What is considered low carb???

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.

lockef

Did glucose suddenly not become a carb?

Glucose is a carb, but not all carbs are glucose.

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.

Sorry, but that wall of text does nothing. Congrats on your success rate, but just because all of the people you've helped have done well, doesn't make it true for everyone.

MikeSEA

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 to 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.

Your success rate is irrelevant (except to you and those who benefit from it). I'm sincerely glad that positive results have been done. My point as I keep having to state, is that you're seeming to make (correct if I'm not interpreting you accurately) certain assumptions about how everyone would react when functioning on zero carbs.

You used a coin flipping analogy earlier. I'm guessing we both know that the number times heads appears has no effect on what the next result will be for the next flip. It's not a super great analogy but diets aren't that dissimilar.

Think of like this. There are two statements.

1. Everyone needs dietary carbs. You disagree with this. Great! I don't care and wouldn't argue with you.

This is not the same as saying:

2. Nobody needs carbs to function well.

They are logically two different statements.

If what you mean to say is: "I disagree with with the idea that everyone needs carbs." then fine. But that's not what's been communicated. What you've said is that you (second person plural) don't need carbs to function well. You can't possibly make that statement and it's sloppy to do so. If the distinction isn't meaningful for you, then there's not much more I can say.

MikeSEA

Did glucose suddenly not become a carb?

Glucose is a carb, but not all carbs are glucose.

That's true If the point is that I wasn't specific enough in rebuttal then I capitulate on that point

digitalsteel

I believe if you where to try it, you would be surprised by the results. I don't understand how you can dismiss that claim based only on the idea that people are eating carbs. Stop eating them, show me your results. Or show me a study I haven't read so I can compare the data.

bcattoes

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!

This site can tell you everything you could want to know about carbs, good and bad.

http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/carbohydrates-full-story/index.html#what-are-carbohydrates

The more fiber and protein contained in the food along with carbs, the better it is. That's a very simplistic overview but that rule alone will get you pretty far in choosing the right kind of carbs.

Whole grains, fruit and vegetables (other than white potatoes) are all good carbs, The more processed the whole grain, the less "good" it becomes (e.g. brown rice flour is not as good as brown rice).

White potatoes, white bread/pasta, sugars, etc. are "bad carbs".

MikeSEA

I believe if you where to try it, you would be surprised by the results. I don't understand how you can dismiss that claim based only on the idea that people are eating carbs. Stop eating them, show me your results. Or show me a study I haven't read so I can compare the data.

I'm forced to believe you're trying to be deliberately obtuse. That or you don't know how logic works. Your "beliefs" about it working for me don't mean anything. I'm not dismissing the idea that it can work. I'm dismissing the idea that will work for everyone or any specific individual without a deeper understanding of that person's needs, goals, etc.. If chose to make that leap of faith, it would be well...as I've said sloppy and irresponsible.

bcattoes

Anyone know?

Man, I love these carb discussions. I'm not sure which is more hotly debated, carbs or water. Such simple things that people blow all out of proportion and spout such nonsense about. Fun stuff!

I think by now you must know that there is no official definition of "low carb".

kbrown1171

Might I suggest just asking your physician what they would consider a proper amount of carbs for YOU and YOUR needs? We are all different and this post did nothing to really answer your initial question. Good luck!!! :happy:

Lisa_222

I can't give you any kind of study, but I am a diabetic and I'll tell you what carbs do to my insulin requirements and remember the more insulin you excrete, the more fat you store. I go up a unit of insulin for every carb. I know that doesn't mean a lot if you aren't diabetic, but it can be the difference between 10 units and 60 units of insulin. And the more insulin I take, the harder it is to lose weight, in fact insulin causes weight gain. So you keep your carbs as low as you can without sacrificing nutrition if you are diabetic, have metabolic syndrome, PCOS or are just the type to have that kind of metabolism that doesn't metabolize carbs efficiently....(drowsy after eating, hold your weight in your middle section) I try to take no more than 30 carbs per meal. I don't always succeed, but it's a goal.

LowCarbForLife

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.

I guess I'm a glutton for punishment as I'm going to continue to try and have a rational discussion with you given how little you apparently know. First it was your claim that the brain needs carbs and now you don't understand the difference between glucose and carbs. Glucose never was a carb, and this is not a sudden development. Maybe you should do a bit of homework on what these terms mean and how the body actually works before displaying your ignorance in a public forum?