Carbs are bad. Yes or no?

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Replies

  • Glendower
    Glendower Posts: 5 Member
    Carbs are good for you and are necessary. They are a source of "fast energy" in that the body uses energy from carbs before it uses energy from fat and if there are any excess carbs in your body that aren't used, they get turned into fat for "long term storage".

    Most people aren't really concerned with how much they weigh unless it is affecting them medically and even then, many don't take heed and either end up with diabetes or even dead! Most people are concerned with how they look and if their clothes still fit them or if they are too tight and show up all the rolls of fat that are hanging over.

    The ONLY way to lose weight is to burn off more energy than you put into your body through your mouth. The way of looking at energy in food is using the "calorific value" of foods.

    Now, the definition of a "calorie" is "the amount of heat require to raise the temperature of one gram of water through one degree Celsius". The calorific value of food is measured using what is called a Bomb Calorimeter and it does this by burning the food in pure oxygen and measuring the amount of heat produced compared to the amount of energy required to burn it.

    Different foods/drinks have different calorific values. Water has no calories at all, as it cannot be burnt; that's why it put out fires quickly. Sugar has a high calorific value; throw a teaspoon of sugar onto an open fire and see what happens. Fat is also VERY high in calories; remember the chip fires of the old days when the pan caught fire and was virtually impossible to put out and sometimes even burnt the house down?

    So, it all comes down to these two very simple equations:

    Energy Out < Energy In = Weight Loss
    Energy In > Energy Out = Weight Gain

    Therefore if you want to lose weight, there are only two options; eat/drink less or exercise more, although a combination of both is a good idea.

    Finally, it is IMPOSSIBLE to put on weight without putting drink/food in your mouth. You can prove it by doing this simple confirmatory test: Stand on a set of scales and weigh yourself. While you are on the scales, drink exactly one pint of water. I will GUARANTEE that you will put on exactly 20oz in weight! Why? . . . because that is how much a pint of water weighs!

    Apologies for "prattling" on but there are so many myths about oversize/overweight people that I thought I'd bring a bit of physics and chemistry into the discussion.



  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
    mmapags wrote: »
    kenyonhaff wrote: »
    Bad? Seriously? We need carbs, just as we do Vitamin C and water and fats.

    Well, technically we don't need them.
    Tell that to @quiksylver296 :D
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
    :D
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,739 Member
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    Phirrgus wrote: »
    mmapags wrote: »
    kenyonhaff wrote: »
    Bad? Seriously? We need carbs, just as we do Vitamin C and water and fats.

    Well, technically we don't need them.
    Tell that to @quiksylver296 :D

    hbhqgs3xgjp3.jpeg


    I couldn't like this hard enough so I'm saying it out loud.

    LIKELIKELIKELIKELIKELIKELIKE.

    Me likee.
  • amorfati601070
    amorfati601070 Posts: 2,890 Member
    No, it’s the main source of energy. Do you know how many organisms require glucose. It’s basic biology...our brains need use it as does pretty much every cell.
  • kenthepainter2
    kenthepainter2 Posts: 58 Member
    Im following the South Beach Diet so I like certain carbs in certain amounts.
  • Sunshine_And_Sand
    Sunshine_And_Sand Posts: 1,320 Member
    Carbs aren’t “bad”. No food is “bad”. I have always and always will love carbs.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    kingrat2014 wrote: »
    With the term “essential” meaning the body needs it, there are essential vitamins, essential minerals, essential protein and essential fats. Name one essential carbohydrate.

    But carbohydrates are important.
  • L1zardQueen
    L1zardQueen Posts: 8,753 Member
    kingrat2014 wrote: »
    L1zardQueen wrote: »
    kingrat2014 wrote: »
    With the term “essential” meaning the body needs it, there are essential vitamins, essential minerals, essential protein and essential fats. Name one essential carbohydrate.

    But carbohydrates are important.

    Carbohydrates are a tool, but they are not essential. Google essential carbohydrates.

