Why do some people do a low carb diet?
Replies
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lemurcat12 wrote: »leanjogreen18 wrote: »Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Lillymoo01 wrote: »Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Certainly, you need to eat fairly low carb to lose weight...
No, you most certainly do not. There are plenty of people who have successfully lost weight (and maintained the losses) without ever once having eaten low-carb.
You are making an argument where there is none. My point is that you will not lose weight if you eat carbs above your plan. Thus you have to limit carbs at least somewhat to lose weight. Right?
What exactly do you mean by carbs above your plan? If my plan is 40% carbs and I eat 50% instead at the expense of fat and protein I will still lose weight. If my plan is 40% and I eat 50% but that extra 10% takes me over my calories for the day then my weight loss will stall. You don't have to limit carbs, just calories.
I simply mean you could eat up to 100% of your planned calories as carbs, if you like (as @WinoGelato points out). There's your ultimate carb limit, if you want to lose weight.
For me it would mean eating 400g of pure carbohydrate without fiber in a day. I'm pretty sure I've never done that and I don't recommend it, but I assume one would still lose weight on a 100% carb diet, if one wanted to.
This is all I meant by the statement that you must limit carbs at least somewhat to lose weight. I think a reasonable goal is below 50% carb calories on average. Many people (e.g., @nvmomketo) favor going even lower for a variety of reasons, but I'm living proof that you don't have to to lose weight.
Didn't a guy lose weight on potatos only? He didn't limit carbs in fact he increased carbs to 100%. Or the professor on the Twinkie diet?
They did hower lower their calorie intake.
Even potatoes aren't 100% carbs (nor are Twinkies, although they have less fat than most sweets that get wrongly called "carbs," like donuts, which are about half fat). (On 100% carbs you'd basically die, eventually, because you need protein and essential fatty acids. However, I guess you can get them from your body to some extent as some have fasted for a long time when they had lots of weight to lose, but OBVIOUSLY not recommended, dangerous, any VLCD should be under a dr's supervision.)
1540 calories of potatoes have 41 g of protein, 1.8 g of fat, and 350 g of carbs.
Here's a discussion of that (goofy) diet: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-11864290 (Also, for fun, pre potato Irish diet: http://www.bonappetit.com/trends/article/what-the-irish-ate-before-potatoes.)
Best way to have a basically all carb diet would be to be a fruitarian, I guess, although it still wouldn't be 100%.
Thanks for the correction! I'm always amazed at your knowledge and ability to explain things!
Most would call a potato or a twinkie a carb so that's why I used those examples although incorrectly:)1 -
Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Lillymoo01 wrote: »Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Certainly, you need to eat fairly low carb to lose weight...
No, you most certainly do not. There are plenty of people who have successfully lost weight (and maintained the losses) without ever once having eaten low-carb.
You are making an argument where there is none. My point is that you will not lose weight if you eat carbs above your plan. Thus you have to limit carbs at least somewhat to lose weight. Right?
What exactly do you mean by carbs above your plan? If my plan is 40% carbs and I eat 50% instead at the expense of fat and protein I will still lose weight. If my plan is 40% and I eat 50% but that extra 10% takes me over my calories for the day then my weight loss will stall. You don't have to limit carbs, just calories.
I simply mean you could eat up to 100% of your planned calories as carbs, if you like (as @WinoGelato points out). There's your ultimate carb limit, if you want to lose weight.
For me it would mean eating 400g of pure carbohydrate without fiber in a day. I'm pretty sure I've never done that and I don't recommend it, but I assume one would still lose weight on a 100% carb diet, if one wanted to.
This is all I meant by the statement that you must limit carbs at least somewhat to lose weight. I think a reasonable goal is below 50% carb calories on average. Many people (e.g., @nvmomketo) favor going even lower for a variety of reasons, but I'm living proof that you don't have to to lose weight.
There are people who go on a high carb low fat diet that lose weight, that may be eating more carbs than they were prior to starting to monitor their intake. There are people, like myself, that don't look at carbs at all. I look first at calories, and then aim for a minimum of 80-100 g of protein, and couldn't even tell you how many grams or what percentage of my diet come from carbs. The point is that carb intake doesnt explicitly determine success or failure with weight management. It is only calories that are directly reaponsible.3 -
It works!1
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leanjogreen18 wrote: »lemurcat12 wrote: »leanjogreen18 wrote: »Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Lillymoo01 wrote: »Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Jthanmyfitnesspal wrote: »Certainly, you need to eat fairly low carb to lose weight...
No, you most certainly do not. There are plenty of people who have successfully lost weight (and maintained the losses) without ever once having eaten low-carb.
