Carbs are my new friends

MrsPhan11

I figured it wouldn't be long before someone came in to rain on the carb love-fest. Carbs are good for you. Too much is bad. Find the right balance and don't be afraid to eat some whole grains.

Agreed! Why is is always the low-carbers who feel like they need to defend their lifestyle to the death? Do what works for you and I'll do what works for me!

Well, to be fair, I believe it started by trying to correct the misinformation that was being tossed around.

I have a tendency to get a bit defensive. I've done my research and the knowledge I have gained led me to Primal Blueprint. I've tried both ways and the latter was easier, I had faster and better success at it. And I got more than just another 10lbs of fat off my body. I got my health - I've never had that - not even as a child. We have to defend our lifestyle because for some inane reason people think carbs are NEEDED when they AREN'T EVEN NECESSARY. There is no such thing as an essential dietary carbohydrate. The body runs fine without them - maybe even optimally. But the government and grain companies tell us we NEED carbs so we believe and follow them like hmmm...maybe zombies?

This is the first time I have ever been bashed for the lifestyle I follow and only because it goes against the conventional wisdom. And it was my research that got me to where I am. I will not trust the government to tell me what I should be eating. They can't even run this wonderful country properly.

...The primary use of glucose from all carbohydrate food is as fuel, whether burned immediately as it passes by different organs and muscles or whether stored for later use. The brain, red blood cells, and nerve cells prefer glucose as primary fuel (but don’t absolutely require it – they can use ketones). Muscles that are working hard will prefer glucose if it is available, but don’t absolutely require it unless they are working very hard for very long. If it is not burned immediately as fuel, excess glucose will be first stored as glycogen in muscle and liver cells and then, if or when these glycogen storage depots are full, it will be converted to fatty acids and stored in fat cells as fat. The things to remember about carbs and to put into context: Carbs are not used as structural components in the body – they are used only as a form of fuel; glucose in the bloodstream is toxic to humans UNLESS it is being burned immediately as fuel. (For reference, “normal” blood sugar represents only about one teaspoon of glucose dissolved in the entire blood pool in your body). That’s why insulin is so critical to taking it out of the bloodstream and putting it somewhere FAST, like muscle cells or fat cells. Moreover, humans can exist quite easily without ever eating carbs, since the body has several mechanisms for generating glucose from the fat and proteins consumed, as well as from proteins stripped from muscle tissue. For all these reasons, in the PB-style of eating, carbs are lowest priority. Unless your context includes lots of endurance activities (or storing fat) there’s little reason to overdo the carbs (USDA and RDs’ recommendations notwithstanding).

I'm sorry if I came off as snippy or rude, but it was an honest question. I read a lot of forum topics and I know that a lot of you low-carbers are very passionate about your lifestyle. I am glad that you have found something that works for you. Keep up the great work!

hpsnickers1

I figured it wouldn't be long before someone came in to rain on the carb love-fest. Carbs are good for you. Too much is bad. Find the right balance and don't be afraid to eat some whole grains.

Agreed! Why is is always the low-carbers who feel like they need to defend their lifestyle to the death? Do what works for you and I'll do what works for me!

Well, to be fair, I believe it started by trying to correct the misinformation that was being tossed around.

I have a tendency to get a bit defensive. I've done my research and the knowledge I have gained led me to Primal Blueprint. I've tried both ways and the latter was easier, I had faster and better success at it. And I got more than just another 10lbs of fat off my body. I got my health - I've never had that - not even as a child. We have to defend our lifestyle because for some inane reason people think carbs are NEEDED when they AREN'T EVEN NECESSARY. There is no such thing as an essential dietary carbohydrate. The body runs fine without them - maybe even optimally. But the government and grain companies tell us we NEED carbs so we believe and follow them like hmmm...maybe zombies?

This is the first time I have ever been bashed for the lifestyle I follow and only because it goes against the conventional wisdom. And it was my research that got me to where I am. I will not trust the government to tell me what I should be eating. They can't even run this wonderful country properly.

...The primary use of glucose from all carbohydrate food is as fuel, whether burned immediately as it passes by different organs and muscles or whether stored for later use. The brain, red blood cells, and nerve cells prefer glucose as primary fuel (but don’t absolutely require it – they can use ketones). Muscles that are working hard will prefer glucose if it is available, but don’t absolutely require it unless they are working very hard for very long. If it is not burned immediately as fuel, excess glucose will be first stored as glycogen in muscle and liver cells and then, if or when these glycogen storage depots are full, it will be converted to fatty acids and stored in fat cells as fat. The things to remember about carbs and to put into context: Carbs are not used as structural components in the body – they are used only as a form of fuel; glucose in the bloodstream is toxic to humans UNLESS it is being burned immediately as fuel. (For reference, “normal” blood sugar represents only about one teaspoon of glucose dissolved in the entire blood pool in your body). That’s why insulin is so critical to taking it out of the bloodstream and putting it somewhere FAST, like muscle cells or fat cells. Moreover, humans can exist quite easily without ever eating carbs, since the body has several mechanisms for generating glucose from the fat and proteins consumed, as well as from proteins stripped from muscle tissue. For all these reasons, in the PB-style of eating, carbs are lowest priority. Unless your context includes lots of endurance activities (or storing fat) there’s little reason to overdo the carbs (USDA and RDs’ recommendations notwithstanding).

I'm sorry if I came off as snippy or rude, but it was an honest question. I read a lot of forum topics and I know that a lot of you low-carbers are very passionate about your lifestyle. I am glad that you have found something that works for you. Keep up the great work!

I know it was just an honest question. I didn't mean you specifically. I've been bashed here on MFP and in my life for this lifestyle. The first thing I got here was "you should never eliminate an entire food group". Yet there are people with Celiac Disease and lactose intolerance and they aren't told this. Some Ve*ans eliminate an entire food group and that seems to be okay too, since apparently saturated animal fat is bad for us anyway. (It isn't bad for us. The fat in our body is 40% saturated - how could sat. fat be harmful to us?). My first intermittent fast - just felt wonderful to not worry about food for a day - my mom says "is that healthy?". Like I'm going to keel over and die from not eating for 26 hours. People think I'm 'dieting' and starving myself because I'm dropping weight and getting "skinny". I prefer the word "lean". Yet my man teases me about the amount of food I can put away - I can eat as much as he does. I'm 5'2" 110lbs and he is 6'1" 190lbs.

I think people need to stop listening to the government and their nutritional "experts" (and most dietitians, registered or otherwise - I'll even throw personal trainers in there - the ones whose beliefs are based on governmental conventional wisdom) and do their own experimenting and research. The government does not care about our health and neither do their experts who are holding their hands out for government money.