For how long can you safely reduce/cut out carbs?
Replies
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Don't get your "low-carb" info from the Atkins site. Get it from Primal Blueprint.com, chriskresser.com, gnolls.org, Hyperlipid (this guy has been doing VLC for quite a few years.)etc. Look at Primal/Paleo sites. (Atkins just pushes their low-carb crap that is still highly processed unhealthy "healthy" food like substances).
Our body has its own antioxidant making system. And fruits/vegetables aren't all they're made up to be (I treat them as a garnish more than a meal). All plants contain toxins. And too much can be detrimental (fructose is a toxin in the body - this is why it gets shunted to the liver and disposed of so quickly - so tell me how unlimited fruit is healthy?)
And I wish I could find the link of the martial arts expert who has been Paleo for 15 years (less than 100g of carbs a day). He is a highly trained athlete that runs on FAT!!
That being said, getting the last book written by Dr. Atkins himself is not a bad move. I agree that Atkins is more about pushing products now, but Dr. Atkins was a pioneer in low carb and has very good information and a proven system. He always pushed fresh foods over anything packaged, though did help to make low carb products more available as an aid to some.
I personally follow a hybrid Atkins/Primal type diet, with the end goal of Primal/Paleo being my maintenance diet once I loose all that I want.0 -
You can certainly reduce the amount of carbs forever and still manage not to die (contrary to some views on this site). That being said you should be getting some carbs through the form of vegtables as a cornerstone of a low carb diet, with some fruits and generally avoiding anything processed, refined and packaged as a general rule.
Oh, and most grains are pretty much garbage, as is soy. Avoid those things as part of a carb reduction to get rid of the bloat and internal inflammation that most people actually get from gluten. Soy is stright up garbage IMO, messes with hormones, inhibits thyroid function in some people and is overconsumed by Americans especailly since they put it in just about everything processed these days (good luck finding even breakfast sausage in the grocery store these days without soy in it :mad: )
Good info on soy thank you especially since I have under active thyroid gland.0 -
Avoid those things as part of a carb reduction to get rid of the bloat and internal inflammation that most people actually get from gluten
Celiac disease effects less than 1% of the population. Even the poorly-defined condition known as "gluten-intolerance" effects at most 10%.
This is not "most people" by any stretch of the imagination.
Celiac disease is the far end of the spectrum, but while it may be partly genetics, I find it unsurprising that I have issues (minor eczema that flares up whenever I eat wheat), my wife is HIGHLY gluten intolerant and my son is as well.
My mom also has issues with gluten and I personally know at least 15 other people that have issues ranging from aches and pains, acne, irritable bowel and other problems whenever they eat wheat. Your numbers might be accurate for DIAGNOSED cases (my wife is one), but I'd say that your average joe may have more issues with it than they realize.0 -
Don't get your "low-carb" info from the Atkins site. Get it from Primal Blueprint.com, chriskresser.com, gnolls.org, Hyperlipid (this guy has been doing VLC for quite a few years.)etc. Look at Primal/Paleo sites. (Atkins just pushes their low-carb crap that is still highly processed unhealthy "healthy" food like substances).
Our body has its own antioxidant making system. And fruits/vegetables aren't all they're made up to be (I treat them as a garnish more than a meal - I eat them but I don't go out of my way to get them). All plants contain toxins. And too much can be detrimental (fructose is a toxin in the body - this is why it gets shunted to the liver and disposed of so quickly - so tell me how unlimited fruit is healthy?). There isn't a single nutrient in a fruit or vegetable that you can't get somewhere else. (and when you remove grains, legumes, and sugars from the diet your vitamin C needs go down. The Inuit live on protein/fat ONLY yet they don't suffer scurvy).
And I wish I could find the link of the martial arts expert who has been Paleo for 15 years (less than 100g of carbs a day). He is a highly trained athlete that runs on FAT!!
