How do people go on a "no carb" diet?

FatAsianNerd

Is it even possible to go "NO carb" for consecutive days and/or weeks? I know some people through the Atkins induction go 20 grams or less but avoiding ALL carbs altogether seems like it would be a pretty daunting task.

vismal

Going no carb is nearly impossible. It would require a diet of not much more then meat and fats. Vegetables have some carbs, fruits have lots of carbs, dairy has carbs. There is also no advantage to going no carb. I could not possible see how a diet that prevents you from eating any fruits or vegetables could possibly be a good thing.

diannethegeek

Keep in mind that many people who call their diet "no carb" really mean they've cut out grains, pasta, starches, etc. Which is why I always ask what someone means when they say they're going "no carb."

GothyFaery

I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.

vismal

I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.

Actually the body can survive on zero carbs for quite some time. The body can survive on zero food for quite some time...

ladymiseryali

I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.

On average, my net carbs are 30, sometimes under 20. I'm still alive.....I think.

northbanu

On average, my net carbs are 30, sometimes under 20. I'm still alive.....I think.

Me, too.

You can't totally remove carbs because all the good veggies have a few. And U.S food labels include fiber as a carbohydrate. Fiber grams are subtracted when adding up carb numbers.

neanderthin

I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.

actually the body requires glucose, not carbs per se and the body can manufacture glucose, so if you get coaught up in the tundra for a year or two, your golden, you will live.

northbanu

I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.

actually the body requires glucose, not carbs per se and the body can manufacture glucose, so if you get coaught up in the tundra for a year or two, your golden, you will live.

One's body doesn't need glucose either. When glucose is gone, the body breaks down fat into ketones and will happily run on ketones. Or mine does anyway.

GothyFaery

I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.

On average, my net carbs are 30, sometimes under 20. I'm still alive.....I think.

Thanks for that! I have learned something new today! I never did the research myself, just was going off of what I heard. I believe you unless you're a zombie or something.

FatAsianNerd

I love, and at the same time, hate the fact that I'm feeling somewhat obsessive about my carb intake these days. It used to be tough to get it down below 50, then I got used to that and went 30 and below, now I'm starting to feel like anything above 20 grams a day of carbohydrates is too much. I know this isn't a healthy way of thinking but it's weird how I think I'm screwing up my "diet" if I go above 20 grams a day. This is probably why I'm wondering how people can do "no carb" and how they're able to do this so I can "learn" how to do it their way. It's messed up, I know, but I'm a bit OCD about my diet.

northbanu

I love, and at the same time, hate the fact that I'm feeling somewhat obsessive about my carb intake these days. It used to be tough to get it down below 50, then I got used to that and went 30 and below, now I'm starting to feel like anything above 20 grams a day of carbohydrates is too much. I know this isn't a healthy way of thinking but it's weird how I think I'm screwing up my "diet" if I go above 20 grams a day. This is probably why I'm wondering how people can do "no carb" and how they're able to do this so I can "learn" how to do it their way. It's messed up, I know, but I'm a bit OCD about my diet.

The benefits of a super low carb diet are debatable. But if your just trying to lose weight it's not necessary. But generally, if your just trying to stay in ketosis, you may be able to have 50gr or more of carbs. I've seen numbers like 75 and 100 thrown around. It is a bit of an individual thing.

But a keto diet is not required to lose weight and be healthy.

Having said that I keep my net carbs below 33. But that's me.

stevencloser

I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.

actually the body requires glucose, not carbs per se and the body can manufacture glucose, so if you get coaught up in the tundra for a year or two, your golden, you will live.

One's body doesn't need glucose either. When glucose is gone, the body breaks down fat into ketones and will happily run on ketones. Or mine does anyway.

Actually it does. Gluconeogenesis happens if you're on a low carb diet to feed your brain mostly and to keep you from becoming hypoglycemic. Your body can make up to 200 grams of glucose from other things like protein per day if it needs to.

jrline

The Better question is why

darkestdayz

The Better question is why

For me, personally, it's a hell of a lot easier to keep my eating in check if I'm not craving sugar all of the time. Eating low carb does that for me.

Patttience

Fat asian nerd. How long have you been on such low carbs. You are indeed unnecessarily obsessive. And this will ultimately be the end of your diet.

Screwing up your diet is eating too many calories, not increasing your carbs.

I am speaking as someone who's done low carb and haven't really got anything against it if you like it. Eating even 100 carbs is fine. It may take an adjustment of your diet - i did me. You have to cut back on the fats and that is tricky. However you can successfully increase your carbs and in fact you would be better served by doing it if you've been doing low carb already for some period of time.

