Can Low-Carb Diets Turn Restrictive?
People taking restrictive diets will not be able to get all of the nutrients needed daily. Even for healthy weight management or weight loss, diets such as low-carb diets and ketogenic diets would take up the body’s metabolism for some time. It takes over a few months to adjust which usually depends upon the nutrients taken. These individuals would most likely be deficient in or predisposed to diseases. The nutritionist or dietician ensures personalized advice or a supplement for making up for the lost amount of vitamin or micronutrient when the individual is specifically following a low-carb diet or a ketogenic diet. Though the ketogenic diet has its cons and may take some time to get used to, the advantage of it is there is more protein consumption that can help to stay more active, retain bodily endurance, build healthy muscle, and sustain a healthy weight. On the other hand, in low-carb diets, foods that are in the higher range of carbohydrates cannot be consumed and are strictly forbidden for weight loss purposes (carbs being the primary endurance source for body cells). This would mean the need for supplementing with all the other micronutrients or vitamins that are not yielded from low-carb sources the individual needs.
What Are the Five Essential Nutrients That Can Be Added in a Low-Carb Diet?
To make sure that the body can function well even when a person is on a low-carb diet to get a daily boost of endurance and satiety, try including these foods in meals at breakfast or during snack intervals throughout the day. It would be aimed at achieving the recommended daily intake of each of the essential nutrients that would be deprived on a typical restrictive low-carb diet intended for weight loss. Many individuals especially those following low carbohydrate diets would lack endurance and stamina when they are deprived of these five essential nutrients that we will discuss in this article. Fortunately, there exist multiple sources that are low carb and low calorie as well that can be easily added to an individual's diet who is looking for healthy weight management or weight loss. The nutrients that can be added to low-carb diets include thiamin, folate, vitamin C, magnesium, and iron apart from dietary fiber in some high-carb foods.
1. Vitamin B1/Thiamin - Adult women should consume ideally around 3.8 ounces of vitamin B1 as per the recommended daily intake while adult men should consume around 4.2 ounces of thiamin per day.
-
Macadamia Nuts - Approximately 1 ounce gives 0.3 mg of thiamin.
-
Pecans - Approximately 1 ounce of these nuts would be equal to around 0.2 mg of thiamin.
-
Flaxseeds - 1 tablespoon of these seeds would yield typically 7.0 ounces of thiamin.
-
Asparagus - 1 cup of these fresh veggies can yield around 7.0 ounces of thiamin. Many non-starchy and root vegetables roughly provide a trace of 2.11 to 3.17 ounces of thiamin from a single cup of veggies consumed. Nutritional yeast would also be capable of yielding some minimal amounts of thiamin. For nonvegetarians, chicken livers and pork loins would also yield some amounts of thiamin.
2. Vitamin B9/Folate: Adult women and men should roughly consume at least 1.4 ounces of folate or vitamin B9 in a single day with the nutritional requirements higher up in pregnant or nursing women. Some low carb sources of folate are:
-
Avocado: A half slice of big avocado fruit can yield roughly around 2.8 to 2.9 ounces of folate.
-
Asparagus: A single cup of these green veggies can yield around roughly 2.2 to 2.4 ounces of folate.
-
Romaine Lettuce: A single cup of this vegetable will be a good source, which would be approximately around 2.11 ounces of folate. A single cup of raw spinach and even cruciferous veggies like broccoli and greens like Brussel sprouts can yield up to 1.7 to 1.9 ounces of folate.
3. Vitamin C: Adult women are usually recommended to consume at least around 0.002 ounces of vitamin C in a day, while adult men should consume approximately around 0.003 ounces of vitamin C every day for sustaining cellular immunity. Red bell peppers and green bell peppers both are good sources of vitamin C with a half raw cup of this vegetable gives around 0.002 to 0.003 ounces of vitamin C. Single cup of strawberries can yield around 0.003 ounces of vitamin C. Single cup of raw broccoli yields around 0.002 ounces of vitamin C. A single cup of cooked cauliflower can yield around 0.001 ounces of vitamin C. Consuming a half cup of grapefruit would yield 0.001 ounces of vitamin C.
4. Magnesium: Adult women should ideally consume 0.0011 ounces of magnesium while adult men should roughly consume 0.0014 ounces of magnesium per day. Consuming roughly one raw cup of soybeans would yield around a rich 0.0017 ounces of magnesium. Pumpkin seeds are excellent sources of magnesium with one roasted cup of seeds yielding approximately 0.005 ounces of magnesium. A single ounce of nutrient-dense peanuts, almonds, or pecan nuts can yield around 0.0017 to 0.0024 ounces of magnesium. A single tablespoon of whole flax seeds can yield 0.0014 ounces of magnesium.
5. Iron: All adult women of childbearing age should consume around 0.0006 to 0.0007 ounces of iron every day as per the nutrition expert's recommendation. Men and women over the childbearing age should consume at least 0.0002 ounces of iron per day. Soybeans are low-carb sources with one raw cup yielding a rich 0.0005 ounces of iron. A single cup of black beans can give around 0.0001 ounces of iron. Other non-vegetarian sources of iron that are low carb are mussels, oysters, roast beef, chicken liver, and beef liver with one ounce roughly equal to one milligram of iron.
Conclusion:
Note that while following a low-carb diet, a person might often be deprived of these essential nutrients. Nutrition experts always recommend that a dietary basis of micronutrients and vitamins is the best way to sustain long-term systemic health for a day over a typical supplement. This supplementation would either need to be taken by opting for low-carb food sources that have more of these essential nutrients or by taking a multivitamin or mineral supplement that the individual is particularly deficient in. Hence, a registered dietician should always ensure that their clients following the low-carb diet have a nutritionally stable diet every day.