Lol a good example of why not to get your info from the sites listed in the first paragraph0 -
Avoid those things as part of a carb reduction to get rid of the bloat and internal inflammation that most people actually get from gluten
Celiac disease effects less than 1% of the population. Even the poorly-defined condition known as "gluten-intolerance" effects at most 10%.
This is not "most people" by any stretch of the imagination.
Celiac disease is the far end of the spectrum, but while it may be partly genetics, I find it unsurprising that I have issues (minor eczema that flares up whenever I eat wheat), my wife is HIGHLY gluten intolerant and my son is as well.
My mom also has issues with gluten and I personally know at least 15 other people that have issues ranging from aches and pains, acne, irritable bowel and other problems whenever they eat wheat. Your numbers might be accurate for DIAGNOSED cases (my wife is one), but I'd say that your average joe may have more issues with it than they realize.
And you're basing this assumption on what, exactly? Your feelings? LOL
The placebo effect works both ways, people who believe that they will have an adverse reaction to something will often have it regardless of whether or not there's any actual physiological reason.0 -
Your diet is not paleo at all, as they don't have dairy products and limit fruit. Your diet is very simillar to mine. After reading a lot I've lowered my carbs to 20% which is mainly fruit, dairy and a little dark chocolate. protein 30% and fat 50%. But to be honest I am thining that it's too high fat and I think I'm best changing things around. There is a lot of information out there saying that saturated fat is bad for you, and there is a lot of infomation that says sat fat will not harm you. I don't know what the answer is. I am still learning.0
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There isn't a single nutrient in a fruit or vegetable that you can't get somewhere elseThe Inuit live on protein/fat ONLY yet they don't suffer scurvy
Because they get (or got, because most Inuit don't live this way anymore) their Vitamin C from raw seal/whale meat, blubber, and organ meats such as stomach. I really don't see your everyday low carber eating enough (or any) of those foods to get ideal amounts of C and other vitamins.
It seems unwise and unnecessary to advise against vegetable consumption.0 -
I have been doing low to no carbs for a very long time (20+ years). Started with Protein Power, then Atkins then you name the diet as long as it says no carbs it seemed to work for me. However with age comes a bit of wisdom (at least on how my own body reacts).
With regards to cutting out bread, baked goods, white rice, sugar, cookies, pizza, french fries, etc... that all makes a ton of sense and I know I can remove those from my diet forever and I'll feel better and have much more energy. When I've gone off the diet and added back those "comfort" foods I gained weight no matter how much I excercised.
However I've also overdone it where I ate nothing but meat and cheese and definitely did not feel as good. Working with a nutritionist I've greatly increased my vegetable intake (as an example added Spinach to my egg white and chicken apple sausage) and do allot more chicken and fish and less red meat (but red meat is good especialy if you can find grass fed).
So the challenge for me is to get enough fiber and in a low carb diet the best way that I've found for myself to do that is to add green steamed vegetables to every meal if possible.
Best of luck!
Very informative, thank you!0 -
Thanks for the replies - and sorry, I should have been clearer in terms of what I meant by "reducing carbs". I didn't measure the actual amount of carbohydrate I was eating or anything, but my daily diet would consist of something like:
Breakfast - blueberries, full fat live yogurt and nuts
Lunch - large avocado with hummus and/or falafel
Dinner - salmon with asparagus and spinach, or some sort of home-made bean stew in tomato sauce
Snacks - fruit, nuts, seeds
Drinks - water (still and sparkling), fruit juice (but only once a day and EXTREMELY diluted), green tea, oolong tea
No pasta, bread, rice, oats, potatoes, refined sugar or honey, or junky carbs such as biscuits or cakes. And no booze!
My previous diet would have been: The same breakfast but with oatmeal sprinkled on, something rice-based for lunch such as risotto or kedgeree, and a similar dinner but with a potato or pasta accompaniment.
Had I lost weight on the scales and muscle tone, I would have stopped the diet. But I actually look leaner and more toned - I have the arms and shoulders of a javelin thrower despite not even doing any weights!
Can I come over for dinner?
