What is with the low carb fad?

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  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    It's the whole limit or eliminate certain food food groups that is a point of contention.

    What difference does it make? Calorie restriction is limiting everything to a certain amount. Low-fat diets are highly limiting fat intake. Low-carb diets can be structured to still allow foods they love whether it be in tiny amounts, or on cheat days.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    It's the whole limit or eliminate certain food food groups that is a point of contention.

    What difference does it make? Calorie restriction is limiting everything to a certain amount. Low-fat diets are highly limiting fat intake. Low-carb diets can be structured to still allow foods they love whether it be in tiny amounts, or on cheat days.

    We were talking about Paleo which as you know =/= low carb
  • AlyRoseNYC
    AlyRoseNYC Posts: 1,075 Member
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    Low carb makes me feel better, sleep better, wake up happy, gets rid of sugar cravings, and the weight loss is great too.

    DITTO. For me, the weight loss is just a perk. I like how I feel and look when I am eating lower-carb. It's not something I do religiously. Whenever I'm feeling particularly slothy, I ease up on the sugar and I start feeling better within a week or so.
  • grinch031
    grinch031 Posts: 1,679
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    It's the whole limit or eliminate certain food food groups that is a point of contention.

    What difference does it make? Calorie restriction is limiting everything to a certain amount. Low-fat diets are highly limiting fat intake. Low-carb diets can be structured to still allow foods they love whether it be in tiny amounts, or on cheat days.

    We were talking about Paleo which as you know =/= low carb

    Sorry not in to Paleo, but does Paleo allow no cheating? But still all diets are restrictive in one way or another.
  • jillyt85
    jillyt85 Posts: 161 Member
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    I have a hormone imbalance and my adrenal glands all messed up. My body just immediately stores carbs, but my doctor is about to put me on supplements and have me eating mostly protein, vegetables, and fruit. My body just doesn't react normal to carbs the way it's supposed to.
  • MrsGreenTea703
    MrsGreenTea703 Posts: 300 Member
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    Some people have more will power than others in certain areas, some actually see an improvement in health. If you don't know people who can stick with something then seems like that might be a problem with the people you know. Guess it's kind of like the fad of worrying about what everybody else is doing.

    BTW if you do some real research into low carb it's been around for centuries, that's a heck of a long fad.

    ^^^THIS

    PS. It's NOT a DIET, it's a LIFESTYLE change! The more weight I lose is just a bonus! =)
  • Memorysketch
    Memorysketch Posts: 41 Member
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    God, I love my carbs! :)

    Unfortunately I'm diabetic and if I eat a lot of 'empty' carbs, they'll make my blood sugar go up. Higher blood sugar means the dreaded insulin injections, which I'm hoping I can keep away from me for a good long time.
  • michiganric
    michiganric Posts: 3 Member
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    Being diabetic it is not so much all carbs,but the right type of carbs. Complex carbs digest slower and do not have as much of a negative impact on your glucose levels. Thus it helps me stabilize my blood sugars.Also,being diabetic my glucose levels are impacted by exercise. Cardio & strength training can impact your levels differently.
  • angie_sample
    angie_sample Posts: 190
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    My dietician likes me to pay attention to the amount of carbs i eat. theres carbs in dairy, fruit, veggies, nuts and she doesnt want me to worry about carbs coming from those kinds of things. But she wants me to be careful with the amount of breads, potatoes chips, pasta, cookies. those kinds of carbs. I use to be a huge chip eater especially Doritos. When i started my healthy lifestyle i almost felt like i was going through withdraw from chips, now i dont crave them at all. Do i eat the things that she wants me to be careful of? Heck yay i do. I just pay attention to serving sizes. Im down 68 pounds so watching carbs helps me.
  • DannyMussels
    DannyMussels Posts: 1,842 Member
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    Most high carb foods are high calorie.

    So without knowing that much else about nutrition, it's a pretty easy way to lose weight for most people.


    Just think desserts, pasta etc. and check the calories in em, and you'll see theres at least a bit of relation between high carb and high cal.

