low metabolism, low body temperature, hair loss, and weight gain).
The brain works best when the body supplies its preferred energy source—glucose (sugar) from healthy carbohydrates. Low-carb diets may cause confusion and irritability. Many suffer from fuzzy thinking and mood swings when eating low-carb.
Eating a low-carb diet almost always means one is not consuming enough fiber, which can lead to a cascade of health issues, including a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, constipation and/or diarrhea, and disrupted gut microbia.
Most prebiotics, which are essential for promoting the growth of beneficial gut flora, are found in carbohydrate-rich foods. Without adequate prebiotics, the gut microbiome may shift in an undesirable direction, contributing to various health issues including poor immune system functioning, inflammation, and autoimmune conditions.
Low-carb diets often lead to nutrient deficiency. Severely limiting or totally eliminating entire food groups from your diet puts you at risk for serious deficiencies in micronutrients, including selenium, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamins B and C, and many other vital nutrients.
Low-carb, high-fat diets such as the keto diet can stress one’s liver. With so much fat to metabolize, the diet could make any existing liver conditions worse.
Low-carb, high-protein diets such as paleo can put added strain on one’s kidneys. The kidneys help metabolize protein, and the keto diet may overload them.
The is one other reason you should choose NOT to eat a low-carb diet. It is the most important factor of all. Eating a low-carb diet goes against the way God says you should eat.
If we threw out all of the above evidence, if we did not look at any scientific studies or tap into the wisdom of any medical doctors or dietitians, this reason alone should be sufficient to sway us away from choosing to a eat low-carb.
I considered adding references at the end of this article to studies that provide evidence against eating low-carb, but decided not to. I do not want you to base your decision about a low-carb diet on the wisdom of man, but on the Word of God.
In Section 86 of the Doctrine and Covenants, God gives us direction for the most health-giving way to eat. Some parts of Section 86 might be open to different interpretations, but most of it is very clear and simple.
● Alcohol and tobacco are not good for us.
● Hot drinks are not good for us.
● Eat fruits and vegetables with prudence and in season.
● Eat meat sparingly.
● Grain is the staff of life and particularly wheat for man.
God says grain is the staff of life. Grain is to be the main foundation of our diets, particularly wheat. (This undoubtedly means whole grains with all the goodness God created in them, so feel free to cut out refined carbohydrate grain “products,” which really are not grains at all.)
God also tells us to eat meat sparingly. These two directives clearly eliminate the possibility of thinking that a low-carb, high protein diet is God’s best plan for us.
The bottom line is this: Will we choose to believe God or man?
Even if all the evidence points against what God says is true (which it does not), will we choose to believe the Creator of our bodies, the Creator of the universe, He who has all wisdom and all knowledge? 1 Corinthians 3:19 says, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.”
I encourage you to follow GOD’S wisdom and avoid the foolishness of man’s wisdom. Do not be afraid to be obedient to God’s counsel and make whole grains the center of your diet, with wheat being the mainstay. The promises for us if we do are amazing!
"And all Saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel, and marrow to their bones, and shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowl-edge, even hidden treasures; and shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint; and I, the Lord, give unto them a promise that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen" (Doctrine and Covenants 86:3c-d).