Absolutely, if you bring a bottle of wine and dessert! Oh no ... wait ...0 -
This is me. I've been eating 100-150 a day for about 12 years. Slow carbs, primarily. Whole grains, vegetables etc. Fruit.It depends on what you mean by "reduced carbs". I cut back on carbs, I consume between 100 - 150g/day. I eat some whole grains & complex carbs (whole grain bread, rice, sweet potato, etc.), but stay clear of simple carbs (white bread, white rice, potatos). I've been doing this for about 10 months now. I also walk on the treadmill (moderate pace) a mile a day for 6 days a week. I haven't fallen over yet.
Low Carbers get around 50g/ day or even less. That seems dicey to me, I couldn't sustain a daily carb level that low for a long period of time.
Disclaimer: I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination.0 -
I do a modified low carb (bwt 50 & 100) and its' been wonderful for me. Basically I've cut alot sugar, rice, pasta, potatoes and bread. I've added lean protein, more veggies and good fats (olive oil, coconut oil, avacodos, ect) and things like greek yogurt and some more dairy (although I'm lactose intolerant and watch things carefully). I want to slowly try adding things like Quina & maybe sweet potatoes back, but I have found out that I am gluten intolerant and thus most "grains/breads/ect" are a no-no (I don't like being violently sick daily). I've been trying to get my youngest sister to try dropping the gluten foods as she has alot of gastero issues that the doctors haven't isolated yet.
Everybody if different, has different needs and such forth. If you haven't talked w/ a doc or nutritionist, perhaps the best thing you can do is ask them.0 -
Thanks for the replies - and sorry, I should have been clearer in terms of what I meant by "reducing carbs". I didn't measure the actual amount of carbohydrate I was eating or anything, but my daily diet would consist of something like:
Breakfast - blueberries, full fat live yogurt and nuts
Lunch - large avocado with hummus and/or falafel
Dinner - salmon with asparagus and spinach, or some sort of home-made bean stew in tomato sauce
Snacks - fruit, nuts, seeds
Drinks - water (still and sparkling), fruit juice (but only once a day and EXTREMELY diluted), green tea, oolong tea
No pasta, bread, rice, oats, potatoes, refined sugar or honey, or junky carbs such as biscuits or cakes. And no booze!
My previous diet would have been: The same breakfast but with oatmeal sprinkled on, something rice-based for lunch such as risotto or kedgeree, and a similar dinner but with a potato or pasta accompaniment.
Had I lost weight on the scales and muscle tone, I would have stopped the diet. But I actually look leaner and more toned - I have the arms and shoulders of a javelin thrower despite not even doing any weights!
Can I come over for dinner?
Absolutely, if you bring a bottle of wine and dessert! Oh no ... wait ...
I make an awesome tiramisu... (also, oh no... wait...
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bump for later0
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My nutritionist says that you should never completely cut anything out. Your body will find a way to make up for what you don't give it. I would think that cutting back would be fine as long as you don't completely cut it out of your diet.0
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Avoid those things as part of a carb reduction to get rid of the bloat and internal inflammation that most people actually get from gluten
Celiac disease effects less than 1% of the population. Even the poorly-defined condition known as "gluten-intolerance" effects at most 10%.
This is not "most people" by any stretch of the imagination.
Celiac disease is the far end of the spectrum, but while it may be partly genetics, I find it unsurprising that I have issues (minor eczema that flares up whenever I eat wheat), my wife is HIGHLY gluten intolerant and my son is as well.
My mom also has issues with gluten and I personally know at least 15 other people that have issues ranging from aches and pains, acne, irritable bowel and other problems whenever they eat wheat. Your numbers might be accurate for DIAGNOSED cases (my wife is one), but I'd say that your average joe may have more issues with it than they realize.
And you're basing this assumption on what, exactly? Your feelings? LOL
The placebo effect works both ways, people who believe that they will have an adverse reaction to something will often have it regardless of whether or not there's any actual physiological reason.
