How does a Low Carb Diet work?

Researches have shown that dietary fat does not convert into body fat, but carbohydrates do. Eating a high-carbohydrate diet would mean the increase of sugar levels, which would then stimulate the body’s insulin production. An increased insulin production deposits fat into the body, which would send hunger signals to the brain. The person, in this situation, would tend to eat more carbohydrates, thereby repeating this cycle. To restrict the intake of carbohydrates is to put a stop to this cycle. This is the way an Atkins Low Carb Diet works.

The Atkins low carb diet centers on less consumption of carbohydrates, with fewer than 20g of carbohydrate intake a day, for a period of 2 weeks. After two weeks, the diet is modified and the daily intake of carbohydrates is increased, still at a level that allows losing weight. This process is termed as Induction. Induction is a preparation for the next dietary phase called Ketosis. Ketosis is a state wherein the body is able to turn stored fat into energy, in the absence of carbohydrates.

On a ketogenic diet one eats food that allows the body to achieve a state known as ketosis - lipolysis (the process of dissolving fat). When fat is used up metabolically, it breaks down into glycerol and free fatty acids, which in turn break down into pairings of two-carbon compounds called "ketone bodies", leaving a newer fatty acid, shorter in chain length by the loss of the carbon fragment that has entered the metabolic pool to be used as fuel.

What are the benefits of going on a low carb diet?