The fact is that in our current food environment, a wide variety of food and lots of fibre is going to give you optimal health benefits. I am not suggesting your start eating junk food again. I am suggesting you probably would benefit from a lot more vegetables at the very least but also some other forms of fibre.

The problem with low carb is coming off it. I think it is a good idea for almost everyone to gradually increase their carbs as suggested by the atkins protocol. That would be the ideal way but i do not really believe in his LLCL or whatever its called. The thing is as you increase your carbs, your muscles will hold more water. But in most people water is not bad and its not what we are dieting for here. Its just fat we want to lose.

One think i like about a low carb diet is that most people's problem foods are completely off the table - no more cakes ice-cream etc. But still you discover new problem foods even if they are not unhealthy such as say nuts. Eat too many, your calories go over your TDEE and then you will increase weight.

Going off low carb will not automatically necessarily make you grow fat. The body does not work like that. if you put on weight (fat) its because you are eating too many calories. If you are struggling to manage your calorie intake when you go off low carb, you need to mainly reduce your fat intake. And i must say i found it trick so i did attempted a water fast day so that i could rejig my direction. But i failed because a water fast is hard. But then i ended up on 5:2 fasting and that has been great. I still eat moderately low carbs most days. I still eat more fat than i used to in previous diets. My food is more delicious than ever because of my experience with low carb dieting.

But i am nearly at my goal. And i am very happy with my diet. I have friends who are terrified of coming off low carb. I think that's a real shame.

I do not crave sugar. I gave up sugar at the beginning of the year well before i started low carb. Sugar cravings are caused by various things some to do with what we eat day in and day out but others caused by fatigue low mood etc.

ell_23

Is it even possible to go "NO carb" for consecutive days and/or weeks? I know some people through the Atkins induction go 20 grams or less but avoiding ALL carbs altogether seems like it would be a pretty daunting task.

I know a man who genuinely did no carbs (or he ate traces or very very small amounts in foods without properly realising). He explained there's two types of "no carb" diets. The ones where you do eat carbs but only in vegetables and fruits. And the ones where you even cut out veggies and fruits. He cut out veggies and fruits. He basically just ate meat and nuts by the sounds of it.

Technically it worked, he lost a lot of weight, but it has some nasty side effects when you burn fat like that. He also couldn't stick to it all the time and had cheat days. He explained he went on a lot of forums and chatted to other people doing the diet, and there was a lot of reports of some weight going back on quite quickly when people started eating carbs again.

Yes, it does seem daunting because I think I'd feel really rubbish if I didn't have veg for days or weeks. Fruit I can sort of live without, although I do love it. Fruit for me is more of a really nice snack, whereas veggies make up most of my lunches and dinners. I couldn't live without vegetables. I'd much prefer to continue with calorie counting and eating salads and vegetable rich dinners than faff around with special diets - even if they do work.

violasmith85

Well the "no carb" groups I follow do less than 20 grams a day. I have trouble sticking with it though because when I do I eat lots of cheese to help fill up because it's so limiting I get little to no fiber. Not a good combo on the body.

hookilau

On average, my net carbs are 30, sometimes under 20. I'm still alive.....I think.

Me, too.

You can't totally remove carbs because all the good veggies have a few. And U.S food labels include fiber as a carbohydrate. Fiber grams are subtracted when adding up carb numbers.

Me three.
My carbs are set to 10% max but often end up below that. I aim for about 20-25 g of carbs per day.

FIT_Goat

Technically, it's almost impossible to consume no carbs at all. Even eating just meat and fat, you're unlikely to really be consuming absolutely none. Throw in organ meats or brains, and you'll get a "bunch" [relatively speaking]. Lots of shellfish have carbs, too. Then your eggs and high fat dairy will have some trace amounts. Still, for all intents and purposes, when you're below 5g a day (not net... that's total), you can safely consider yourself no carb.

Someone mentioned nuts. Generally, those are considered non-approved food items by truly no carb people. Even around an oz of macadamia nuts will have more total carbs than no carb people eat in a day.

How is it done? Basically, just eat meat. The eating plan itself is extremely simple (meats, eggs, high-fat dairy). What vegetables are allowed are trace amounts of spices. That's just about it.

While the eating plan is simple, following such a plan is often extremely hard (if not impossible) for most people. The idea that a salad is a "bad" food is shocking. The thought of 0g of fiber is terrifying. The concerns about deficiancies like scurvy (although unfounded) can drive one to a panic. If you are asking this because you know someone who eats that way, ask them how they do it.