I agree that people can have a placebo affect, but here's a good example:
I have a 2 year old. He has no way of knowing what he's being fed (nutrient wise) and through observation we can see that he gets a severe rash and eczema (diagnosed by a Dr.) under his eyes whenever he eats ANYTHING with gluten in it. I'm pretty sure that I'm not projecting anything on him to make him have these reactions...
The other night we ate out as a family, ordered things from the menu that based on the menu should not have had any wheat in it. Later that night I ithced a lot, but didn't think anything of it. My wife woke up the next morning with a lot of joint pain, swelling and stomach distress. She didn't know why, thought that she was getting sick. I called the restaurant just to check and sure enough the stuffed mushrooms (that the waitress assured us had no breading/wheat in it) had a panko breading mixed with the other ingredients, but the texture and taste we couldn't tell. Sure enough, looked at my son, and his rash was there.
Just saying that grain intolerance is real, many of us live without them and are perfectly healthy. There are no nutrients found in grains that can't be had through other sources that don't inflame and irritate.0 -
Avoid those things as part of a carb reduction to get rid of the bloat and internal inflammation that most people actually get from gluten
Celiac disease effects less than 1% of the population. Even the poorly-defined condition known as "gluten-intolerance" effects at most 10%.
This is not "most people" by any stretch of the imagination.
Celiac disease is the far end of the spectrum, but while it may be partly genetics, I find it unsurprising that I have issues (minor eczema that flares up whenever I eat wheat), my wife is HIGHLY gluten intolerant and my son is as well.
My mom also has issues with gluten and I personally know at least 15 other people that have issues ranging from aches and pains, acne, irritable bowel and other problems whenever they eat wheat. Your numbers might be accurate for DIAGNOSED cases (my wife is one), but I'd say that your average joe may have more issues with it than they realize.
And you're basing this assumption on what, exactly? Your feelings? LOL
The placebo effect works both ways, people who believe that they will have an adverse reaction to something will often have it regardless of whether or not there's any actual physiological reason.
I agree that people can have a placebo affect, but here's a good example:
I have a 2 year old. He has no way of knowing what he's being fed (nutrient wise) and through observation we can see that he gets a severe rash and eczema (diagnosed by a Dr.) under his eyes whenever he eats ANYTHING with gluten in it. I'm pretty sure that I'm not projecting anything on him to make him have these reactions...
The other night we ate out as a family, ordered things from the menu that based on the menu should not have had any wheat in it. Later that night I ithced a lot, but didn't think anything of it. My wife woke up the next morning with a lot of joint pain, swelling and stomach distress. She didn't know why, thought that she was getting sick. I called the restaurant just to check and sure enough the stuffed mushrooms (that the waitress assured us had no breading/wheat in it) had a panko breading mixed with the other ingredients, but the texture and taste we couldn't tell. Sure enough, looked at my son, and his rash was there.
Just saying that grain intolerance is real, many of us live without them and are perfectly healthy. There are no nutrients found in grains that can't be had through other sources that don't inflame and irritate.
Nobody said it "wasn't real". You asserted earlier that "most people" were gluten intolerant -- a patently false assertion. Just because you may belong to the small minority is irrelevant.0 -
You should be asking your own personal doctor about this. Every BODY is different...by the way i lost 70lbs eating carbs and normally 1,600 cal a day 30min work outs
I disagree with this. Doctors are not necessarily nutritionists.
Doctors would have better advice then us here at MFP0 -
Carbs are not always a bad thing! Take a look at the types of carbs you are eating. If you are eating whole/multi-grain carbs in moderation, there is no need to cut them out of your diet!0
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There are no molecules in the group "carbohydrates" that we have to eat, unlike protein and essential fatty acids / minerals / vitamins.
OOOoohhhhhh! I applaud the way you worded this, sir. Very well done!