You are making an argument where there is none. My point is that you will not lose weight if you eat carbs above your plan. Thus you have to limit carbs at least somewhat to lose weight. Right?
What exactly do you mean by carbs above your plan? If my plan is 40% carbs and I eat 50% instead at the expense of fat and protein I will still lose weight. If my plan is 40% and I eat 50% but that extra 10% takes me over my calories for the day then my weight loss will stall. You don't have to limit carbs, just calories.
I simply mean you could eat up to 100% of your planned calories as carbs, if you like (as @WinoGelato points out). There's your ultimate carb limit, if you want to lose weight.
For me it would mean eating 400g of pure carbohydrate without fiber in a day. I'm pretty sure I've never done that and I don't recommend it, but I assume one would still lose weight on a 100% carb diet, if one wanted to.
This is all I meant by the statement that you must limit carbs at least somewhat to lose weight. I think a reasonable goal is below 50% carb calories on average. Many people (e.g., @nvmomketo) favor going even lower for a variety of reasons, but I'm living proof that you don't have to to lose weight.
Didn't a guy lose weight on potatos only? He didn't limit carbs in fact he increased carbs to 100%. Or the professor on the Twinkie diet?
They did hower lower their calorie intake.
Even potatoes aren't 100% carbs (nor are Twinkies, although they have less fat than most sweets that get wrongly called "carbs," like donuts, which are about half fat). (On 100% carbs you'd basically die, eventually, because you need protein and essential fatty acids. However, I guess you can get them from your body to some extent as some have fasted for a long time when they had lots of weight to lose, but OBVIOUSLY not recommended, dangerous, any VLCD should be under a dr's supervision.)
1540 calories of potatoes have 41 g of protein, 1.8 g of fat, and 350 g of carbs.
Here's a discussion of that (goofy) diet: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-11864290 (Also, for fun, pre potato Irish diet: http://www.bonappetit.com/trends/article/what-the-irish-ate-before-potatoes.)
Best way to have a basically all carb diet would be to be a fruitarian, I guess, although it still wouldn't be 100%.
Thanks for the correction! I'm always amazed at your knowledge and ability to explain things!
Most would call a potato or a twinkie a carb so that's why I used those examples although incorrectly:)
Thanks back! I hope it didn't sound like I was being critical -- using "donuts" or "cookies" as a synonym for carbs (when they are usually about half fat) is a pet peeve, so I had to bring it up, although you didn't do that, of course. I'd call a potato a carb too, and Twinkies are pretty high carb, but just wanted to be pedantic about what they actually are since many are surprised by how much protein potatoes have (again, not that I'd recommend living on them!).2 -
lemurcat12 wrote: »
Even potatoes aren't 100% carbs (nor are Twinkies, although they have less fat than most sweets that get wrongly called "carbs," like donuts, which are about half fat). (On 100% carbs you'd basically die, eventually, because you need protein and essential fatty acids.
I'm glad you pointed this out. Almost no food is 100% carbohydrate except sugars as found in sodas and other sweetened soft drinks. So try not to live on that.
In our big world, there are people with very high carb diets, such as poor Asian communities that base their diets on white rice (which still has some "incomplete" protein). There are also very low carb diets, such as Alaskan natives who base their diets completely on animal flesh. (mmm... raw whale blubber...)
For some of us fortunate folks, we have the historically-unprecedented luxury of being able to eat exactly what we want. It's daunting, and experts are not in complete agreement about what we SHOULD eat.0 -
Low carb is generally thought to be under 100-150 g of carbs per day regardless of size and caloric intake. Some who are very active will go a bit higher if their carbs are tied to exercise. Most low carbers don't bother carb loading around exercise though.
So that could be almost 0% up to around 40% of you daily caloric intake.
Ketogenic diets are under 50g of carbs per day.
Many thanks for a legit reply on what appears to be a very sensitive topic.
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I'm not on low carbs right now, but when I eat low carb, I do feel better. I have more energy, am less hungry & do loose a little faster. I've just been eating a balanced diet for quite a while0
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Low carb is generally thought to be under 100-150 g of carbs per day regardless of size and caloric intake. Some who are very active will go a bit higher if their carbs are tied to exercise. Most low carbers don't bother carb loading around exercise though.
So that could be almost 0% up to around 40% of you daily caloric intake.
Ketogenic diets are under 50g of carbs per day.
Many thanks for a legit reply on what appears to be a very sensitive topic.
