To Carb or Not To Carb

mstaser

Sitting around the fire last night with a power lifter, body builder and a couple general fitness folks, the conversation inevitably ended up with what to eat and what not to eat. Half the crowd was pushing no carbs and high protien (power lifter and body builder) and the other half was saying balanced carbs and protein. It was all about burning fat and toning muscle. I would like to get a census from the MFP crowd.

It was stated that to loose weight and build muscle, cut out all carbs and sugars (bad sugar) and pack on the protein. The body builder stated 1g or protein per 1lb of body weight. The body builder thought that was to high but he is still thinking 80% of body weight. But they both stated no carbs or sugar.

What are your thoughts?

theecatt

If you're not going to exercise, and do it all through food, very low carb can be very helpful. The body retains fewer calories from protein than from carbs. But cardio with carbs can be hard. I think most people will agree that sugars aren't very useful, so minimize them.

But overall, I say whatever works for you. I could never tolerate <20g of carbs a day though, no matter how many times I tried, so I don't go that low. On non-exercise days I keep it between 50-100g, and around 100-150g on exercise days, with protein >25% of calories all the time.

MrsRawwwr

I did low carb for awhile and lost weight. The problem is, my workouts began suffering. I'm now trying to eat 40% carbs, but it's usually a bit higher than that. Since doing this, my workouts have been much more productive, I'm losing weight and inches, and I feel so much better. I have lost weight more successfully, however, avoiding carbs from dinner on. Unless you are up late at night, your body doesn't need the fuel carbs give you. Best advice from my pt yet, and she has a lot if good stuff to give!

crux

It's got to depend on your goal...

If the goal is to lose fat and get shredded, then it's hard to argue against a bodybuilder type high protien diet. It works (if you are disciplined)

If your wanting to run marathons or endurance train, then it's hard to live without more carbs.

mermx

Personally I prefer high protein/low carbs. I do this 4 days and then 5th day I have hgh carbs low protein.

But I am sure this post will get lots of differing opinions.

What works for one won`t always work for another ;-)

adriany9

Im new to strength training and recently I had a similar chat with a few people.

What I am doing now is 50% carbs 30% protein and 20% fat.

I train 3 times a week and mostly do weights ie squats deadlifts etc so after my workouts I have carbs and protein with no fat. My non training days I have fat but kinda cut down my carbs.

I drive a van for a living so I was also told that on my non training days to eat my carbs for breakfast and thats it. No carbs from then on as I am sat on my *kitten* all day and not burning them.

mstaser

I haven't really paid any attention to carbs before now. But I know I wasn't overdoing it. I may start with watching my evening carbs and see what happens.

thenance007

I've never been successful at losing weight and keeping it off in the past. For me the most effective was low carb, but I always had the attitude that it was temporary and I'd be able to add them back eventually. But as soon as I added them back, my insulin would go out of control and I'd start stuffing myself with sugars and starches.

I just finished reading "Deep Nutrition" by Dr. Catherine Shanahan and "Primal Body, Primal Mind" by Nora Gedgaudas, and now I understand a whole lot more about how insulin resistance and carb addiction works. It was enough to make me decide that with my severe insulin resistance, the only way I'm going to get healthy and lose weight is to eliminate sugar and starch completely from my diet--possibly forever. It is killing me slowly and at any time could kill me quickly.

But the most important thing that both these books taught me is that the secret is eating a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet. Amazingly, all the research shows that this is the healthiest diet you can eat. Fat is only unhealthy if eaten with carbs. In the absence of carbs, the healthiest diet is fatty meats, including organ meats, with leafy greens.

It takes a week or two for your body to switch from burning sugar to burning fat, but once it does, your energy skyrockets. I've been following this for the last 10 days and have lost about 10 lbs. (mostly water that my body no longer needs, since it doesn't have to dilute the sugar to keep it from poisoning my cells.) I certainly don't expect to continue at that rate, but after a few low energy days, I have plenty of energy. And all my cravings and hunger are totally gone.

I know this all sounds like heresy as we've been brainwashed since the early 80's that low-fat is the only way to go and that saturated fats kill us. Please read one of these books if you really want to understand the science and research.

LiddyBit

I have no interest whatsoever in working out so I try to do low carb. I think in general, though, there are healthier carbs one should try to eat than, say, bread or pasta, if higher carb is your thing.