Do carbs make you fat?

zyxst

yes they do...please send them to me, and I will take care of them for you )

I like you.

jsuaccounting

I think it has something to do with a blood sugar / metabolism issue. People who don't handle carbs well - become overweight. Some people may become overweight for other reasons.

If you get really hungry every couple of hours you would probably benefit from lowering carbs. If just cutting calories works for you then you likely don't have a problem at your current carb intake.

SugaryLynx

I eat around 300g of carbs a day. No.

Qskim

I think one of the main problems with carbs (particularly processed) is under reporting as well as not having a good balance of nutrition overall. I think being vegan would be a real challenge for me to get enough protein. Tofu is nasty stuff IMO

ATGsquats

no

mickey9694

Well that's why I included a "no". You're correct in that carbs in and of themselves don't make you fat. I believe carbs have about 4 calories per gram. But if someone is trying to avoid weight gain, it's best to avoid the carbs because of the reasons I mentioned-glucose weight and lack of feeling full, which in turn, causes overeating. I got the feeling that the OP was referring to just getting "bigger" mass-wise, not necessarily fat, so glucose weight would count

No, if someone is trying to avoid weight gain they do not have to avoid weight gain.

Glucose weight gain? Please don't explain to make that 1g of carb will attach to 4g of water, I already understand all that, if that's what you meant by glucose weight gain, which is a new term for me. Unless you meant to say glycogen. Which doesn't matter because added glycogen is not the same as gaining fat.

OP asked about carbs making you fat. I will it make me retain water.

okay buddy

techgal128

I think it has something to do with a blood sugar / metabolism issue. People who don't handle carbs well - become overweight. Some people may become overweight for other reasons.

If you get really hungry every couple of hours you would probably benefit from lowering carbs. If just cutting calories works for you then you likely don't have a problem at your current carb intake.

This right here. I have an insulin resistance so carbs can easily make me gain weight. If you do not have issues like this, then carbs are fine as long as you eat the right ones.

bmele0

Almost everything has carbs in it- fruits, vegetables, etc. And those are the types of slow carbs you want to be ingesting along with whole grains. Avoid what they call "fast carbs" like white bread, milk, candy. Slow carbs won't cause the yo-yoing/crashing people describe when eating crappy fast carbs. Although I am not diabetic, I do follow the recommended diet structure by eating like 3 meals and 2-3 snacks a day. I try to keep total meal carbs below 40 and total snack carbs below 20.

And one of the other posts mentioned- do not stop eating carbs, just eat the right ones and limit the amount per meal. Your brain requires glucose to keep going, here is a pretty neat snip-it from a text on Biochemistry- Each Organ Has a Unique Metabolic Profile http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK22436/

Cocoa1901

No.

Excess calories do.

This!

Carbs are not all created equal by the way. Refined carbohydrates are as good as eating refined sugar (as in cookies, enriched white bread/flour/pasta)

I'm veggie too, and you need to eat those carbs to get all your nutrients. Carbs are fuel. Carbs are good. Your brain starts to shut down if you don't consume carbs.

This person is very correct! My mother is a dietitian and she constantly goes on about how people always want to blame a certain food group for gaining weight or the nutrients in certain foods and that's not how that works at all. It's almost entirely over-eating, or over-eating a certain food group. Everyone wants to cut carbs in their diet or take them out entirely and you know what that's called in the dietitian world? The "Sleepy and Stupid Diet". Because you're brain almost exclusively runs on carbs, so when you cut those out you get very tired and can't speak or think as well because you're brain has no fuel! Everyone forgets that so I applaud you!

darkangel45422

well, yes and no. it's true that excess calories of any macro type will cause weight gain. but the type of macro does matter. if you eat a bunch of carbs and don't burn them off, they are stored as glucose. for every 1 gram of glucose the body holds, it holds 4 grams of water with it. so there's that. i've also found that carbs aren't very satiating relative to protein and fat. if i eat a 300 calorie meal made mostly of fat and/or protein, i'm usually stuffed for a few hours (fat digests slower). but if it's mostly carbs, then i'm hungry an hour later. so i'm more likely to consume more calories, which results in weight gain. i did lose close to 30 lbs. after cutting my carb intake to below 30 grams per day.

Your statement makes no sense. You will be hungry which will cause you to overeat which will cause you to gain weight. You can't blame the carbs. You still had to eat more calories than maintenance.

So the answer is No, carbs don't make you fat. Over eating does.

And water weight gain is not fat gain.

