Are carbs really that bad for you??

Acg67

There are good carbs and bad carbs. Basically any white carb (white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.) is bad. Whole grain carbs (check the ingredients list ... if it includes the word "enriched," leave it alone), even bread and pasta, are fine (and necessary) in moderation.

Fruits and vegetables are also carbs, and no healthy diet should be without those.

So basically white carbs and "enriched" wheat carbs are the ones to stay away from.

curious as to why a white potato or white rice would be worse then lets say a sweet potato or brown rice?

White rice is not a whole grain because it goes through a refining process that removes the bran and strips it of a lot of its nutrients, so producers have to "enrich" the rice by artifically adding certain vitamins to it (at least in the U.S.). That's why I say to look at the ingredient list and see if it includes the word "enriched." If it does, the food has been chemically altered.

White potatoes aren't necessarily "bad." They have a lot of the same nutritional qualities as sweet potatoes, but few people eat white potatoes in their natural state, which is where the idea that they aren't good for dieters comes from. If you just ate a plain white potato, you'd be okay. But when you add butter and cheese and sour cream to it or eat it in the form of french fries, you make it "bad." This is true of sweet potatoes, too, although, for diabetics or others worried about blood sugar, it should be noted that sweet potatoes are much lower on the glycemic index than white potatoes.

and again you've piqued my interest, what is bad about adding fats such as cheese or cutter to a white potato?

and the GI index doesn't have a lot of real world relevance because it is created feeding fasted subjects isocaloric amounts of the food and most people are not eating these foods fasted or isocalorically

MarieNevada

There are good carbs and bad carbs. Basically any white carb (white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.) is bad. Whole grain carbs (check the ingredients list ... if it includes the word "enriched," leave it alone), even bread and pasta, are fine (and necessary) in moderation.

Fruits and vegetables are also carbs, and no healthy diet should be without those.

So basically white carbs and "enriched" wheat carbs are the ones to stay away from.

curious as to why a white potato or white rice would be worse then lets say a sweet potato or brown rice?

the theory is that white foods are usually processed, as in white rice, white flour, etc. they are very easy for your body to digest and cause a spike in insulin production which in turn cause sugar which in turn gets stored as fat. also these foods because they have been processed have been leeched of all their nutrients, which is why manufacturers have to enrich them to at least try to put some vitamins back into them. white potatoes are kind of okay. brown rice, whole grains etc have not been processed and therefore take a lot longer for your body to digest and don't cause an insulin spike. they also still have all the nutrients and fibre a body needs.

and under what situations does the process of de novo lipogenesis occur?

and what of the possible anti nutritional factors in brown rice, does that matter?

look, you obviously know everything and i'm not going to get into a debate with you. i said "the theory" not wether i subscribed to it or not. i think it's really precious how you like to ask your "innocent' questions in order to trip us up with your superior knowledge. you have an amazing physique so whatever you're doing keep it up. I follow Tom Venutto's food plan which works fine for me. 60 lbs in 5 mos. I'm not looking to argue with you about "anti nutritional factors".

Acg67

There are good carbs and bad carbs. Basically any white carb (white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.) is bad. Whole grain carbs (check the ingredients list ... if it includes the word "enriched," leave it alone), even bread and pasta, are fine (and necessary) in moderation.

Fruits and vegetables are also carbs, and no healthy diet should be without those.

So basically white carbs and "enriched" wheat carbs are the ones to stay away from.

curious as to why a white potato or white rice would be worse then lets say a sweet potato or brown rice?

the theory is that white foods are usually processed, as in white rice, white flour, etc. they are very easy for your body to digest and cause a spike in insulin production which in turn cause sugar which in turn gets stored as fat. also these foods because they have been processed have been leeched of all their nutrients, which is why manufacturers have to enrich them to at least try to put some vitamins back into them. white potatoes are kind of okay. brown rice, whole grains etc have not been processed and therefore take a lot longer for your body to digest and don't cause an insulin spike. they also still have all the nutrients and fibre a body needs.

and under what situations does the process of de novo lipogenesis occur?

and what of the possible anti nutritional factors in brown rice, does that matter?

l think it's really precious how you like to ask your "innocent' questions in order to trip us up with your superior knowledge. you have an amazing physique so whatever you're doing keep it up. I follow Tom Venutto's food plan which works fine for me. 60 lbs in 5 mos. I'm not looking to argue with you about "anti nutritional factors".

::sigh:: i was hoping to have an intelligent debate to so people can be better informed, there was no tripping people up, just fleshing out common beliefs and making counter points

chevy88grl

In my opinion, it depends on the person and how they react to them. Carbs are not the root of all evil, but some people are far more sensitive to them than other people.

