I have high cholesterol (getting that checked again in April so hopefully I can say "had") so living on high fat, eggs and red meat isn't a great idea. Truthfully if I don't eat some carbs a day I never feel full.
This is a total misstatement of what it means to low carb it. I hate eggs and virtually never have a piece of red meat. You can get a perfectly reasonable number of carbs from fruits and vegetables. Do some low carbers eat a lot of eggs and fat? Yes, they do, but they do it because they choose to, not because it is some requirement. My healthy fats come from things like avocado and olive oil, not from the marbling on a steak.
Your body needs carbs. It does not need 500 a day. Most people don't realize that the reason the USDA first pushed grains was due to food shortages, not due to some unmet carb need on the part of the American consumer. It's cheaper to fill people with wheat than with almost any other product we produce.
You say if you don't have carbs every day that you're never full. If I have too many carbs, I'm never satisfied. People are different.
I bought into the whole anti-carb thing for a while but now i'm just sick of hearing about it. Low-carb was not a magic bullet for me. I do know that eating cookies will make me crave more cookies. So i try to stay away from cookies. That does not mean i never eat them. I do not think sugar is "poison"
This is a total misstatement of what it means to low carb it. I hate eggs and virtually never have a piece of red meat. You can get a perfectly reasonable number of carbs from fruits and vegetables. Do some low carbers eat a lot of eggs and fat? Yes, they do, but they do it because they choose to, not because it is some requirement. My healthy fats come from things like avocado and olive oil, not from the marbling on a steak.
Your body needs carbs. It does not need 500 a day. Most people don't realize that the reason the USDA first pushed grains was due to food shortages, not due to some unmet carb need on the part of the American consumer. It's cheaper to fill people with wheat than with almost any other product we produce.
You say if you don't have carbs every day that you're never full. If I have too many carbs, I'm never satisfied. People are different.
500g carbs/day would equal 2000 calories which is a lot for most people. I mean, I eat a high carb diet and still 200g (maybe 230g) is about as high as I go per day.
I actually don't eat a lot of grains for personal preference but between beans, some fruit, and vegetables - carbs still make up the majority of my diet.
Hmmm good post... I have been reading more nutrition books. I have been calorie tracking the last month or so and I find that I range between 100-200g for carbs per day. I try not to exclude anything from my diet (except at the moment artificial sweeteners) but I don't think that carbs are taboo I think that they are just the latest thing to get the blame.
However, I do think that there are some people who just can't do carbs due to biology. We all have to find what works best for us no matter what it is.
LOL yes i guess to some the 10% is/seems low but at 150-200g a day and low carbers aim for 20-50 or less all i hear is how high my intake is and my sugar levels must be thru the roof and how can you possibly lose weight like that blah blah blah. Can't seem to get them to understand "healthy carbs". I follow a whole foods/diabetic type lifestyle to avoid being diabetic. my father and best friend are both diabetic and think i must be doing something wrong because they believe to help diabetis means NO CARBS ugh anyway to each their own i'm just glad i learned that i didn't have to give up carbs to get healthy and lose weight.
Last edited by dangerouscurvesahead; 03-01-2013 at 01:45 PM.
LOL yes i guess to some the 10% is/seems low but at 150-200mg a day and low carbers aim for 20-50 or less all i hear is how high my intake is and my sugar levels must be thru the roof and how can you possibly lose weight like that blah blah blah. Can't seem to get them to understand "healthy carbs". I follow a whole foods/diabetic type lifestyle to avoid being diabetic. my father and best friend are both diabetic and think i must be doing something wrong because they believe to help diabetis means NO CARBS ugh anyway to each their own i'm just glad i learned that i didn't have to give up carbs to get healthy and lose weight.
150-200 would mean 600 to 800 of your calories would be coming from carbs and I'm doubting you are eating 6,000 to 8,000 calories
I am in the 150-200 (or actually closer to 180-230) range as well and that is around 60% of my calories coming from carbs.
Nelie~ i just checked my percentages and i am wrong sorry my carb range is at 53% of my daily calories which sets me around 272g per day but i don't usually go that high i try to stick to 150-200 unless its a hard workout day and i need the extra energy.
Point is... complex carbs are NOT the enemy. it's like JohnP said they are just the latest victim in this quick fix, pass the buck world.
I actually corrected my high cholesterol when I went low carb. My diet is primarily fish, red meat, cheese and eggs. I'm no fanatic though. There are a million ways to lose weight and "healthy" for everyone varies.
I'm clearly a carb addict, and like arctic mama, they make me ill. Am I saying that the carbs in brocolli, oranges and squash are kryptonite? No, and I eat these foods. I don't however eat pasta, rice, bread or refined carbs. Because history has shown that they effect my sleep, fertility and weight. My mileage varies.
I think part of the reason it "works" for a lot of people without major carb isssues is that restricting carbs pretty easily restricts "junk". It's hard to stay under 100g of carbs a day eating potato chips and fast food.
I think the fact that there is an "obesity epidemic" in this country is what has changed the focus from fat to refined carbohydrates.
In order to make the discussion better, let's clarify that for the mast part -- whether it's Atkins or Paleo Eating or anyone who is focused on low-carb diets -- they are not saying that vegetables or fruit (in moderation) are bad and should not be eaten.
In fact, the focus has been on refined carbohydrates. So, when we discuss this, let's be clear that the issue is bread and cakes and cookies rather than whether or not you are eating that turnip or collard green.
