Low Carb vs. Low Fat

What's the Best Diet for Me?

Because most of us have a richly mixed ancestry, few of us really know what type foods best satisfy our bodies. While some of us respond better with a diet higher in carbohydrates, others of us are more satisfied with a protein rich diet.

Why Does It Matter?

If a person needing more protein were to go on a low-fat diet, they would probably be hungry - constantly - or would become hungry more quickly after eating. Conversely, if you are a person who requires more carbohydrates to feel satisfied and you go on a low carb diet, you will feel weighed down by your diet and often constipated.

Get It Wrong and It Won't Work.

In either scenario, the likelihood of your staying committed to any diet plan if you are constantly hungry, bloated or constipated is extremely low. You are virtually destined to fail. You need to choose the best diet for your body type.

Take a few days to find out whether your body needs more carbohydrates or more protein. If you already know whether your body needs more carbohydrates or more protein, click the link.

Here's What You Do

Tomorrow for lunch eat a nice healthy meal, with equal amounts of protein and carbohydrates. No simple carbohydrates (ie, no cookies, crackers, white bread, potatoes or sugar), if you have bread, it must be 100% whole wheat and no sodas or fruit juices of any kind. And last but not least, don't over eat. Eat only until you're comfortably satisfied.

Then an hour later, write down how you feel and what you ate.

Do you feel great, or are you hungry, sleepy, tired, bloated, grumpy or do you have a stuffy nose. Do the same thing two hours after lunch and then again three hours after lunch.

Now, Check Your Results

If you wrote down sleepy, tired or hungry at any of the intervals (and didn't over eat) tomorrow, try having a little more protein and fewer carbohydrates, percentage wise.

If you were bloated or grumpy, or if your lunch seems to be heavy on your stomach, try for a few more carbohydrates and less protein.

And if you had a stuffy nose, you might want to omit dairy products if you had any, and if that doesn't solve the problem, try eliminating wheat products.

Your goal is to feel satisfied, energetic and well able to coop with your afternoon. If you feel sluggish, bloated, hungry, tired or out of sorts after lunch you may resort to extra caffeine, snacks or you may just suffer through, making mistakes you could have avoided if you'd felt better.

So what does this tell us?

If you need more carbohydrates, you will probably do best on a low fat diet. This would include most of your calorie counting diets, Weight Watchers, DASH and the Ornish diet. (To calculate the number of calories you should take in to lose weight click here.) These diets will give you the carbohydrates your body craves.

If you need more protein, you should look at a low-carb diet, such as the Atkins Diet. This will help balance your blood sugar and keep you from feeling hungry all the time.

And if you're like most of us, you're somewhere in the middle and you need a reduced carbohydrate diet without going low carb, the G.I. Diet (Glycemic Index Diet), the Idiot Proof Diet, South Beach Diet, The Diet Solution, The Mediterranean Diet and the Zone Diet will be more effective for you.