For me, I am not the least bit sensitive to them. I could eat carbs all day/everyday and be just fine. I won't gain weight or anything like that. My body loves carbs. I know other people look a piece of bread and gain weight. So, really.. I feel like it is up to the individual person to figure out what works for them.

Lift_hard_eat_big

::sigh:: i was hoping to have an intelligent debate to so people can be better informed, there was no tripping people up, just fleshing out common beliefs and making counter points

Good carbs come leave behind pixie dust, bad carbs leave you with cellulite. Did I answer right, can I haz a cookie now?

_Ben

My friend who is a sports and fitness major knows alot about dieting and eating right..he claims that carbs ( such as wheat bread ) and pasta are terrible for you??

is this true? am i really gonna have to give up my carbs even though the carbs I eat are not so bad..thxx

If you like dying, then yes, carbs are terrible for you.

Carbohydrates are your bodies most readily available form of energy. Your body can use 3 sources of energy: Carbohydrates, Fat, and Protien. The expression "carbs are the enemy" comes from the idea that your body typically burns off carbs before burning off fat, because its easier to break down for energy. Less carbs, means your body tries to burn fat instead.

The thing is you body needs carbohydrates (unless you are sufferening a medical condition, might be different). Your brain needs carbs, because its function is based off carb usage, not fat usage. The brain can use fat, but its much much more difficult than carb usage.

In short, you need to eat carbs. A well balanced diet, of low carbs low fat is good, but you do need some at the very least.

egbrooks

Here's a great interview with a cardiologist that explains the insidious nature of gluten and how it wrecks your health. Definitely worth a look!

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/against-the-grain-how-wheat-wrecks-your-health.html

nosugarcoating

Carbs does not equal gluten.

SHBoss1673

this whole argument drives me bonkers.

Guys, everything in moderation. Wheat is not the enemy. Carbs are not the enemy, protein is not the savior.

it's a case of being smart about your health choices. Unless you have a specific medical condition that precludes a certain food type, all macronutrient food types are fine if you have them in the correct amounts.

the world obesity level didn't rise dramatically because of grain (at least not in the direct sense, I'm not talking about the increase in grain output and transport, which is the other side of the coin), if that was the case it would have risen long ago (we as a race, have been processing grain and corn for thousands of years). It has risen because people eat to much food, and eat to much processed food, that's it, plain and simple. The truth is, most people eat a high percentage of their diet from pre-made foods that are low nutrient density, high caloric value foods without ever knowing what's truly in them as a staple for their diets, this is true the world over. If the world started paying attention to their food choices, and stopped eating foods just because they "fit into their daily lifestyle" then we'd be far better off as a community.

-Banks

stuffinmuffin

Coming from a carb junkie....I love them and every day I will eat oats, bread, pasta, potatoes and not so often, rice, to accompany my meals. However as people have mentioned, I tend to eat the brown, wholemeal, wheat variants and not the white varieties as I find I feel less bloated that way. I always accompany them with lots of veg and personally it has not hindered my weight loss at all. I find I get on well with a high fibre diet and my carbs are big contributor to that along with pulses and veg.

Just go with personal preference, what you like and what makes you comfortable.

fteale

It's all about balance. Of course if you have bread/pasta/pizza/potatoes as the bulk of every meal that isn't great nutritionally, but I yet to see any evidence whatsoever that eating within your daily allowance of carbs is anything other than beneficial providing you aren't on an extreme weight loss program (Atkins or IPD). If you do a lot of exercise (cardio, anyway), you need carbs to fuel it. You don't get top athletes cutting out carbs. Note ATHLETES, not weight lifters/body builders.

Some people don't do well with wheat, I am one of them, so if there's a source of carbohydrate you don't get on with, by all means cut it out, but unless you are looking for fast weight loss, or are body building, I think going extremely low carb is pointless. Some carbs, within reason, are fine.

Hirundo

More and more researches tend to show that starchy carbs could be one of the main cause of obesity rather than fat like people loves to tell us for many years .. The best person that explain it simply i have seen was the guy from "Fat Head" movie, maybe you should see that...
In any case, it's very clear that all the white starch like white bread, white pasta, potatoes and etc are transformed by our body the same way as a cube of sugar would be and there is not much more nutritious values than that... It's a lot smarter to choose your starchy carbs from whole grains with more nutrious values and fibers...

Like some people said, carbs are our body's primary fuel... It's important and it's the quality of it that matter ... you want carbs that won't be stored too fast by your body and that will full you for a while...

