As the name suggests, the No Sugar, No Flour Diet plan is based on the premise of removing all sugars and flour from the diet to lose weight. Calories from refined sugars and flour are essentially empty calories, and are generally stored as fat in the body. They increase blood sugar levels, therefore causing insulin to kick in. When blood sugar levels drop, hunger pangs begin, and cravings for more sugar starts. It is a vicious cycle that needs to be stopped with the elimination of such refined sugars in the diet. In addition to creating cravings, insulin reduces the release of growth hormones, which in turn depresses the immune system.
Nutrition
There are no specific meal plans to follow on this weight loss plan. Rather, the only rule to follow is to remove all sugars and flour from your diet. This means that there will be a lot of foods to eliminate from your diet, as well as a lot of labels to read on packaged foods. The premise is that since sugars and flour have no real nutritional value, they are essentially empty calories that need to be avoided.
Portions and calories still need to be paid attention to, but there are no stringent rules as far as these are concerned. By having to cut out these foods, you will have no choice but to stick to fruits, vegetables, fresh lean meats and fish, low fat dairy products and nuts. There are so many foods that contain sugar that it can literally cut out a huge portion of food products available for you to eat while on this No Sugar, No Flour Diet plan.
By reducing or eliminating carbs from your diet, your body will look to its fat stores to burn for energy sources. If you were to eat sugar, the body would simply turn to fat. By eliminating these empty calories, your body has no choice but to burn fat for energy, therefore resulting in weight loss.
Pros
Reducing sugar and flour from your diet will allow your body to burn fat more efficiently. It will also reduce your blood sugar levels, and therefore release of insulin to tackle this blood sugar. Lower amounts of blood sugar will in turn reduce cravings and hunger pangs, and will reduce feelings of sluggishness.
Cons
Staying away from sugar and flour can be quite a challenge, especially if you crave foods loaded with these ingredients. This really is the only down side to this diet. As far as health and nutrition goes, avoiding sugar and flour is one of the healthiest diet changes you can make to lose weight.
The Bottom Line
This diet is definitely recommended to try. Reducing sugars and flour can actually help you lose weight faster than simply cutting calories. Calories are not all the same – if you stick to consuming some types of calories, while avoiding others, your chances of weight loss success are greater. However, this diet should only be done for a limited time, as a certain amount of carbs – like whole grains – are essential for proper health and nutrition, as well as digestion.
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