Are Low-Carb Diets Healthy?

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The first problem in discussing low carbohydrate diets is to define what is meant by a low carbohydrate diet. The Food and Nutrition Board recommends that people consume 45-65% of their calories from carbohydrates. Within this range some people do better at the upper end and some at the lower end of carbohydrate intake. People following a low carbohydrate diet are eating far less carbohydrate than this and are usually doing so as part of a weight loss diet.   

Dieting is a major obsession in the United States. From this obsession has come an incredible variety of popular diet theories on how to lose weight. Many of these diets are successful at helping people to lose weight. The question of whether a diet is truly successful, however, depends on the criteria that are used to judge the diet. Ideally a diet should result in weight loss, result in changes to eating habits so that weight loss is maintained in the long term, use real food, and the diet should promote health. A diet that does not change eating habits for a sustained weight loss or that causes health issues is not a successful diet.