Fruits and veges aren't the problem, as long you stay under your carbs limits...
Careful to fruit juice, even if you do it at home from fresh fruit .. remember that a fruit juice is water with all the sugar from the fruit that you put in the glass .. it might get you to your limit of carbs faster than you would like ...

sld_6001

i think white potatoes and white rice are worse because they are "simple" carbs. They have no nutrients compared to "complex" carbs. Multi-grain and whole wheat and such for bread and pasta contain more nutrientional value, the calories might be similar per serving but you are acutally getting more value with eating them. if you want to have a balanced diet carbs are necessary. but not all carbs have to come from bread products.

ilookthetype

Carbs does not equal gluten.

^ Winner.

Celiac here, and I can eat carbs....

rbryntes

::sigh:: i was hoping to have an intelligent debate to so people can be better informed, there was no tripping people up, just fleshing out common beliefs and making counter points

The "better informed" is a bit subjective, don't you think? You have a point of view, and whgat works for you, works for you. A Low GI diet works for me - not necessarily in making me lose weight, but in feeling better, because if I eat white bread, potatoes, etc., I get a hyper- and then hypo-glycemic reaction. I used to have to take a nap about an hour after every meal. I do not when I eat a low GI diet. Clearly this works for me. It may not work for you. But it doesn't make me "ill informed" to be following this diet.

bcattoes

My friend who is a sports and fitness major knows alot about dieting and eating right..he claims that carbs ( such as wheat bread ) and pasta are terrible for you??

is this true? am i really gonna have to give up my carbs even though the carbs I eat are not so bad..thxx

Well that is really 2 separate questions. To the subject line: No, of course carbs are not bad for you. Vegetables, fruits and whole grains have carbs and are an important part of a healthy diet. There is a reason most nutrients are contained in foods that also have carbs. To the second (are pasta and bread bad for you), the answer gets more complicated. Some people have problems digesting gluten, which is present in wheat and some other grains, so obviously they should avoid it. But even if you don't have problems with wheat, when grains are ground into flour it causes them to be digested more quickly, which in turn causes your body to release a burst of insulin to process them. Repeatedly causing these insulin rushes can lead to insulin resistance. Whole grains breads and pastas are better than white, but minimally processed whole grains (bulgar wheat, oats, brown rice, etc.) are even better.

HMonsterX

My friend who is a sports and fitness major knows alot about dieting and eating right..he claims that carbs ( such as wheat bread ) and pasta are terrible for you??

is this true? am i really gonna have to give up my carbs even though the carbs I eat are not so bad..thxx

If you like dying, then yes, carbs are terrible for you.

Surely if you like dying, going by this thread and your opinion, carbs would be great!

bcattoes

There are good carbs and bad carbs. Basically any white carb (white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.) is bad. Whole grain carbs (check the ingredients list ... if it includes the word "enriched," leave it alone), even bread and pasta, are fine (and necessary) in moderation.

Fruits and vegetables are also carbs, and no healthy diet should be without those.

So basically white carbs and "enriched" wheat carbs are the ones to stay away from.

curious as to why a white potato or white rice would be worse then lets say a sweet potato or brown rice?

The glycemic load. An average russet potato has a GL of 26, an average sweet potato is 17. White rice has a GL of 23, brown rice is 18.

bcattoes

the theory is that white foods are usually processed, as in white rice, white flour, etc. they are very easy for your body to digest and cause a spike in insulin production which in turn cause sugar which in turn gets stored as fat. also these foods because they have been processed have been leeched of all their nutrients, which is why manufacturers have to enrich them to at least try to put some vitamins back into them. white potatoes are kind of okay. brown rice, whole grains etc have not been processed and therefore take a lot longer for your body to digest and don't cause an insulin spike. they also still have all the nutrients and fibre a body needs.

If it ain't white, it ain't right.

The whiter your bread, the sooner you're dead.

Acg67

There are good carbs and bad carbs. Basically any white carb (white bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, etc.) is bad. Whole grain carbs (check the ingredients list ... if it includes the word "enriched," leave it alone), even bread and pasta, are fine (and necessary) in moderation.

Fruits and vegetables are also carbs, and no healthy diet should be without those.

So basically white carbs and "enriched" wheat carbs are the ones to stay away from.

curious as to why a white potato or white rice would be worse then lets say a sweet potato or brown rice?

The glycemic load. An average russet potato has a GL of 26, an average sweet potato is 17. White rice has a GL of 23, brown rice is 18.

so using GL we can rank foods on which is better then others?