Are carbs really the cause of weight gain (keto question)?

charliet2010

I have been on again off again with Keto for the last couple of months and it's hard. I am starting to get discouraged. A friend of my Mom's stopped by last night and she looks marvelous having obviously lost a ton of weight and she says she does not count carbs at all. So I guess I am confused more than anything. Do carbs really matter or not? If they don't matter, then why do so many people swear to me that they do? There is so much conflicting info on the app, so how do I know who is right.

Nony_Mouse

Nope, calorie deficit is all that matters for weight loss.

KarenSmith2018

Carbs are seen as the devil when they aren’t. Carbs are the basis of what a lot of people over eat though so when a diet cuts out carbs it naturally eliminates a lot of foods people over eat (pasta, bread, cakes, cookies etc etc) so people think it’s carbs that cause weight gain as they have now lost weight by cutting them out. And regain when added back in. In reality you just need to ensure the carbs you eat fit into your calorie allowance. Weigh and log all your food. Make sure it fits in your calorie goal and it doesn’t matter if it’s carbs protein or fat.

Carbs are also great for giving energy, driving us through life and personally make my meals more enjoyable!

Tetrelle

It depends on the person and the body. Calorie deficit didn't work for me, but it works for others. For me, low carb is the only way. Another factor is inflammation that can be caused by carbs (again depends on the body and health). I found since switching to low carb, I no longer retain water as easy. I suffered from edema for a long time, and no longer have the issue.

Maxxitt

Here's a review - it's a bit old (2009) but the results are still current: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2763382/

GottaBurnEmAll

Calories are what count, not carbs.

The whole idea that carbs spike insulin and that insulin is what makes you fat (I'm simplifying here) has been proven false by a researcher named Kevin Hall.

The key for many people when sticking to any form of calorie restriction is not feeling hungry. For some people, eating low carb allows them to restrict calories and not feel hungry because they find that fat makes them feel full.

Other people feel full from eating protein. Other people feel full from eating carbs. A lot of people need some combination of fat, protein and carb in varying amounts to feel full.

All people who want to lose weight need to eat less calories than they burn.

It really is that simple.

Nony_Mouse

bgctrinity wrote: »

It depends on the person and the body. Calorie deficit didn't work for me, but it works for others. For me, low carb is the only way. Another factor is inflammation that can be caused by carbs (again depends on the body and health). I found since switching to low carb, I no longer retain water as easy. I suffered from edema for a long time, and no longer have the issue.

Calorie deficit works for everyone. You may have particular issues with carbs that cause water weight that masks fat loss, but you don't defy the laws of physics.

VeryKatie

Vegetables = carbs..
They're not the reason people don't lose weight.
Unless they only eat carbs and can't control their calorie intake when they are starving.

If keto isn't working for you, find a new way!

willnorton

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

Nope, calorie deficit is all that matters for weight loss.

i respectfully disagree with you.... the type of calories do matter to an extent.... especially if you are a type 2 diabetic.... carbs make my blood sugar go through the roof.... and your body dealing with 100 calories of broccoli and 100 calories of a high carb food is a different animal... now maybe healthy people and process the broccoli as easy as the high carb food (bread or some type of sugar).... now I guess we are getting into a highly contested matter of your body using glucose as a fuel or ketones as a fuel.... .. this really is a big can of worms.. but if you talk to some low carbers who have like saved their lives eating non-carb food, you will get a different story... CICO might work for some so I guess both sides are right.. you just have to find out what works for you.... lastly.. even if you eat low carb and fats have 9 cals per gram and carbs only 4 cals per gram, you do tend to eat less because fat fills you up better so heck fire.. maybe you are right.. when you eat low carb you tend to eat less because you are satiated ..... I think we all need to find someone you love and give them a big hug and tell them out loud that you love them.... will make their day...I promise.... GO KETONES !

