What is considered low carb???

Princessa1982

Anyone know?

4theking

It depends on your caloric goal but I always consider under 150gms for me at 1800 calories........so if you were eating 1200 calories closer to 100gms.

digitalsteel

I'd be happy to share my input for any specific questions. I've spent quite a few years studying nutrition, and have over a decade of experience in chemistry, physics and biology.

mckant

It depends on your caloric goal but I always consider under 150gms for me at 1800 calories........so if you were eating 1200 calories closer to 100gms.

I try to stick to approximately 100 but even just getting that from fresh/raw veggies, yogurt, & a little bit of fruit seems tough (that's not my entire diet but just where I get most of my carbs from). How the heck do you do it?! :laugh: Personally, I find that doing it this way helps my stomach appear flatter and not as "poofy" or "pouchy" so I really would be interested to hear how you stick to that. Thanks!

Princessa1982

I'd be happy to share my input for any specific questions. I've spent quite a few years studying nutrition, and have over a decade of experience in chemistry, physics and biology.

I guess, I really have no clue where to start asking, because i do not know the differences between good carbs, bad carbs, or if there is even a difference. Feel free to look at my food diary, any suggestions would be great!

singer201

Check out marksdailyapple.com for one guideline for lower carb eating (Primal Blueprint).

I keep my carbs <100 g/day no matter what my calorie limit, follow MFP's calorie recommendations (at first 1.5-2 lb. loss per week, now 0.5 lb. loss per week), and eat my exercise calories. The weight started coming off right away and is still coming off steadily, though more slowly now that I'm nearing goal weight. It's taken 8 months to lose 64 lbs., but I haven't really had a plateau.

digitalsteel

A good carb is one that does not raise your insulin. So, as an example, fiber is a carb that does not raise your insulin. Technicaly speaking, any carbohydrate molecule that is too big to fit through your cell walls will be fine. This is the principal artificial sweeteners use to be sweet, yet not cause problems for diabetics. In reality, the number of carbs needed by the human body are zero. You can survive a long and healthy life without any of them. I know that seems like a radical statement, but you don't have to take my word for it, the science is out there. That being said, there are benefits to including certain ones found in leaf vegetables.

MikeSEA

Even radically low carb diets don't recommend "no carb." They just substitute some carbs for others, and overall lower the amount. Yes technically your body doesn't need carbs in the same way as it does other nutrients, but suggesting that one would live a long and healthy life with no carbs is a little disingenuous and presumes a lot about an individual.

audradanielle

Whenever I feel like I want to cut a few carbs, I usually just limit my carb intake. Eating carbs for breakfast or lunch only helps.

digitalsteel

Even radically low carb diets don't recommend "no carb." They just substitute some carbs for others, and overall lower the amount. Yes technically your body doesn't need carbs in the same way as it does other nutrients, but suggesting that one would live a long and healthy life with no carbs is a little disingenuous and presumes a lot about an individual.

You'd be surprised, feel free to follow whatever rules you feel will be healthy. However this is what studies show. Most of the recent "shedding of light" on this topic is proving to unravel what I already have. Just take a look, its in a book actually several.

MikeSEA

Even radically low carb diets don't recommend "no carb." They just substitute some carbs for others, and overall lower the amount. Yes technically your body doesn't need carbs in the same way as it does other nutrients, but suggesting that one would live a long and healthy life with no carbs is a little disingenuous and presumes a lot about an individual.

You'd be surprised, feel free to follow whatever rules you feel will be healthy. However this is what studies show. Most of the recent "shedding of light" on this topic is proving to unravel what I already have. Just take a look, its in a book actually several.

As a point of clarification, were you suggesting that any information is valid because it calls itself a "study" or manages to get published?

digitalsteel

Even radically low carb diets don't recommend "no carb." They just substitute some carbs for others, and overall lower the amount. Yes technically your body doesn't need carbs in the same way as it does other nutrients, but suggesting that one would live a long and healthy life with no carbs is a little disingenuous and presumes a lot about an individual.