    A tool? Please explain. Google will give me all sorts of weird answers. You Google for me.
  • kingrat2014
    kingrat2014 Posts: 51 Member
    L1zardQueen wrote: »
    kingrat2014 wrote: »
    L1zardQueen wrote: »
    kingrat2014 wrote: »
    With the term “essential” meaning the body needs it, there are essential vitamins, essential minerals, essential protein and essential fats. Name one essential carbohydrate.

    But carbohydrates are important.

    Carbohydrates are a tool, but they are not essential. Google essential carbohydrates.

    A tool? Please explain. Google will give me all sorts of weird answers. You Google for me.

    https://fmidr.com/carbs-essential/
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 2,023 Member
    I love carbs, and that is the reason I am typing this while on my exercise bike
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
    kingrat2014 wrote: »
    L1zardQueen wrote: »
    kingrat2014 wrote: »
    With the term “essential” meaning the body needs it, there are essential vitamins, essential minerals, essential protein and essential fats. Name one essential carbohydrate.

    But carbohydrates are important.

    Carbohydrates are a tool, but they are not essential. Google essential carbohydrates.

    The topic of the thread is "carbs are bad, yes or no?" How does the fact that they are a nonessential nutrient address that question?
  • phred_52
    phred_52 Posts: 189 Member
    Carbs are not bad, or as Tony the Tiger would say "They're Great :) Without them, I could never do my 2hrs on the bike...need that gas so to speak :)
  • hotel4dogs
    hotel4dogs Posts: 72 Member
    Glendower wrote: »
    Carbs are good for you and are necessary. They are a source of "fast energy" in that the body uses energy from carbs before it uses energy from fat and if there are any excess carbs in your body that aren't used, they get turned into fat for "long term storage".

    Most people aren't really concerned with how much they weigh unless it is affecting them medically and even then, many don't take heed and either end up with diabetes or even dead! Most people are concerned with how they look and if their clothes still fit them or if they are too tight and show up all the rolls of fat that are hanging over.

    The ONLY way to lose weight is to burn off more energy than you put into your body through your mouth. The way of looking at energy in food is using the "calorific value" of foods.

    Now, the definition of a "calorie" is "the amount of heat require to raise the temperature of one gram of water through one degree Celsius". The calorific value of food is measured using what is called a Bomb Calorimeter and it does this by burning the food in pure oxygen and measuring the amount of heat produced compared to the amount of energy required to burn it.

    Different foods/drinks have different calorific values. Water has no calories at all, as it cannot be burnt; that's why it put out fires quickly. Sugar has a high calorific value; throw a teaspoon of sugar onto an open fire and see what happens. Fat is also VERY high in calories; remember the chip fires of the old days when the pan caught fire and was virtually impossible to put out and sometimes even burnt the house down?

    So, it all comes down to these two very simple equations:

    Energy Out < Energy In = Weight Loss
    Energy In > Energy Out = Weight Gain

    Therefore if you want to lose weight, there are only two options; eat/drink less or exercise more, although a combination of both is a good idea.

    Finally, it is IMPOSSIBLE to put on weight without putting drink/food in your mouth. You can prove it by doing this simple confirmatory test: Stand on a set of scales and weigh yourself. While you are on the scales, drink exactly one pint of water. I will GUARANTEE that you will put on exactly 20oz in weight! Why? . . . because that is how much a pint of water weighs!

    Apologies for "prattling" on but there are so many myths about oversize/overweight people that I thought I'd bring a bit of physics and chemistry into the discussion.



    Only if it's an imperial pint. A US pint weighs just a smidge over 16 ounces.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
    GaleHawkins wrote: »
    willwhitelaw wrote: »
    I don't like em. Do you?

    @willwhitelaw keep in mind not all carbs even count because there are carbs that humans can not even turn into energy. Those that we can not gain weight from eating but some of the good gut microbiome needs those same carbs to help keep us healthy because of the metabolites they can excrete that we require for health.


    Examples please?

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