They're not blaming the carbs for weight gain as if they hadn't eaten over maintenance; they're saying that carbs aren't as filling so they're more likely to eat over maintenance and thus gain weight. So the answer is that for some people, eating carbs WILL make them fat not in and of themselves but because carbs cause them to be more likely to overeat and thus gain weight.

rainbow198

Morning: 4 Fast Miles
Afternoon: Outdoor Walk - 3.5 miles

Total Miles: 79.75

skrlec70

No they don't, stay within the guidelines that MFP provides and youll be fine, I was on the no carb thing for YEARS, all it did was lead me to binges .

your body needs carbs, in moderation.

FatFreeFrolicking

Carbs make me fat because I have insulin resistance. I don't know whether they make you fat because I have no clue if you have insulin resistance or diabetes, etc. If you don't have those specific medical conditions, carbs won't make you fat. Eating more calories than you burn makes you fat.

wheird

No. Carbs do not, in and of themselves, make you fat.

albertabeefy

Unless you have a medical reason to restrict carbohydrate - ie: insulin-resistance (which could be because of metabolic syndrome, diabetes/pre-diabetes, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, PCOS, etc.,etc.) there is no reason to avoid dietary carbohydrate. None.

Eat a good balance of carbohydrate / protein / fat based on your body's needs and activity type/level, ensure you get your vitamins/nutrients, and all is well.

ccf_trainer

Some more than others. It really depends on what you're eating. If you're eating things like white bread, flour-based foods, or starchy foods, and if you eat more than your fair share of them, you are guaranteed to bulk up, but not the way you want. Carbs absorb into your body, and after a while, with very little to no activity, carbs turn into fat. That is something you don't want. If you are going to eat ANY carbs, good or bad, your best bet is to not eat them before bed.

So, as far as which carbs to eat, you cannot go wrong with fruits and veggies, and you definitely can't go wrong with whole grains. Sweet potatoes and brown rice are great carbs to have. Wheat pasta is another thing, that is, if you like pasta. I'd stay away from the flour-based foods (certain breads, pasta, flour tortillas) and the starchy foods (potatoes and white rice) if you're aiming to lose weight. If you're trying to bulk up, by all means, add starch to your diet, but not if you're trying to lose weight.

MrGonzo05

Carbs are magically delicious

marcusriedner

It depends on your metabolism, there is no hard and fast rule.

Over the last 60 years there has been an increased consumption of carbohydrates and a corresponding increase in metabolic syndrome problems (obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, stroke). There has also been an increase in consumption of processed foods which are also high in carbohydrates.

If you want to dig into the science on this stuff read "Good Calories, Bad Calories" by Gary Taubes. It documents the science and history behind a bunch of the issues around macro nutrients and health. It is highly researched, and it is NOT a diet book, just a book on the history of nutrition and key health issues.

In terms of which "carbs" you eat it is largely irrelevant, all carbohydrates eaten in quantity cause insulin spikes. In some cases fruit (oranges for example) will cause you as hard an insulin spike as coke. Any time you get your blood sugar above a certain threshold you risk serious health complications (like comas) so your body uses insulin as an emergency valve to keep you alive. Insulin pushes all the nutrients out of your blood into fat, so eating carbs and insulin spiking causes you to gain and retain weight. Insulin also plays hob with your entire biochemistry because it is a biological panic hormone, and drowns out dozens of other hormones. Glycemic Index is a good basic indicator of how hard your insulin will spike eating a food.

Now the relative part is that some people can eat more carbohydrates without severe long or short term problems, it is entirely dependant on your metabolic reactions to carbohydrates. Some people will have insulin spiking at 20 grams of carbs a day, others can eat 300+ grams a day.

Anecdotally obesity has been treated with low carbohydrate diets very successfully, with no long term health issues. I for one eat low carb and sometimes ketogenic, I rarely go above 75g of carbohydrates a day, and try to keep it below 50g. I have been low carb for 3 years now, and my blood work is very good, so this works for me. What works for someone else will be different entirely, and you have to figure that out on your own.

badbcatha05

Too many carbs will make you fat if it puts you over your maintenance level. But so would too much fat or protein if it pushes you over that threshold. Some people cut them because of medical issues. I personally don't eat tons of bread or pasta because I feel like a bag o'crap after (so says the girl who indulged in pizza, breadsticks, and beer last night)... not because I think they are a culprit in the weight gain problem or particularly evil.

Eat the way that makes you feel the best not because you think one food group is completely villainous.

rainbow198

Sorry about my post up there...posted on the wrong thread!