FIT_Goat

You can't totally remove carbs because all the good veggies have a few. And U.S food labels include fiber as a carbohydrate. Fiber grams are subtracted when adding up carb numbers.

If you eat no vegetables, you can almost totally remove carbs. You may still end up with some from organ meats, eggs, or dairy (if you consume it). Even if you stick with only muscle meats and pure fats (with no seasonings at all) and have a true 0g consumed by mouth, you'll still end up getting fresh supplies of glucose manufactured from the fats and proteins you are eating.

Unknown

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refuseresist

Do you cry when you think about bread? I do

FIT_Goat

The best thing about this diet is that it means no giant bags of chips or boxes of cookies or loaves of cinnamon raisin bread sitting in your kitchen cabinets, calling out your name, tempting you to eat the entire bag or box or loaf.

You don't live with my fiancee and her son. My pantry is stuffed with all those things and more. This would only be true if everyone in your household also ate low carb.

And since you can eat all the veggies you want, a "low-carb" diet doesn't really have to be a "low-carb" diet.

Uhm, no. A low carb diet is one that is low in carbs. You can't eat unlimited amounts of carbs just because they are from veggies.

Liftng4Lis

Do you cry when you think about bread? I do

and pasta

refuseresist

Do you cry when you think about bread? I do

and pasta

hookilau

Technically, it's almost impossible to consume no carbs at all. Even eating just meat and fat, you're unlikely to really be consuming absolutely none. Throw in organ meats or brains, and you'll get a "bunch" [relatively speaking]. Lots of shellfish have carbs, too. Then your eggs and high fat dairy will have some trace amounts. Still, for all intents and purposes, when you're below 5g a day (not net... that's total), you can safely consider yourself no carb.

Someone mentioned nuts. Generally, those are considered non-approved food items by truly no carb people. Even around an oz of macadamia nuts will have more total carbs than no carb people eat in a day.

How is it done? Basically, just eat meat. The eating plan itself is extremely simple (meats, eggs, high-fat dairy). What vegetables are allowed are trace amounts of spices. That's just about it.

While the eating plan is simple, following such a plan is often extremely hard (if not impossible) for most people. The idea that a salad is a "bad" food is shocking. The thought of 0g of fiber is terrifying. The concerns about deficiancies like scurvy (although unfounded) can drive one to a panic. If you are asking this because you know someone who eats that way, ask them how they do it.

I did this by accident a couple of months ago :blushing:

I'm not new to keto & had been using it to keep my BG low. What I hadn't realized is, the longer you keto, the better your BG's trend (if you have an issue to begin with).

For BG's I needed to watch my total carbs but for keto I needed to watch net. So I ignored net and went with gross at some point to make things simpler. Looking back at my diary, I saw there were days when I only got 20-30 gross carbs per day & when the fiber was subtracted...well...it was waaay low :noway:

I increased my carbs to about 70 g and some days as much as 100 net & stayed within my BG targets but the waay upper limit (as in 90-100 mg/dl for fasting & 120-140 mg/dl post meals).

I've moved back down the to < 30 g per day after a few weeks and my FBG is reliably in the 80's and post meal BG's are < 110 mg/dl.

Nuts are my downfall. Cashews specifically, for 8 g of carbs for a small handful, it's too expensive for me to spend on a snack unless it's close to bedtime -___-

I try to save the lion's share of my carbs for meals.

violasmith85

When diabetics count carbs we remove the number of fiber from the number of carbs in the food. So if it says 2g carb. and it has 1g fiber. We count it as 1g carb.

VelveteenArabian

My husband occasionally goes zero carb for a week or two. He basically consumes only items that specifically say 0% carbs and 0g carbs. He can drop up to 20 pounds when he does it.

Not sure what the point is since he doesn't maintain the weightloss but hey...different strokes.

triinityz

I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.

Actually the body can survive on zero carbs for quite some time. The body can survive on zero food for quite some time...

I've been surviving on 20-25 grams or less per day for a longgggg time and I'm very healthy. So, yea, wrong!

tennisdude2004

I could be wrong but I thought the body needed at least 50g/day to survive and actually function? Again, I may be wrong but that's what I've heard from my low-carb friends.

Yes that is wrong. Your body can survive on zero dietary carbs.

But would you want a diet of zero carbs - I should think probably not. Carbs definitely have their place in an optimal healthy balanced diet.

It's just unlike protein and fat, dietary carbs are not an essential macro nutrient for survival.