You'd be surprised, feel free to follow whatever rules you feel will be healthy. However this is what studies show. Most of the recent "shedding of light" on this topic is proving to unravel what I already have. Just take a look, its in a book actually several.

As a point of clarification, were you suggesting that any information is valid because it calls itself a "study" or manages to get published?

No, I understand your ideal, but I am not your typical "poser" poster. Like I said, the information is out there. Feel free to go over it yourself, you sound like you should be able to tell the difference.

MikeSEA

No, I understand your ideal, but I am not your typical "poser" poster. Like I said, the information is out there. Feel free to go over it yourself, you sound like you should be able to tell the difference.

Well, thanks, I suppose?

I guess my point is that the information I've read that even remotely comes close to what you're suggesting amounts to very poor science with questionable conclusions and sloppy methodology. Soooo...if you have something you'd like to share that isn't published by someone with a book or brand to sell, I'm all ears.

digitalsteel

I don't know if this will be of help, but these are the journals I have read, I originally lumped them all together for someone else.

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MikeSEA

I'm sorry, is a wall of text lacking any contextual analysis supposed to signify something other than you can use a search function?

Grokette

A good carb is one that does not raise your insulin. So, as an example, fiber is a carb that does not raise your insulin. Technicaly speaking, any carbohydrate molecule that is too big to fit through your cell walls will be fine. This is the principal artificial sweeteners use to be sweet, yet not cause problems for diabetics. In reality, the number of carbs needed by the human body are zero. You can survive a long and healthy life without any of them. I know that seems like a radical statement, but you don't have to take my word for it, the science is out there. That being said, there are benefits to including certain ones found in leaf vegetables.

:drinker: :flowerforyou:

HonkyTonks

Good question! I like to think I am mostly low carb (I don't eat pasta rice potatoes etc) but I have read the atkins diet recommends about 50grams of carbs a day. I seem to average about 100! I don't know if I should be reducing my carbs, it just seems in order to do that I'd need to exclude some of the fruit & veg I am eating, and also milk (which would mean I'd have to give up coffee, which I'd find really really hard to do).

LowCarbForLife

I don't think there is any general consensus, even among the various low carb diet proponents, about what exactly is the cut off which make a diet "low carb". Many low carb diets start with an introductory period where you keep carbs at approximately 20 grams/day or less. You can then gradually move to higher levels according to what your metabolism can support. I think for most people 100 grams/day of CHO, which is 400 calories or about 25%of a 1600 calorie/day diet is still considered low carb.

I think equally important to the question of how many carbs you consume is the issue of the type of carbs you eat. Eating carbs like sugars and many starches which quickly raise your blood sugar and in turn cause insulin spikes is much worse for you, imo, than eating carbs in the form of green vegetables. For example, you can eat a huge amount of avocados, artichokes, and asparagus and not generate nearly the same level of insulin response as when eating a proportionally much smaller amount of white bread. </$.02>

digitalsteel

I'm sorry, is a wall of text lacking any contextual analysis supposed to signify something other than you can use a search function?

Wow, you really are not at the level I was expecting. How can you argue anything without understanding ALL the information. If I flip a coin 100 times, and withhold the answer half the time, I can convince you I have a coin with 2 heads. You need to be much better than that.

MikeSEA

I'm sorry, is a wall of text lacking any contextual analysis supposed to signify something other than you can use a search function?

Wow, you really are not at the level I was expecting. How can you argue anything without understanding ALL the information. If I flip a coin 100 times, and withhold the answer half the time, I can convince you I have a coin with 2 heads. You need to be much better than that.

You haven't presented any relevant sources of information yet. Quite frankly, given the formatting, I highly doubt you compiled that list yourself.

Have fun selling snake oil to the public, skippy.

LowCarbForLife

Even radically low carb diets don't recommend "no carb." They just substitute some carbs for others, and overall lower the amount. Yes technically your body doesn't need carbs in the same way as it does other nutrients, but suggesting that one would live a long and healthy life with no carbs is a little disingenuous and presumes a lot about an individual.