GottaBurnEmAll

willnorton wrote: »

Nony_Mouse wrote: »

Nope, calorie deficit is all that matters for weight loss.

i respectfully disagree with you.... the type of calories do matter to an extent.... especially if you are a type 2 diabetic.... carbs make my blood sugar go through the roof.... and your body dealing with 100 calories of broccoli and 100 calories of a high carb food is a different animal... now maybe healthy people and process the broccoli as easy as the high carb food (bread or some type of sugar).... now I guess we are getting into a highly contested matter of your body using glucose as a fuel or ketones as a fuel.... .. this really is a big can of worms.. but if you talk to some low carbers who have like saved their lives eating non-carb food, you will get a different story... CICO might work for some so I guess both sides are right.. you just have to find out what works for you.... lastly.. even if you eat low carb and fats have 9 cals per gram and carbs only 4 cals per gram, you do tend to eat less because fat fills you up better so heck fire.. maybe you are right.. when you eat low carb you tend to eat less because you are satiated ..... I think we all need to find someone you love and give them a big hug and tell them out loud that you love them.... will make their day...I promise.... GO KETONES !

A calorie deficit is all that matters for weight loss. You're bringing in other issues.

Satiety is individual, so fat might fill you up faster, but that won't and doesn't hold true for everyone.

Nony_Mouse

Point is, you still need to be at a calorie deficit to lose weight. How you get there is entirely up to the individual, and medical conditions may require a different approach, but it's still CICO. If you eat more calories than you burn on low carb, you will gain weight. If you eat at maintenance on low carb you will maintain. It does not negate CICO.

sijomial

OP - you can lose or gain weight on a low carb diet.
You can also lose or gain weight on a high carb diet.

If a low carb eating style helps you cut calories then it's going to work for you.
Personally I would find it hateful but that's where individual preferences help or hinder adherence to a suitable calorie level

Maxxitt

Calories in = stuff you eat and digest
Calories out = energy needed to keep you alive, energy expended through non-exercise activity, energy expended through intentional exercise, and energy expended digesting the food you eat.

Less energy in than out (calorie deficit) = fat loss. Weight loss, on the other hand, is not just fat loss, but also includes water loss and muscle/ligament/tendon loss, etc.

However you slice the pie, eating less of the pie in the end is what results in fat loss.

Edited to add: Humans are very adapted to survive in less than ideal conditions, and one of the ways this manifests is the body resisting fat loss. Deficits spark adaptations that can make fat loss harder and so taking a break with deficit eating and eating at current maintenance can be helpful in re-setting hormones.

HeidiCooksSupper

charliet2010 wrote: »

I have been on again off again with Keto for the last couple of months and it's hard. I am starting to get discouraged. A friend of my Mom's stopped by last night and she looks marvelous having obviously lost a ton of weight and she says she does not count carbs at all. So I guess I am confused more than anything. Do carbs really matter or not? If they don't matter, then why do so many people swear to me that they do? There is so much conflicting info on the app, so how do I know who is right.

There is a lot of conflicting information all over the place about weight loss. Lots of individual studies have found minor effects from various things like keto, intermittent fasting, etc. There is not a lot of confirming evidence for differences made by any of these. The one thing that does matter is calorie control. The rest is just tweeking that may or may not have an effect beyond that produced by the placebo effect or water retention. For the most part, the effects, if any, are quite minor.

@bgctrinity wrote that her edema seems linked to her consumption of carbs and that can be the case just like my appetite is piqued by the consumption of artificial sweeteners. We each learn what works for us and our own peculiarities. You have learned that keto is not your shtick.

You can change what you follow in your diary. I have mine display protein because I trend low, saturated fat because I trend high, sodium to aim low for blood pressure and potassium to aim high. Finally, I follow fiber to remind myself to get some. You can also set your goals for each depending on what you use as your source. For example, I have sodium set to the very low American Heart Association recommendation for people over 60.

I consider all these to be targets that help me aim toward healthier eating. Now, if I could only display a daily 'standard servings of vegetables" counter it would really help me aim toward a daily 5-7!

RoxieDawn

charliet2010 wrote: »

I have been on again off again with Keto for the last couple of months and it's hard. I am starting to get discouraged. A friend of my Mom's stopped by last night and she looks marvelous having obviously lost a ton of weight and she says she does not count carbs at all. So I guess I am confused more than anything. Do carbs really matter or not? If they don't matter, then why do so many people swear to me that they do? There is so much conflicting info on the app, so how do I know who is right.

