CARBS??? VEGGIE carbs ok ? Or ?

Firefox7275

I think your views are a bit extreme and alarmist.

My opinions are based on working in and studying healthcare (currently lifestyle) for over twenty years. IMO the west is in a mess with obesity and lifestyle diseases because we have this mentality of aiming for but never achieving a watered down version of a healthy diet, fooling ourselves about what we are and should be eating and epically failing to do even a minimal amount of physical activity. The billions spent on medical care for people with lifestyle diseases in the UK alone is hair raising, we could achieve so much more with that - fix some of the third world's problems, many more people work part time and pay less taxes/ insurance.

Sarauk2sf

How is that relevant when included as part of a balanced diet?

Depends how much you have. The vast majority of people's concept of a balanced diet is not balanced at all, processed junky stuff should comprise no more than about 10% of daily calories - if you want to use that on bread crack on. But people don't, they pretend bread made in a factory with super finely ground flour and chemical additives is a natural wholefood and then expect to have 'treats' on top. There is no bread tree, there is no flour plant: if you want to eat wheat eat WHOLE unadulterated wheat grains, rolled to flatten at most. Or bake your own multigrain bread using flour that has been stoneground and seeds/ whole grains and not just wheat.

'You' is generic you not necessarily personal BTW.

Still - how is that relevant as part of a balanced diet? You did not answer the question. The statement made, which was actually by someone else, was an absolute, I asked for that absolute to be explained when included as part of a balanced diet.

Sarauk2sf

Whole, unprocessed foods that contain carbohydrates, like fruit, vegetables and legumes are OK to eat as much as you desire.

Whole (non-glutenous) grains and white potatoes can be eaten, but if you are not losing weight, these would be the whole, plant based carbs to limit first.

Processed, refined carbohydrates, like breads, sugar, flour, HFCS, agave sweetener, etc, stay away from. The ideal amount of these foods is ZERO, and the closer you can get your intake of these foods to zero, the healthier you will be.

^^^ All of this ^^^

what is wrong with bread and sugar? I am so over this. You all can weigh what you weigh, have at it.

high glycemic impact, high-calorie density, little-to-no micro-nutrients, little-to-no fiber, low water content, no anti-oxidants, etc.

How is that relevant when included as part of a balanced diet?

That's the big question isn't it? No such thing as bad foods just bad diets, I get it and agree for the most part but playing devils advocate; On a calorie for calorie basis any higher nutrient foods that are displaced with highly refined grain products and refined sugars could be interpreted as less than healthy. Whether some refined foods impacts health is debatable and you would probably need to look at indigenous peoples where these highly refined foods were not part of the diet and then introduced.

I suppose my point is, if I am getting a bunch of fruits and veggies in, getting my fats from a variety of sources and getting enough protein, what is wrong with including bread or sugar also. That is why I clarified it with 'part of a balanced diet' If you are displacing enough nutrient dense food to include bread and sugar, you are not getting a balanced diet. There is nothing inherently unhealthy about them - it is all about the context and dosage. Let's say we agree vegetables are healthy. Would a diet solely comprising solely of vegetables be healthy? No. Context and dosage apply.

Edited for typos

healthylife56

I personally cannot live without carbs. That being said I try to eat good carbs such as from veggies, fruits, whole wheat pita bread, brown rice, whole grain pasta.

When I don't eat enough carbs, I feel like my brain shuts down lol

neanderthin

Whole, unprocessed foods that contain carbohydrates, like fruit, vegetables and legumes are OK to eat as much as you desire.

Whole (non-glutenous) grains and white potatoes can be eaten, but if you are not losing weight, these would be the whole, plant based carbs to limit first.

Processed, refined carbohydrates, like breads, sugar, flour, HFCS, agave sweetener, etc, stay away from. The ideal amount of these foods is ZERO, and the closer you can get your intake of these foods to zero, the healthier you will be.

^^^ All of this ^^^

what is wrong with bread and sugar? I am so over this. You all can weigh what you weigh, have at it.

high glycemic impact, high-calorie density, little-to-no micro-nutrients, little-to-no fiber, low water content, no anti-oxidants, etc.

How is that relevant when included as part of a balanced diet?

That's the big question isn't it? No such thing as bad foods just bad diets, I get it and agree for the most part but playing devils advocate; On a calorie for calorie basis any higher nutrient foods that are displaced with highly refined grain products and refined sugars could be interpreted as less than healthy. Whether some refined foods impacts health is debatable and you would probably need to look at indigenous peoples where these highly refined foods were not part of the diet and then introduced.

I suppose my point is, if I am getting a bunch of fruits and veggies in, getting my fats from a variety of sources and getting enough protein, what is wrong with including bread or sugar also. That is why I clarified it with 'part of a balanced diet' If you are displacing enough nutrient dense food to include bread and sugar, you are not getting a balanced diet. There is nothing inherently unhealthy about them - it is all about the context and dosage. Let's say we agree vegetables are healthy. Would a diet solely comprising solely of vegetables be healthy? No. Context and dosage apply.