Just as a point of clarification there is a pretty large and active group of zero carb dieters out there. If you check some of the low carb forums like lowcarber.org you'll find plenty of them (look for M Levac). The ones I've interacted with are perfectly happy with their WOE. I believe that you would be making a poor assumption to think that they have not studied the relevant research and understand the science of their diet choice.

I personally would not choose to go zero carb, but since your body has no physiological need for carbs is it definitely possible and many people do make that choice. I try to keep my carb total in the 20 to 100 gram range per day but typically it is in the lower end of the range.

Please feel free to now resume the p*ssing match with the other fellow.

lockef

A good carb is one that does not raise your insulin.

This depends on who you're asking. Ask someone trying to lose weight, and they'll usually agree with you. Insulin inhibits fat from leaving your cells. Ask someone trying to put on muscle mass and they'll disagree with you as insulin also transports amino acids to your muscles.

Edit: In response to the OP, "low carb" usually means <100g/day, "very low carb" would be ~30g/day.

MikeSEA

Even radically low carb diets don't recommend "no carb." They just substitute some carbs for others, and overall lower the amount. Yes technically your body doesn't need carbs in the same way as it does other nutrients, but suggesting that one would live a long and healthy life with no carbs is a little disingenuous and presumes a lot about an individual.

Just as a point of clarification there is a pretty large and active group of zero carb dieters out there. If you check some of the low carb forums like lowcarber.org you'll find plenty of them (look for M Levac). The ones I've interacted with are perfectly happy with their WOE. I believe that you would be making a poor assumption to think that they have not studied the relevant research and understand the science of their diet choice.

I personally would not choose to go zero carb, but since your body has no physiological need for carbs is it definitely possible and many people do make that choice. I try to keep my carb total in the 20 to 100 gram range per day but typically it is in the lower end of the range.

Please feel free to now resume the p*ssing match with the other fellow.

I would think it would be a poor assumption to think they haven't done their research as well. Thankfully I didn't make that assumption. But I appreciate your straw man fallacy. I indicated that suggesting that anyone can just go off carbs completely and live a long and healthy life is disingenuous, which it is. Of course, this doesn't discount any anecdotal evidence for those people who do enjoy such a lifestyle.

Technically, your body does have a need for carbs. I assume, for clarification--since it's important--you mean that there's no need for you to ingest carbs as part a diet. Our brains function by using carbs, we just have ways of synthesizing them.

lockef

Our brains function by using carbs, we just have ways of synthesizing them.

Our brains can function on glucose (supplied by either protein or carbohydrates) or on ketones (converted from fat by the liver).

MikeSEA

Our brains function by using carbs, we just have ways of synthesizing them.

Our brains can function on glucose (supplied by either protein or carbohydrates) or on ketones (converted from fat by the liver).

You're quite right, I misrepresented. Glucose is merely the preferred fuel source for the brain before ketones.

Grokette

I'm sorry, is a wall of text lacking any contextual analysis supposed to signify something other than you can use a search function?

Wow, you really are not at the level I was expecting. How can you argue anything without understanding ALL the information. If I flip a coin 100 times, and withhold the answer half the time, I can convince you I have a coin with 2 heads. You need to be much better than that.

You haven't presented any relevant sources of information yet. Quite frankly, given the formatting, I highly doubt you compiled that list yourself.

Have fun selling snake oil to the public, skippy.

He is not selling any snake oil. It is a very well known fact that we don't NEED any level of carbohydrates for a perfectly healthy and properly functioning body.

Vilhjalmur Stefansson and others raised the argument in the 1920s that carbohydrates were responsible for the poor health and poor teeth of Western man. Since then, some Nobel-winning scientists have demonstrated through their research that obesity and overweight are only symptoms of the metabolic disorder which causes chronic disease. Controlling insulin is the key to stopping the progress of premature aging and chronic disease.

It keeps being proven time and time again, yet it still keeps falling on deaf ears.

