[SouthLake]

I think that there are a couple issues. The first is, obviously, the definition of low carb. I do not eat potatoes, sugar, any type of white flour, etc. I generally have fewer than one serving of grains. But, I eat LOTS of vegetables. Which have lots of carbs, and lots of fiber. So, where I fit into the definition of "low carb", depends on the person making the definition.

What I can say is that limiting starches has worked best for me when I was 239, and when I was losing weight for my wedding 5 years ago and starting at 160.

I think low carb works for some personalities, and some people's bodies. I lose weight better on the same number of calories with a lower starch and carb level than the same number of calories with a higher starch level. It's also easier for me to stick with. But, I have the same level on success whether I have lots to lose or just a little.

[InsideMe]

I can't eat high carbs (like pasta, potatoes, flour etc) on a regular basis (I do it like once or twice a month at the most!) cause it really causes me problems, not just with my mid section but with cravings. I swear everytime I eat those carbs I'm hungry an hour later so it does something to my insulin levels. Diabetes does run in my family, and I have lots of belly fat (I carry it mostly in my tummy) so I am definitely at higher risk. I do watch the high carbs but I also eat whole grain breads (made with whole grain flour and not wheat). But I watch that too and keep it moderate like 3 times a week and not everyday. I have been keeping to high protein, mod carbs (the good stuff in veggies, and wholes grains) and low fat (cause I also have my gall bladder out and high fat bothers my digestion) I also have a sweet tooth (a really really bad sweet tooth especially after I eat!) and have been eating Kashi granola bars to curb it, or sometimes a little peanut butter and jam on a rice cake has been my dessert! LOL It helps. I have eliminated sugar in my teas also and sometimes use sugar free almond milk in my tea to give it a bit of a "sweet nutty" flavour. I honestly don't think I'll ever be able to regularly eat potatoes, and pastas, and will have to keep as a treat and watch portion size. I get so bloated, gassy and it triggers my IBS too So yeah for me watching those types of carbs is essential for me in order to lose weight.

I think low carb can mean different things to different people and it really depends everyone's individual health.

[kaplods]

Some people find an advantage to low-carb dieting, and some do not. So far that's not a guess, the research bears this out, but we don't know a whole lot about which people experience that advantage, or why they do.

These are the factors I believe determine whether a person will experience an advantage to low-carb(keep in mind that while I consider this is an educated guess, it's still mostly a guess):

1. Genetics
There hasn't been much research on this, so this is my most un-substantiated guess.



2. Hunger.
Some people find that their hunger and appetite are much reduced on low-carb. If hunger isn't responsible for your weight issues (and not everyone with weight issues has a hunger problem), or if your hunger isn't relieved by low-carb dieting, then you may experience little or no advantage to low-carb.



3. Physical Health.

Perhaps health overall, perhaps specific health issues. When my doctor asked me to try low-carb dieting, he did so because he told me that "the research" had recently found that low-carb dieting was more likely to succeed for people with metabolic syndrome/insulin resistance. He was reluctant to recommend it too strongly, because the research is relatively new, so he warned not to go "too low" but admitted he didn't know what was too low.

This isn't weight-loss related, but I've also read research and anectdotal reports that other conditions respond well to a reduced carb, or at least a low-grain diet (fibromyalga, hypothyroid, and autoimmune disease).

I've noticed for myself, that low-carb (and more so low-carb) seems to relieve many of my health issue symptoms. This isn't weight-loss related, except that feeling better definitely makes weight loss less difficult.



4. Age

This is also a guess, as I've tried low-carb diets in the past (not many, but enough to make me suspect that age may be an issue), and have never noticed that I lost better on low-carb (but maybe I just didn't stick with low-carb, long enough). Of course, some health issues (including metabolilc issues) tend to be associated with aging - so is it aging itself, or do these health issues that seem to account for the advantage that low-carb seems to have?



5. Starting weight - It does seem to me, that larger folks have more success with low-carb, but I'm not sure if it's true (or if it's true, why it's true). Is it because the largest folks are most likely to have the physical health issues mentioned above? Is it that the advantage to low-carb is relatively modest, and only very large people (who will tend to lose more weight than smaller folks of the same health and age status) are going to be more likely to notice the difference? For example, let's assume (no evidence to suggest this, but let's assume anyway) that low-carb provides a 10 to 20% advantage to weight loss for most folks. For someone small who can only lose a half pound to a pound per week, that means instead they will lose one to four ounces more per week on low-carb. (Who's going to notice a few ounces). However, someone who is losing 5 to 6 lbs on high carb, would lose an additional half pound to a pound and a quarter per week.


While it seems safe to say that some people do significantly better on low-carb, I'm not sure there's a way to predict whether you're one of those people. Experimentation is pretty much the only way to find out.