Over the long haul, very low carb diets simply aren’t good for you. That doesn’t mean it’s not smart to cut back on carbs if you love your bread, potatoes and pasta—moderate portions of carb-rich foods are best for your blood glucose.

What raises blood glucose? The simple answer is carbohydrates. So why not just yank them out of your diet like weeds in your garden? Why not quash blood glucose by swearing off bread, pasta, rice and cereal? Been there, done that.

When low-carb diets first became popular, they seemed to be a breath of fresh air after the low-fat (and high-carb) diets that preceded them. With low-carb diets, suddenly people could load up on bacon and still lose weight as long as they were willing to eat hamburgers without buns and pretty much give up sandwiches and pasta. People were amazed at how effective these diets could be. Weight loss could happen very quickly, sometimes within days. And amazingly, it often seemed to come with added health benefits, including lower cholesterol, blood pressure and triglycerides (blood fats linked to heart attacks).

The most extreme kind of low-carb diet was pioneered by the late Robert Atkins, MD, whose first book, Dr Atkins’ Diet Revolution, came out in 1972. It promised quick and long-lasting weight loss and prevention of chronic disease, all while allowing high-fat steak and ice-cream. Since then, other, more moderate low-carb diets have allowed small amounts of carbohydrate-rich foods, but they still cut out most grains as well as starchy vegetables and even fruit.

The downsides of these diets
The Atkins diet and the many other low-carb diets that followed in its footsteps have turned out to be less effective, and less healthy, than originally claimed. Often, the weight returned, and, as it did, problems such as high cholesterol and high blood pressure came back, too. Also, in the end, many people decided they didn’t want to go through life without ever eating pasta again.

Let’s look at what would happen if you followed one of the more extreme low-carb diets.