MikeSEA

He is not selling any snake oil. It is a very well known fact that we don't NEED any level of carbohydrates for a perfectly healthy and properly functioning body.

Vilhjalmur Stefansson and others raised the argument in the 1920s that carbohydrates were responsible for the poor health and poor teeth of Western man.

Why does everyone keep missing the point? You cannot make blanket statements like that. You can't say we NEED or DON'T need any particular level of carb to be healthy (not just survive). It's far more complex than that. Hence it's a little irresponsible to tell anyone otherwise when you have no idea whatsoever how their body will react.

Activity level, type of activity, insulin resistance, the individual's response to ketosis, etc...all factor into this. You can give me a thousand people who function just fine without carbs and I'll provide a like amount whose bodies function better with them.

Carbs aren't responsible for anything. Using the wrong f'ing tool for the wrong f'ing job is the cause. The job changes.

Making simple general conclusions isn't science, it's marketing.

hockey7fan

To answer the OP's question, I eat around 50 grams of carbs a day from fruits and veggies - mostly veggies. From what I've read and what my dietician has told me, the number for sustained weight loss is between 50 and 100.

LowCarbForLife

Even radically low carb diets don't recommend "no carb." They just substitute some carbs for others, and overall lower the amount. Yes technically your body doesn't need carbs in the same way as it does other nutrients, but suggesting that one would live a long and healthy life with no carbs is a little disingenuous and presumes a lot about an individual.

Just as a point of clarification there is a pretty large and active group of zero carb dieters out there. If you check some of the low carb forums like lowcarber.org you'll find plenty of them (look for M Levac). The ones I've interacted with are perfectly happy with their WOE. I believe that you would be making a poor assumption to think that they have not studied the relevant research and understand the science of their diet choice.

I personally would not choose to go zero carb, but since your body has no physiological need for carbs is it definitely possible and many people do make that choice. I try to keep my carb total in the 20 to 100 gram range per day but typically it is in the lower end of the range.

Please feel free to now resume the p*ssing match with the other fellow.

I would think it would be a poor assumption to think they haven't done their research as well. Thankfully I didn't make that assumption. But I appreciate your straw man fallacy. I indicated that suggesting that anyone can just go off carbs completely and live a long and healthy life is disingenuous, which it is. Of course, this doesn't discount any anecdotal evidence for those people who do enjoy such a lifestyle.

Technically, your body does have a need for carbs. I assume, for clarification--since it's important--you mean that there's no need for you to ingest carbs as part a diet. Our brains function by using carbs, we just have ways of synthesizing them.

Technically you are completely incorrect about what the brain needs. Your brain needs glucose which your body is perfectly capable of making from protein. Our bodies are not capable of synthesizing CHO but luckily we don't have to.

My argument was not a straw man as you did suggest that people could not live a healthy lifesyle on a zero carb diet. You apparently inferred that under your initial assumption that the body has some minimum requirement for CHO which we now both seem to know is incorrect.

MikeSEA

My argument was not a straw man as you did suggest that people could not live a healthy lifesyle on a zero carb diet. You apparently inferred that under your initial assumption that the body has some minimum requirement for CHO which we now both seem to know is incorrect.

I disagree with your premise that I suggested that the body needs a minimum amount of dietary carbs. As I never actually said that, or implied it, I think I'll call that unjustified inference on your part. Still a straw a man.

EDIT: I make a statement that the brain needs carbs, and then you make a statement that it needs glucose. Yet I'm completely incorrect? Did glucose suddenly not become a carb? If the process by which it's derived from protein isn't a synthesis, it hardly makes my statement completely incorrect.

digitalsteel

So what are you arguing about? I also think a zero carb diet is impractical. Yet everything I stated is still true. I posted all the journals I have read. After comparing the studies and contrasting the data between them, this was the conclusion I came up with. Every person I have helped follow this idea has done tremendously well. I have a 100% success rate.

When you have too few carbs to fuel your brain, you break long chain fatty acids into ketones that can pass the blood brain barrier and provide fuel for your brain. This is how you don't die in your sleep.