Religion, politics and food.... Very sensitive topics. It's sort of surprising. LOL
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Carbs fuel your muscles. We need carbs. Listen to what Nancy Clark, world renown sports nutritionist, says about carbs.0
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For some people low carb works wonders. My mom has been over weight her whole life. She did atkins back in 2001, lost 40 pounds and has kept it off since.
Me, on the other hand, i can not handle the drowsy feeling. I turn into a complete witch. I even tried low carb earlier this year...
- my 10 minute mile in running turned into a 12 minute mile.
- i got real real real sad.
- while at work, running a mommy and me dance class, i forgot the words to, "the wheels on the bus," because of the brain fog.
I couldn't handle it any more and binged on carbs. I felt absolutely amazing and like myself again.2 -
Asher_Ethan wrote: »For some people low carb works wonders. My mom has been over weight her whole life. She did atkins back in 2001, lost 40 pounds and has kept it off since.
Me, on the other hand, i can not handle the drowsy feeling. I turn into a complete witch. I even tried low carb earlier this year...
- my 10 minute mile in running turned into a 12 minute mile.
- i got real real real sad.
- while at work, running a mommy and me dance class, i forgot the words to, "the wheels on the bus," because of the brain fog.
I couldn't handle it any more and binged on carbs. I felt absolutely amazing and like myself again.
This was most likely symptoms of an electrolyte imbalance due to water loss.3 -
Low carb is generally thought to be under 100-150 g of carbs per day regardless of size and caloric intake. Some who are very active will go a bit higher if their carbs are tied to exercise. Most low carbers don't bother carb loading around exercise though.
So that could be almost 0% up to around 40% of you daily caloric intake.
Ketogenic diets are under 50g of carbs per day.
Many thanks for a legit reply on what appears to be a very sensitive topic.
Religion, politics and food.... Very sensitive topics. It's sort of surprising. LOL
Seems sensitivity comes when one pushes "their way" of eating as superior to others way of eating.
Most on here could care less what others eat though:).3 -
leanjogreen18 wrote: »Low carb is generally thought to be under 100-150 g of carbs per day regardless of size and caloric intake. Some who are very active will go a bit higher if their carbs are tied to exercise. Most low carbers don't bother carb loading around exercise though.
So that could be almost 0% up to around 40% of you daily caloric intake.
Ketogenic diets are under 50g of carbs per day.
Many thanks for a legit reply on what appears to be a very sensitive topic.
Religion, politics and food.... Very sensitive topics. It's sort of surprising. LOL
Seems sensitivity comes when one pushes "their way" of eating as superior to others way of eating.
Most on here could care less what others eat though:).
Yep.2 -
Carbs are sugars, starches and fiber.
Some bodies can digest and store fiber, most can not. The soluble fiber is the type such as in oatmeal. I do not like rolled oats because when cooked in water the soluble fiber seems slimy to me. So if I eat oatmeal, I will find a farm store that sells whole oatmeal for animals. That still has the husk on it and does not release the soluble fiber as easily when cooked.
In any case, the fiber is what we used to call roughage or bulk. It filled us up and kept us regular.
For some people, a high fat diet causes the runs. For some people high fiber causes the exact opposite.
Some bodies on a very low carb diet (10-30 net grams a day) can adapt to store protein others can't. All bodies are different.
I personally do not care what anyone else eats except my hubby. We have managed to keep him off insulin for over 10 years by keeping him on that type of diet. I watched the H**ll my dad went through slowly losing parts and pieces of his feet, his sight, and other horrid things from diabetes, and I refuse to watch another loved one die that way.
To each his own is my motto. I personally refuse to even consider a diet that insists I can not have milk. For others it may be chocolate and for others something else. I believe that it is important to choose a plan that I can keep at for the rest of my life. That is why I like the concept of counting calories. I can choose to eat whatever I want within my calorie limit.
It is like my checkbook. I need to budget certain things first and then fill in the fun stuff.
I love to watch these discussions. It is fun to see how much drama there can be over a simple question such as "why do people do a low carb diet.)
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I have tried low carb diets. They do not work for me. I cannot function with low fiber, which is hard to avoid on this sort of thing. Tried taking fiber supplements then figured out I was putting carbs back in my diet by doing so. If others have had this work, fine. I just couldn't do it.0
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leanjogreen18 wrote: »Low carb is generally thought to be under 100-150 g of carbs per day regardless of size and caloric intake. Some who are very active will go a bit higher if their carbs are tied to exercise. Most low carbers don't bother carb loading around exercise though.
So that could be almost 0% up to around 40% of you daily caloric intake.
Ketogenic diets are under 50g of carbs per day.
Many thanks for a legit reply on what appears to be a very sensitive topic.