OP you can do a more moderate approach with your carbs that do not involve doing keto. Do not stick to a method that makes you uncomfortable, long term this will not be sustainable as you are having issues with it now.

Add back carbs in your diet, stick to your calorie deficit, you will lose weight.

Lisa8823168

Check out the Forum dedicated to KETO instead of posting to the general MFP forums...you will find information with a different perspective.

russelljam08

Carbs are rarely, if ever, stored as fat in humans. Fat is the easiest to store.

4legsRbetterthan2

Dear Posters,

Please feel free to continue to help the OP with their original question. Please keep the MFP guidelines in mind and make sure your posts remain respectful towards others.

If you need to review the MFP guidelines they can be found here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/welcome/guidelines


Sincerely,
4legs

quiksylver296

NorthCascades

I lost 75 pounds eating all kinds of carbs, but eating fewer calories than I burned.

JaydedMiss

excess calories make you fat...not carbs...or id be the size of a small house. Vegans eat the highest carbs i believe and their the portion of the population who tend to be at lowest BMI...just saying

Unknown

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vingogly

If you're getting discouraged with trying keto, you're likely to give up on it. What works is a lifestyle that's sustainable. What the review linked by Maxxitt says is important: "Reduced-calorie diets result in clinically meaningful weight loss regardless of which macronutrients they emphasize."

I personally find that low fat regimes leave me unsatisfied, and low carb regimes make me crave carbs and feel deprived. A large part of the struggle is psychological. Find an approach that works for you and log everything. Don't waste energy worrying about figuring out which of the completing claims being made in these forums is the "right" one.

The other important thing is: you need to make permanent lifestyle changes rather than viewing yourself as being on a temporary "diet". Whatever you were doing before was not "normal eating" -- otherwise, you wouldn't have gotten fat, right? That's the reason why so many of us end up yo-yo dieting -- what we think is "normal eating" isn't.

sijomial

Noel_57 wrote: »

russelljam08 wrote: »

Carbs are rarely, if ever, stored as fat in humans. Fat is the easiest to store.

The first part of your comment is absolutely untrue. But the second part is probably accurate. Ultimately it is excess calories that get converted into fat, not a particular macronutrient.

@Noel_57
Actually the first statement and second statements are both true - but I would agree with you it's an irrelevance and a distraction from calorie balance.
What would normally happen in over-feeding of carbs is they get used preferentially and dietary fat that would otherwise be used gets stored instead.
Our bodies for the most part follow the most efficient way of processing, using and storing the food we intake. Which is great in a famine but not so great when food is plentiful.


Carbohydrates are rarely converted to fat (a process called de novo lipogenesis) under normal dietary conditions. There are exceptions when this occurs. One is with massive chronic overfeeding of carbs. I’m talking 700-900 grams of carbs per day for multiple days. Under those conditions, carbs max out glycogen stores, are in excess of total daily energy requirements and you see the conversion of carbohydrate to fat for storage. But this is not a normal dietary situation for most people.
- Lyle McDonald. https://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat-loss/how-we-get-fat.html/

missysippy930

Eat less calories than your body burns to lose weight.
Whatever works for you and is sustainable for the long term
Work your options into your daily calorie budget.

Unknown

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AndroidBioweapon

You can gain weight eating anything in excess.

Jeepygirl

Eating less calories is what causes you to lose weight. For myself, eating low carb makes it easier for me to maintain a calorie deficit. But I'm still losing weight because I'm eating fewer calories. I do still track my calories, because if you go overboard on the fats and oils, you can very easily find yourself eating way too many calories and not losing weight.

On a side note, I'm also not as super strict on the low carb as some of those who do keto. I shoot for 20g carbs but if I go over, I don't worry about it. Maybe try slowly upping your carbs to see if that helps you stick with it. And there's nothing wrong with saying its not working for you or your weight loss goals and trying something else.

psuLemon

If carbs made you fat than the healthiest and longest living parts of the world wouldn't be 70% carb based.

What it comes down to is dietary preference. If any diet has a benefit, it's a high protein diet since it's highly satiating and supports muscle retention/maintenance of metabolism. If you struggle with keto, go to another plan where you can maintain compliance. I lost 50 lbs while maintaining 50% of my calories from carbs.