For the most part, the level of carbs that spinach or kale or dandelion greens have is not as significant as the nutrients or fiber that they hold. Even with fruit, although it is possible to over do the amount of fruit you eat (even a fruit only diet can hurt you, as seen recently by Ashton Kutcher who went on a fruit-only diet for his role as Steve Jobs).
I think the diets that are "low" carb are really trying to focus on eating vegetables, moderate fruits, as well as protein or fats, but not an only protein/fat diet.
The issue for why low-carb diets are appealing is because so much has been learned about insulin response and in the context of the obesity epidemic, diabetes has been on the rise too. And what is diabetes? Your pancreas not functioning correctly such that a number of other systems in your body don't work either leading to eventual death.
Low-carb for me works because I have IR and PCOS and a family history of diabetes.
But I also recognize that the low-carb diet isn't hamburger meat for breakfast, chicken breast for lunch, and bacon for dinner -- it's trying to eat 5 servings of multiple types of vegetables and fruits and eating my lean protein (because I am not vegetarian).
I don't abscond rice or legumes, but I am careful about how much I eat because regardless of whether they are nutrient heavy or fiber heavy, they still cause an insulin response and they also affect my gut (in ways that Robb Wolfe and others indicate) and therefore I minimize my consumption.
No, I'm not perfect. I will eat wheat because I still enjoy desserts.
But again, I also recognize that my recent weight gain (and lack of weight loss) is directly influenced by my choices to eat wheat, rice, and sugar.
I personally ♥ carbs. I am not sensitive to them in any way physically, but I have gravitated to low(ish) carbs merely for the fact that I can eat a lot more volume when I watch the carbs.
Take a simple sandwich. If I get whole grain bread without any funky ingredients, I'm looking at 220 calories before I even put anything between the two slices lol. I can have a GIGANTIC salad with a bunch of stuff in it for the calorie amount of the sandwich. I like volumetrics, so I go for the salad.
Also, carbs can trigger overeating/bingeing as well. They just taste so darn good and of course with the opiate effect they have. For me, I find it easier to just avoid certain foods unless I've planned for them.
That's why I love intermittent fasting. I can literally have my cake and eat it too ... lol
To answer your question -- I don't think carbs are evil at all. I'm a calorie in/out person, so as far as weight loss I don't think they make any difference so long as you stay within your calorie allowance (unless you're insulin resistant/diabetic/celiac etc).
Thank you Rana, that is a great point and one that often gets missed. I eat extremely low carb, even here in pregnancy, and have stellar vitals to show for it. But I defy any normal person to eat healthier,in terms of food choices, than I do.
I have a minimum of four cups of low starch, nutrient dense veggies per day. Often more.
The only fruit I bother with is the stuff that packs the MOST nutritional punch with the least sugar and hunger affect, ie: berries.
I usually have a serving of cold water, fatty fish each day. Sardines or dip netted Alaska salmon.
Breakfast keeps me satisfied for HOURS, with three eggs fried in a little butter and a serving of almonds if I feel like it.
The rest of my diet is filled in with flavorful homemade condiments, other sources of fat and protein like cheese/steak/chicken/nuts/some whole fat dairy, and that's it. The most processed thing I eat on a daily basis is half an ounce of dark chocolate. And to show for it I'm physically and mentally satisfied, have gained almost NO extra body fat during this pregnancy (despite having the normal hormonal predisposition to do it, as is typical with pregnant women), and everything from my A1C to my blood pressure remains in the 'excellent' range of values. This was no so before I went low carb. I felt terrible and regained body fat easily and at a fast clip. I could eat and eat and wasn't satiated, two hours later my blood sugar would crash and we'd be on the merry go round again.
Not everyone needs to eat 25-35 net carbs per day for their health and weight loss. But a WHOLE lot of folks have benefitted from it, especially those like me who have both a genetic and physiological predisposition to excess and inappropriate fat storage. Maybe if I wasn't dealing with metabolic syndrome on all sides of my family, or gained morbid obesity involving pounds of new fat cells as an active, normal TEEN, it wouldn't be a way of eating I'd need. Of course eating bread and beans would be easier. But for me, the benefits clearly outweigh the risks for both weight loss and maintenance. As I said, I didn't start out that way and I'm no yoyo dieter. This is for life. I might tweak my macros a bit postpartum or be able to add back in more starch from certain fruits or veggies down the road, but overall this is comfortable, maintainable, and healthful for my body. Different bodies have different needs, in my case low carb and low inflammatory is crucial for my health!
Rana - I totally get what you're saying. But mostly people who talk 'low carb' are mostly saying 'carb' and not differentiating between highly processed carbs and (white breads, pasta, potato) and sugars - which I call 'white carbs' - and the carbs that are in veggies. Maybe they mean to....but they don't. Carbs are not the enemy. I will accept that for a number of people sugars and carbs that easily turn into sugar does trigger bad reactions. Eating tons of those white carbs makes me sick.
Low-carbing - with Atkins - also made me sick. I couldn't hack the induction weeks. I did ok with the next phases and lost weight... but I just couldn't live that way.
I am exercising a lot. I am eating 'white carbs' and am even doing some carbo loading before rugby games. But I am trying to eat with fewer white carbs during the rest of the week. I don't really need them as much as I need protein and complex carbs and some fats.
