Are Carbs Really That Big of a Deal?

sara21

I'm reading in other posts that people seem to be really carb conscious and eating low carb diets in addition to having a calorie goal. Are carbs really that big of a deal if you are meeting your calorie goal each day? What is the effect when a low carb diet and a low calorie diet are combined? Is this healthy? How many carbs should I be eating each day to maximize weigh loss? Thanks.

ambie35

bump.

twooliver

Simple carbs...white breads, white rice, sugars, etc spike your fat storing hormones and will initiate a cycle of craving more as a result. For those of us who are obese...this is a serious issue. I even keep the complex carbs at a minimum...but I do eat them.

But you be the judge of your own body and try it both ways, see if there is any difference...

I for one don't miss the cravings...

jrt9999

For me they are a big deal. Lots of them help to fuel hard workouts. And I am both losing fat and gaining muscle.

Barelmy

I'm losing weight fine with the standard divisions that MFP gives (55% carbs, 30% fat, 15% protein). Some people have a great deal of success with a gluten-free or low-carb diet, especially those with an undiagnosed gluten sensitivity.

It doesn't have to be complicated - I suspect there's a fairly large margin of error for things like that - but please correct me if I'm wrong anyone, I don't tend to think about carbs too much.

Pandorian

I'm really coming to think that carbs are just the current "Evil regime" as fat was in the 90's... trouble is they way it's said it is ALL carbs are bad. All carbs aren't created equal, all proteins aren't created equal and all fats aren't created equal.
Everything was low fat not that long ago, then more studies in it's oh, it's trans-fats that are the problem, olive oil, hemp oil etc aren't actually that bad, saturated fats not even that bad....
I'll keep eating my whole and real foods that contain carbs and enjoy it, while avoiding a lot of the refined products that got me into this trouble in the first place, potato chips, chocolate bars, drinking my calories, eating 3 meals worth via my former portions, I'm not going back to that stuff.
I'm using a 40% carb, 30 % fat and 30% protein for my settings,

FairyMiss

really it depends on the person and what works best for them.

KimbersNewLife

I need carbs and eat them for energy otherwise my workout suffer I just stay below the MFP goal this works for me ! Good luck!

hogmafia

I believe as long as you burn more calories than you consume, you WILL lose weight. I have tried the low carb diet and you will lose alot of weight on it but when you stop you will gain it right back. exercise and portion control is the way to go. just my opinion.

aeckels616

Some carbs are really bad and some carbs are pretty harmless. If you're trying to lose weight, you will see better results by sticking to carbs with a low glycemic index. For one thing, they don't mess with your blood sugar as much and allow you to lose weight faster. Also, carbs with a higher glycemic index tend to be "addictive" - the more you eat, the more you want. It can make it really hard to stick to your calorie goal when you're craving bread or sugar. White flour and sugar are the two biggest diet busters, but there are others, so check out a gi chart.

bluemoonrise

I found this article really helpful in understanding the importance of the Glycemic Index (GI), and more importantly, Glycemic Load (GL). The Glycemic Load is based on a typical serving size for any food item, whereas the Glycemic Index is based on 50g of digestable carb content for the same food item.

So what this means is that some foods with high GI, may have lower GL (and slower impact on blood sugar), than those with lower GI.

I started reading up on this because I really like beets and research on beets showed that they are high in GI, but low in GL due to lower percentage of carbs per serving.

Read on: http://holdthetoast.com/node/192