Religion, politics and food.... Very sensitive topics. It's sort of surprising. LOL
Seems sensitivity comes when one pushes "their way" of eating as superior to others way of eating.
Most on here could care less what others eat though:).
That must be why people who advocate eating plenty of carbs while only counting calories seem to always post in low carb threads. Funny, I don't notice low carbers always crashing eat-all-foods-in-moderation-but-just-stay-in-a-deficit threads. Low carbers tend to stay in their own threads. It's not them who proselytize or get pushy.
Funny, that hasn't been my experience at all. I've seen plenty of keto zealots who don't hesitate to crash into threads and tell everybody how keto is the One True Way.4 -
leanjogreen18 wrote: »Low carb is generally thought to be under 100-150 g of carbs per day regardless of size and caloric intake. Some who are very active will go a bit higher if their carbs are tied to exercise. Most low carbers don't bother carb loading around exercise though.
So that could be almost 0% up to around 40% of you daily caloric intake.
Ketogenic diets are under 50g of carbs per day.
Many thanks for a legit reply on what appears to be a very sensitive topic.
Religion, politics and food.... Very sensitive topics. It's sort of surprising. LOL
Seems sensitivity comes when one pushes "their way" of eating as superior to others way of eating.
Most on here could care less what others eat though:).
That must be why people who advocate eating plenty of carbs while only counting calories seem to always post in low carb threads. Funny, I don't notice low carbers always crashing eat-all-foods-in-moderation-but-just-stay-in-a-deficit threads. Low carbers tend to stay in their own threads. It's not them who proselytize or get pushy.
I have seen it work both ways here and much more so on other forums. There are some low carbers that inject their thoughts in many threads but that is fine. Makes for a lively discussion when it doesn't get personal. My philosophy. There is no one diet that works for all for many reasons. The best diet for you is the one where you get the results you are after. Some thrieve on LCHF while others thrieve on much higher amounts of carbs.
I have found this discussion very interesting to get a good honest perspective on why some choose the diets they do though which has been informative.3 -
leanjogreen18 wrote: »Low carb is generally thought to be under 100-150 g of carbs per day regardless of size and caloric intake. Some who are very active will go a bit higher if their carbs are tied to exercise. Most low carbers don't bother carb loading around exercise though.
So that could be almost 0% up to around 40% of you daily caloric intake.
Ketogenic diets are under 50g of carbs per day.
Many thanks for a legit reply on what appears to be a very sensitive topic.
Religion, politics and food.... Very sensitive topics. It's sort of surprising. LOL
Seems sensitivity comes when one pushes "their way" of eating as superior to others way of eating.
Most on here could care less what others eat though:).
That must be why people who advocate eating plenty of carbs while only counting calories seem to always post in low carb threads. Funny, I don't notice low carbers always crashing eat-all-foods-in-moderation-but-just-stay-in-a-deficit threads. Low carbers tend to stay in their own threads. It's not them who proselytize or get pushy.
I think perhaps you took my comment as saying low carb folks were sensitive. Please look at it again.
I said people who push their way of eating - that includes all "diets".
Secondly the poster I addressed knows that I've had success with Atkins and I tell people it works, in fact I've linked the low carb group for several asking for support.
I'm sorry it upset you.
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Asians like me can't do a easy keto diet because we eat rice every meal, but I manage to lose some weighr even in open carb diet, i can burn a lot of carbs daily cause im an active person participating in daily sports in school. Diabetic and pre diabetic person can really benefit on low carb diet if they do1
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Never tried low carb and don't want to. I was vegetarian for five years, so I can apparently restrict entire food groups if I have a desire too. I have absolutely no good reason to give up these delicious Girl Scout cookies. I lose just fine with carbs in my life.0
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Asians like me can't do a easy keto diet because we eat rice every meal, but I manage to lose some weighr even in open carb diet, i can burn a lot of carbs daily cause im an active person participating in daily sports in school. Diabetic and pre diabetic person can really benefit on low carb diet if they do
I wonder how diabetic Asians deal with this? It must make things very difficult for them.
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Christine_72 wrote: »Asians like me can't do a easy keto diet because we eat rice every meal, but I manage to lose some weighr even in open carb diet, i can burn a lot of carbs daily cause im an active person participating in daily sports in school. Diabetic and pre diabetic person can really benefit on low carb diet if they do
I wonder how diabetic Asians deal with this? It must make things very difficult for them.
It would tough I bet. The traditional diet is fairly low in sugar so that might help. Those who get T2D seem to have moved away from that.
Indians have a very high T2D rate, and many are vegetarians on a budget!0
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