    It's pretty broad and general, but for most people who don't dig deeper, it works, and that's why.
  • kanmuri
    kanmuri Posts: 112
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    I have a friend who's on a low carb diet and he lost a lot. Personally I would never be able to do it. I love bread way too much.
  • butterfly10398
    butterfly10398 Posts: 176
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    I guess it depends on what you are considering low carb. I backed mine down to 40 because 50 was too much and couldn't lose any weight. but i dropped it back to 40 and immediately lost 4 lbs.
  • shelleylynnb
    shelleylynnb Posts: 11
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    People with any type diabetes beed to really watch their carbs and keep their blood sugar in check. Carbs are complex sugars and break down in the body like sugar but a little slower. They are easier to break down with exercise, of course. Some carbs, of course, are necessary, especially before exercise but I know type 2 diabetics who faithfully watch carbs and have been able to avoid having to go on insulin injections.
  • emma110984
    emma110984 Posts: 125 Member
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    I've been doing lowish carb consistently for 5 months... it's clear... no calorie counting, i'm always food optimising and every now and then you can eat outside of it's confinement... i've gone from saying I can't eat carbs to I don't... it's my lifestyle now... so i wouldn't even say i was on a diet!

    I stick to 1 rule only... I will eat under 5grams of carbs per 100grams... and it's a choice weather i go over that or not!

    I started on MFP just to see, with this new lifestyle choice, how much i do eat, and even with the large portions of meat and veg, I am full and only eat around 1200-1400 calories a day! Since i started i have lost 40lbs and have felt the healthiest and fittest i have in years!!!
  • Yasmine91
    Yasmine91 Posts: 599 Member
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    Some people, like myself sadly lol, are sensitive to carbs. I bloat and gain like no tomorrow with those buggers lol. So I have to limit mine
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    Most high carb foods are high calorie.

    ?? Gram for gram, carbs and protein have the same calories. Fat has more calories per gram than either.
  • hamton
    hamton Posts: 245
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    low carb should mean high fat. You have to replace the carb with something and it should be fat. The only unhealthy fat I know is Trans fat. I've tried various weight loss diets and high fat is my favorite. My least favorite is low fat. I hated eating dry white meat. It killed my hormones and sex drive. I now eat eggs, bacon, steak, butter, dark meat chicken. While doing all this my blood cholesterol improved. My goal was to raise HDL by eating lots of saturated fat, but LDL and triglycerides all improved in the process. I'm not talking about a few points either. My LDL went from 211 to 126. HDL went from 56 to 74. Man, life is good.
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    low carb should mean high fat. You have to replace the carb with something and it should be fat. The only unhealthy fat I know is Trans fat. I've tried various weight loss diets and high fat is my favorite. My least favorite is low fat. I hated eating dry white meat. It killed my hormones and sex drive. I now eat eggs, bacon, steak, butter, dark meat chicken. While doing all this my blood cholesterol improved. My goal was to raise HDL by eating lots of saturated fat, but LDL and triglycerides all improved in the process. I'm not talking about a few points either. My LDL went from 211 to 126. HDL went from 56 to 74. Man, life is good.

    CLA and TVA...
  • LosingLizard
    LosingLizard Posts: 69
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    I'm just wondering what people's reasons are for doing low carb on here? Carbs are the body's preferred source of energy.. I understand it in prepping for competitions and the carb cycling with leaning out after building muscle but I can't understand why the average person would. Everybody I have known who did the whole 'low carb' diet for a while lost weight but it was just put back on later because it isn't a lifestyle you can stick to.. Just seems like a quick fix for some that is hard to maintain in the long run. Not trying to be rude or insult any who are doing it. I'm just curious about your reason's behind choosing it.

    A few reasons....

    This article got me curious, so I started reading books, and it started to make a whole lot of sense.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/07/magazine/what-if-it-s-all-been-a-big-fat-lie.html?scp=1&sq=what if its all been a big fat lie?&st=cse

    Also, someone mentioned it helps keep the binge at bay - that is also true.

    I low carb, but not in the Atkins way. I don't count, I just knocked out all the processed carbs, except for treats. I eat fruits and veggies until my heart is content, because no one will ever be able to convince me that fruit is bad, regardless of how many carbs it has. I still eat potatoes and squash, because I love them and they have lots of nutrients. I eat a moderate amount of steel cut oats as oatmeal, and I will occasionally eat grains, like barley and brown rice, but I keep the grains to once or twice a week at most.

    But gone is anything made primarily from flour and/or processed - pasta, bread, crackers, cereals, white rice, and the like. I pretty much did away with anything that has a wrapper, except for frozen meat and veggies (with no additives).
  • hamton
    hamton Posts: 245
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    Why so cryptic?

    I know what CLA is. What is TVA. Please enlighten me.

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