Most people say we don't need carbs to live... and that's technically not correct. We can just make the carbs we need from other material. We don't have to EAT them. So major kudos on being absolutely correct!0 -
There is a diet called the ketogenic diet. It is a diet used to help epileptic kids whose seizures are not acceptably controlled by medication (meds don't work, side effects awful, etc). The diet is 80% fat. The kids are kept in ketosis for 2 years before slowly being weaned off the diet. Some kids stay on it much longer. Some parents choose to keep a child with a feeding tube on the diet indefinitely. The diet is monitored by a whole team of neurologists, nutritionists, etc. It's not an easy thing to do but it can permanently reduce (and sometimes completely cure) epilepsy.
So, you can safely cut carbs for years and keep the body in ketosis. It's just very hard to do safely and generally not feasible for the long term.0 -
Thanks for the replies, everyone! Ok, so ... at the risk of sounding thick ... when you need energy (e.g for sport), do you need CALORIES or specifically CARBS to give you this energy? And can they come from any food, e.g. meat, fruit, whatever?0
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I just eat some nuts or some other high fat foods and I'm ready to go. If you are doing some sort of long distance running I can see carb loading a bit, but I'd prefer to do that with fruits and sweet potatoes and never grains personally.0
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I haven't had bread, rice or pasta in years. Or dessert that isn't healthy.
I do eat nuts occasionally, oatmeal sometimes, and natural chips like pop chips or kale chips.
And of course, all the veggies and fruits have carbs too.
And I seem to be healthy!
Oh, and I get carbs from my Balance Bars before I do cardio.0 -
Far as I know...forever. There are people who don't just do Keto/Primal/Paleo for a diet but they do it forever. Much like I intend to.0
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Your body carries 10s of thousands of calories in fat stores, and maybe 2000 in carbohydrates stores. So if you're going to walk to the North Pole you'll be using a lot of fat calories to power yourself.Thanks for the replies, everyone! Ok, so ... at the risk of sounding thick ... when you need energy (e.g for sport), do you need CALORIES or specifically CARBS to give you this energy? And can they come from any food, e.g. meat, fruit, whatever?
If you're doing 100m sprint you'll deplete your muscle glycogen (carb) stores and that can be replenished with glucose made by the liver just as it can use carbs you eat to replenish it.0 -
I've been on a strict ketogenic diet, less than 25g per day, usually under 15g for 4 months now. Before that I did general low carb, and I started my weight loss under 80g per day. I plan on staying below 20g for at least another year, before allowing myself below 40g per day and more fruit options at maintenance. I never plan on eating much more than that for the rest of my life, I feel better now than I ever have and I wouldn't trade the near-unlimited energy for any carb.0
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I think a low carb, high protein diet is always helpful in weight loss. I think you should read a few articles that will give you low carb diet info (http://www.dukandiet.com/), before you embark on any diet on your own. What you need to do is eat less of starchy carbs (foods such as potatoes, bread, rice and pasta) and eat healthier carbs in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables. Try to increase your intake of proteins- include seafood, eggs, tofu, chicken and lean meat to your daily diet and exercise at least 4 times a week.0
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I've eaten between 50g and 150g of carbs for the last 8 months. I'd rather put something in my mouth that didn't just give me energy but also had other nutritional content. I haven't experienced any askldjqwer8 8989p hip=0io4k3 l;jj0
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I have been eating less than 100g of carbs per day now for months and have never felt better. I stress though that pretty much ALL my carbs come from veggies a small amount of fruit and sometimes a little quinoa or rice. I choose wisely..
I am going for great health not losing that much weight. I feel awesome though and have heaps of energy Oh and I only eat 1200 cals per day. 0 -
Day 45 of moderate carbs I cycle between 50g to 75g weekly. I am averaging 2.3lbs a week as a loss. Down 15lbs in 45 days. How I do it is lots of nuts, veggies and lean meats. I eat 1.5 servings of a low carb grain product mainly tortillas in my case. It has not been hard at all. Actually very sustainable and very satisfying I have not had one day of overeating or binging.
The biggest tip is find ways to make your favorite foods lower carbs its not hard.0
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