Edited for typos

Hey, I hear ya. Again I'm just throwing it against the fan and see what happens. Does a diet higher in carbs have a deleterious effect on overall health? For example 60% carb and say 40% carb. Another way of looking at it might be, is a diet higher in protein have any beneficial effects on overall health, and of course we're not talking about consuming 1 type of food.

jofjltncb6

Whole, unprocessed foods that contain carbohydrates, like fruit, vegetables and legumes are OK to eat as much as you desire.

Whole (non-glutenous) grains and white potatoes can be eaten, but if you are not losing weight, these would be the whole, plant based carbs to limit first.

Processed, refined carbohydrates, like breads, sugar, flour, HFCS, agave sweetener, etc, stay away from. The ideal amount of these foods is ZERO, and the closer you can get your intake of these foods to zero, the healthier you will be.

^^^ All of this ^^^

what is wrong with bread and sugar? I am so over this. You all can weigh what you weigh, have at it.

high glycemic impact, high-calorie density, little-to-no micro-nutrients, little-to-no fiber, low water content, no anti-oxidants, etc.

How is that relevant when included as part of a balanced diet?

That's the big question isn't it? No such thing as bad foods just bad diets, I get it and agree for the most part but playing devils advocate; On a calorie for calorie basis any higher nutrient foods that are displaced with highly refined grain products and refined sugars could be interpreted as less than healthy. Whether some refined foods impacts health is debatable and you would probably need to look at indigenous peoples where these highly refined foods were not part of the diet and then introduced.

I suppose my point is, if I am getting a bunch of fruits and veggies in, getting my fats from a variety of sources and getting enough protein, what is wrong with including bread or sugar also. That is why I clarified it with 'part of a balanced diet' If you are displacing enough nutrient dense food to include bread and sugar, you are not getting a balanced diet. There is nothing inherently unhealthy about them - it is all about the context and dosage. Let's say we agree vegetables are healthy. Would a diet solely comprising solely of vegetables be healthy? No. Context and dosage apply.

Edited for typos

This would be an even bigger problem for those eating fewer calories (like, say, 1200). There just isn't a lot of room, if any, to displace more nutritionally dense foods. If you're eating something like 2400 calories, then absolutely, you can easily fit these delicious "fillers" in (even though I still wouldn't call them relatively healthy on their own).


Edited for atrocious sentence structure.

Molly_Maguire

Carbs are not inherently evil. There are no "good carbs" or "bad carbs", it all depends on how much of your diet consists of them. Some will make you more full than others, which make them a better choice in terms of weight loss, whole grains for example, but don't think carbs are something that have to be avoided in order to lose weight.

NerdyTXChick

Low carb has worked for me, but I believe it is because it has helped me keep my calories down, thereby causing a calorie deficit. By cutting out things like sugar, flour & white rice, I no longer crave them like I used to (which caused me to over eat). Whether this is because they were high carb or processed, I don't know - that's something I'm still trying to figure out. But I will say that potatoes also fall into the category of what I cut out, and they're obviously not processed. But until I try adding them back to see what happens, I'm not going to know if they will cause cravings or not. Right now, so close to my goal, I'd rather not chance it.

The reason certain diets have the carb count so low is to put you in ketosis, which is supposed to make you burn more fat. I don't know if I believe that or not either, but I do believe it was necessary to go very low for a while in order to break myself of the cravings, and force myself to learn to eat in a new way (namely, not planning my meals around high carb foods). Also, when you're in ketosis you lose a lot of water weight, which can be very encouraging when you're first starting out. As you bring more carbs back into your diet, you will gain back the water weight, so I think that part is really about giving you motivation (which, I'm not going to lie, was very helpful). I have been slowly increasing my carbs with vegetables and fruit, so although my carb count is still fairly low, I'm no longer in ketosis. But I'm still losing weight because I'm maintaining a calorie deficit.

So basically, I don't know if I believe all the claims of the low carb diet, but it HAS worked for me. It's just possible it has worked for different reasons than what some sources would have you believe. My advice would be to try cutting down and see if it helps you in some way. You can still eat a lot of veggies and be low carb - broccoli, zucchini, yellow squash, spinach, green beans, cauliflower, salad greens, peppers & celery, just to name a few. It's just a matter of keeping count, finding a balance, and not wasting your carbs on low nutrient foods.

I hope this helps!

Rocbola

When I don't eat enough carbs, I feel like my brain shuts down lol

Yep, your brain runs on glucose.

twinketta

When I don't eat enough carbs, I feel like my brain shuts down lol

Yep, your brain runs on glucose.

"A healthy, efficient brain is one that draws on several different fuels. A healthy, efficient brain is one that uses ketones (and perhaps lactate and other fuels) to spare some glucose. A complete reliance on glucose indicates an underachieving brain, a brain that could do so much better, a brain that could really use a coconut milk curry and some intense exercise every now and again. "