Why so many carbs??

amberloses120

I'm probably going to sound super dumb right now, but are carbs from fruit as bad as carbs from grains and starchy foods? Because I made some smoothies this morning with banana, mango, blackberries, flaxseed, and cream. When I added the recipe to my food diary though, it had like 67 grams of carbs! So I've completely gone over my carbs for today and I haven't even had lunch or dinner yet. Did I add something I shouldn't have? The flaxseed only has four carbs, and everything else was fresh so I don't know exactly how many they had...

nvmomketo

If a food comes from plants (sugar, flour from grains, whole grains like oats or corn, veggies, fruits or nuts) it will have carbs. Carbs convert to glucose in the body and are the same in the end except for foods that taste sweet (have some fructose) which is handled by a different metabolic pathway by the liver.

Fibre will slow down some of the carbs (sugars - glucose and fructose mainly, and starches - chains of glucose) conversion to glucose in the blood. If higher blood glucose and insulin is something you are trying to avoid, you may wish to limit your fresh fruit and veggie carb intake. Juices, sugars and refined grains will typically gave the most carbs, followed by fruits and starchy root vegetables.

RhiAnLewis17

From what I gather mango has quite a high carb content. Berries are your best bet for low carb fruits.

mmapags

No carbs are "bad". It is all about you goals, the amount and the context of your overall diet.

cwolfman13

amberloses120 wrote: »

I'm probably going to sound super dumb right now, but are carbs from fruit as bad as carbs from grains and starchy foods? Because I made some smoothies this morning with banana, mango, blackberries, flaxseed, and cream. When I added the recipe to my food diary though, it had like 67 grams of carbs! So I've completely gone over my carbs for today and I haven't even had lunch or dinner yet. Did I add something I shouldn't have? The flaxseed only has four carbs, and everything else was fresh so I don't know exactly how many they had...

Carbs are just carbs...there's nothing inherently bad about carbs...there's nothing wrong with fruit, grains, starches, etc.

If you're doing keto, you probably shouldn't be making big fruity smoothies. Nothing wrong with them, but they're not going to be keto friendly. You need to be eating a ton of fat, moderate protein, and basically leafy greens for the most part. Mango has a lot of sugar...fruit wise, you're pretty much going to be limited to berries in small quantities.

Bonhamk86

amberloses120 wrote: »

I'm probably going to sound super dumb right now, but are carbs from fruit as bad as carbs from grains and starchy foods? Because I made some smoothies this morning with banana, mango, blackberries, flaxseed, and cream. When I added the recipe to my food diary though, it had like 67 grams of carbs! So I've completely gone over my carbs for today and I haven't even had lunch or dinner yet. Did I add something I shouldn't have? The flaxseed only has four carbs, and everything else was fresh so I don't know exactly how many they had...

Are you doing Keto? If you break down the carb intake on your smoothie you would know that one medium banana has 27 carbs, 1 mango has 25 carbs, blackberries have 0.6 carbs for one blackberry, flaxseeds 3 carbs, and cream 1 tbsp has 1 carb. This equals out to 56.6 grams of carbs. Although blackberries are a fruit and can be consumed you must consider the hidden sugar. If you are a smoothie drinker, I would suggest researching low carb smoothies.

kshama2001

amberloses120 wrote: »

I'm probably going to sound super dumb right now, but are carbs from fruit as bad as carbs from grains and starchy foods? Because I made some smoothies this morning with banana, mango, blackberries, flaxseed, and cream. When I added the recipe to my food diary though, it had like 67 grams of carbs! So I've completely gone over my carbs for today and I haven't even had lunch or dinner yet. Did I add something I shouldn't have? The flaxseed only has four carbs, and everything else was fresh so I don't know exactly how many they had...

Are you limiting carbs for a reason, such as you have a medical condition and your doctor told you to? I know lots of healthy and fit vegans who eat around 60% carbs every day, which is higher than the MFP default macros 50% from carbohydrates, 20% from protein and 30% from fat .

Your smoothie sounds yummy, but low on fat and protein. I add protein powder to smoothies as well as various foods to add fat.

Re "everything else was fresh so I don't know exactly how many they had" - using a food scale and entries from the USDA database will give you accurate calorie and macro counts.

AnnPT77

amberloses120 wrote: »

I'm probably going to sound super dumb right now, but are carbs from fruit as bad as carbs from grains and starchy foods? Because I made some smoothies this morning with banana, mango, blackberries, flaxseed, and cream. When I added the recipe to my food diary though, it had like 67 grams of carbs! So I've completely gone over my carbs for today and I haven't even had lunch or dinner yet. Did I add something I shouldn't have? The flaxseed only has four carbs, and everything else was fresh so I don't know exactly how many they had...

If you're diabetic or insulin resistant, you certainly may need to limit carbs. If you're trying to do low carb or keto just out of preference, or because you're one of the people that find that eating carbs spurs appetite, that's another reason to be limiting carbs.

Beyond those sorts of reasons to restrict carbs, fruit, grains, and starchy foods like whole potatoes, corn, etc., are good for you, within reason (have fiber, micronutrients, etc.). Many people find them filling, so helpful for complying with a calorie goal.

None of those carb-containing foods, within your calorie goal, will hinder weight loss. (I ate close to 200g carbs daily while losing weight, and lost just fine.) As long as you're also getting enough protein and healthy fats, plus varied/colorful veggies, fruits are fine within your calorie goal.

If you truly need or simply wish to limit carbs, then the idea of pre-logging your foods may be a good one.

Best wishes!

Frogfisg

I eat 250-300 grams of carbs a day in the form of fruit, veg, whole grains, brown rice, beans and lentils. My BMI is currently 19. I eat huge variety of the above listed carbs to get all my micros and also my macros for health - 60-20-20

I lost 35 pounds three years ago while eating the exact same things as I do now, but only in smaller portions. Overall calorie reduction is a great strategy to lose weight instead of avoiding fruits/certain veg and grains. I preferred to include yummy nutritious smoothies etc. I just didn’t eat as much.

Good luck!

JBanx256

Is your reasoning for cutting carbs so low due to a medical condition? Or are you trying to go keto?

If there's no medical necessity for dropping carbs really low and/or you're not aiming to go keto, you don't have to get them so low. I'm currently consuming > 150g carbs per day and losing.